If one word can be used to describe the 2005 Madison Mallards it would be resilient, and resilience is what the team showed Friday night in front of a raucous crowd of 3,854 fans at the Duck Pond. After trailing the game twice, the Mallards battled back both times eventually defeating the Thunder Bay Border Cats in Game One of the NWL Championship Series in 11 innings on a Danny Dressman walk-off single.
After Nate Price robbed Dressman of a potential game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth, the Mallards centerfielder stepped up to the plate with another opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the 11th with Ryan Bond on third base and two outs in the inning.
Dressman did not disappoint, as he lined the second pitch he saw into right field scoring Bond from third and sending the crowd, and Mallards bench, into a frenzy.
Thunder Bay jumped out to an early lead with three first inning runs off Jake Hansen, but the Mallards fought all night and stormed back with two runs in the second inning with RBI from Will Vogl and League MVP Ryan Rogowski.
Rogowski was not done with just one RBI, as he once again proved why he is deserving of taking his game to the next level. The future member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization finished the game 4-for-6 with three RBI; three clutch RBI.
His second RBI of the game came from a solo home run in the seventh inning to pull the Mallards within one at 5-4. It did not take long for Rogowski to come through again, as he singled in the game?s tying run with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning.
In addition to timely hitting, the Mallards bullpen impressed as well.
Mike Creevy and Erik Walker threw three innings of relief each with Creevy striking out six batters and Walker striking out seven. Two hits off Creevy were all the Border Cats offense could muster against the Ducks pen.
Kelly Sweppenhiser finished the game 3-for-6 with and RBI and John Martin, Mike Rohde and Dressman each finished the game with two hits apiece.
The Ducks will attempt to close out the Border Cats tomorrow night at 6:05 CST in Thunder Bay sending Casey Baron to the mound. No team in NWL history has ever won back-to-back championships.
The fan bus to tomorrow?s game is set to depart at 7:30 a.m. with tickets on sale for 45 dollars. The fee includes round-trip bus service and tickets to the game(s). If fans are unable to make the trip to Canada, the Mallards encourage fans to listen to the game on Fox Sports Madison 100.5 FM or www.mallardsradio.com. Stay tuned to www.mallardsbaseball.com for the most recent Championship Series updates.
