Former Mallard fan-favorite and first four-year player Mike Rohde is continuing his baseball career as an infielder for the Schaumburg Flyers, an independent Northern League franchise in Illinois.

Rhode, who played four years with the Mallards during the 2003-06 seasons, completed his college career with the Illinois Illini with a .316 average this season, complementing his 47 runs, 62 hits, 20 doubles and 54 RBIs. Rohde’s 20 doubles ranked third best in the Big Ten Conference, and his RBI total was fifth place in the conference, just behind Dusty Napoleon, who left the Mallards this season after being drafted in the 19th round of the MLB Draft by the Oakland A’s.

For the Mallards, Rohde had a career .295 batting average on 676 at-bats for the team. His best performance came in his third year in Madison (2005), when he finished the season batting .312, also scoring 43 runs on 73 hits and 14 doubles.

The Flyers started their campaign May 17 and have since gone 13-19 in the South Division, putting them nine game behind the first place team, the Gary Southshore RailCats.