With just a week remaining in the first half of the Northwoods League season, the Mallards made a big statement to the rest of the league Thursday with a 12-0 thrashing of the La Crosse Loggers. The Mallards put up a season-high 17 hits and tied a season high with 12 runs in front of a season-high 6,471 fans to keep pace with the first-place Rochester Honkers.
The Mallards jumped out of the gates early, scoring in the first three innings to take a 6-0 lead, never looking back. Eight of the nine starters recorded a hit for the Mallards, including four from Mike Rohde who continued his torrid pace at the plate.
Rohde grounded out in the first as Ryan Rogowski scored the first run of the game for Madison. Rohde added a big two-RBI single in the third and finished the night four-for-five with a run scored and a game-high four RBI.
Rogowski added to his league-leading hit and stolen base total, collecting three hits, scoring three runs and swipping his 22 base of the season. Randy Molina went three-for-five and Danny Dressman collected a pair of hits to go along with an RBI and two runs scored.
Rick Rivas? performance was lost in the offensive explosion, as the Oklahoma State Cowboy threw seven scoreless innings while improving to 2-2 on the season. He allowed just three hits while striking out four.
The Mallards are back in action Friday night when they take on the Waterloo Bucks at 7:05 p.m. For tickets visit www.mallardsbaseball.com or call the Mallard ticket office at (608) 246-4277.