Green Bay, WI – July 1, 2009. Madison Mallards starting pitcher Cody Winiarski (MATC) strengthened his case for a Northwoods League Mid-Season All-Star nomination by throwing a three-hit shutout to pick up his fourth win in a 2-0 defeat of the Green Bay Bullfrogs Wednesday Night at Joannes Stadium.
Winiarski (4-2), who ranks fifth in the league with 37 strikeouts, didn’t have his punch-out arsenal tonight in only striking out only three Bullfrogs, but it didn’t matter. The unassuming right hander never let a base runner reach third base the entire evening and the only opposing threat ocurred when the Bullfrogs put the first two men on base during the sixth inning, but weren’t able to advance.
The remaining three innings were left for the team’s two flame-throwing right-handed arms in Dan Burawa (St. John’s) and Denny Clement (Texas A&M). Less than two weeks ago Burawa hit 96 mph on the radar gun in Eau Claire, while Clement has always flirted with some mid-90’s cheese.
Burawa owned the seventh inning by striking out Kyle Robinson, allowing a base-hit by Riley Henricks (Portland), and then proceeding to sit-down Matt Argyropoulos (Washington State) and Chris Shaeffer (NC State) on nasty pitches.
Before Clement settled in, he did run into a bit of trouble in the eight inning. After a leadoff walk to Sam VandenHeuvel (Rhode Island), Jared Adreoli (Western Kentucky) then flew out to center-fielder Kurtis Muller (Iowa). Beaver Dam native Colin Kuhn (Arkansas) then stroked a single into center field to put runners at the corners. That didn’t faze Clement. Down went designated hitter Jacob House (Arkansas) and standout first baseman Nick O’Shea (Minnesota) on back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
After the Mallards strike out in order in the top half of the ninth, Clement upped his total to four by striking out the first two hitters in Robinson, and Henricks. This meant from the last two outs in the bottom of the eight to the first two outs of the bottom of the ninth fans were able to witness seven straight punchouts, a record in outrageousness if nothing else. The final out of the game was recorded on a groundball putout from shortstop Mark Ginther (Oklahoma State) to first baseman Harold Riggins (NC State).
The Mallards offense didn’t need to provide its pitching staff too much help on this night, and did just that, in only recording five base-hits. None of those were for extra bases.
Madison got on the board in the fourth inning when Ginther hit a clutch two-out base hit and advanced to second base on a Delorit wild pitch. At the plate was Riggins, who calmly drove in his teammate to give the Mallards a 1-0 lead. He now has 28 RBI on the season, good for second in the NWL.
In the sixth, the Mallards added one more run on an RBI single by Troy Channing (St. Mary’s) to score catcher Tyson Blaser (Iowa) who had a base hit to begin the inning and later advanced to second base on a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt by Muller.
The win moved Madison to 19-14 on the year with one more game left in the first half of the season that was won by the Eau Claire Express (20-8). Meanwhile the Bullfrogs fell to 13-19 and 5.5 games behind the Mallards.
Starter Delorit picked up the loss (3-2) for the Bullfrogs but was rarely contested in only allowing those two earned runs in seven innings of work. He also struck out eight Mallards hitters.
These same two teams will square off tomorrow in a 6:35 p.m. contest at Joannes Stadium.
—
Fans, your Madison Mallards return home this Monday, July 6, and we’re giving away FREE T-Shirts! Yes, the first 1,000 fans will receive a Mallards Mock Uniform T-Shirt courtesy of Verizon Wireless. And when you return to home games this season, be sure to bring your Verizon Wireless shirts back to have your name affixed on the back for a small fee!
Click here to purchase tickets for Tuesday’s game or please call us at 608.246.4277 today!
