(PHOENIX, AZ) Two Mallards alumni are playing in the Arizona Fall League, often a stepping stone to a career in Major League Baseball. Daryl Maday (’04) a pitcher in the San Francisco Giants organization is playing with the Scottsdale Scorpions and righty Dan Burawa (’09) of the New York Yankees organization is hurling for the Phoenix Desert Dogs. They join 15 other NWL alumni which includes one current Major Leaguer, one former first-round draft choice and two umpires.
Maday pitched for the Mallards in 2004 while attending Arkansas University. He started 5 games for the Mallards and made nine appearances overall while posting a 1-2 record with 32 strikeouts. He was selected in the 30th round of the 2006 First-Year Player draft by the Giants. In five seasons in the minors he has posted a 38-27 record with a 3.88 ERA. His current full time team is the AA Richmond Flying Squirrels.
Burawa was drafted in the 12th Round of the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft by the Yankees after playing for the Mallards in 2009. He led the Mallards in pitching appearances with 25 while posting a 5.50 ERA and 1-1 record. Burawa attended St. John’s University. In just over one season in the Minors he has a 5-4 record with a 3.96 ERA. His current full time team is the A Tampa Yankees.
Joining Maday in Scottsdale is shortstop Brandon Crawford (Mankato ’05) who played in 66 games this year for the Giants, batting .204. He began his big league career in May by hitting a grand slam for his first Major League hit. Other NWL Alumni with the Scorpions are Phillies first baseman Darin Ruf (Wisconsin ’07) and Nationals third base prospect Zach Walters (Duluth ’09).
Outfielder Tim Wheeler (St. Cloud ’07) was a first round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies in 2009. He emerged as one of the top power hitters in all of minor league baseball this year by hitting 33 home runs for Double-A Tulsa, good for second most in all of the minors. Wheeler is a member of the Salt River Rafters this fall along with Tigers catching prospect Rob Brantly (La Crosse ’09) and Diamondbacks hurler Bryan Woodall (Alexandria ’06).
The rest of the former Northwoods League players currently competing in the Arizona Fall League are pitchers. Four of them are teammates with the Surprise Saguaros. They include left-handers Dan Jennings (Waterloo ’06-07) of the Marlins and Brendan Lafferty (Alexandria/Mankato ’06-08) of the Royals as well as right-handers Shane Dyer (Eau Claire ’07-08) of the Rays and Evan Reed (Waterloo ’05) of the Marlins.
Elsewhere in the AFL right-handers Cole Devries (Mankato ’04) of the Twins and Jake Petricka (Mankato ’09) of the White Sox are teammates with the Mesa Solar Sox. Meanwhile, righty Steven Hensley (Duluth ’06) of the Mariners is with the Peoria Javelinas.
Umpires Mark Lollo and Kellen Levy are also making their rounds in the Arizona Fall League. Lollo, a 2001 NWL umpire, is a crew chief this fall. He umpired in the Triple-A International League in 2011. Levy was in the NWL in 2004 and worked in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League this past season.
AFL teams play a 38-game schedule that began last week and concludes about one week prior to Thanksgiving. Each Major League organization sends six prospects to their affiliated team, which is shared by five MLB organizations. Approximately 50% of the players in this year’s MLB Postseason played in the Arizona Fall League.
The Madison Mallards are members of the 16-team Northwoods League. The 2011 season has come to end in record-breaking fashion. The Mallards drew a new team and summer collegiate baseball record 213, 467 fans this season, breaking their old record of over 207,000 set in 2007. 7-Game Packs for 2012 are now on sale! For more information call 608-246-4277 or email info@mallardsbaseball.com .
