Madison, WI – March 21, 2012. The Mallards have announced the signing of sophomore infielder Tom Verdi and sophomore lef-handed pitcher Anthony Marzi from the University of Connecticut.
Verdi, a 6’1″, 170 pound infielder will join the Mallards after his second season with the Huskies. So far this season, Verdi has started all 17 games and is batting .323 with two home runs and 15 RBIs. In 2011, he played in 35 games and made 25 starts. He finished 2011 with a .947 fielder percentage.
“Tom is a baseball rat that loves to play the game and plays it with reckless abandon,” said Mallards Manager Greg Labbe. “You have to be strong up the middle to consistently win in baseball. With the addition of Tom to the roster we just solidified that middle. Not only is he a great defender, but he can hit at the top of the line-up. I think fans in Madison are going to love watching this young man play.”
Verdi attended Bishop Hendrickson High School in Warwick, Rhode Island where he led his team to three state championships. After his senior season, he was named to the All-State Team. He is an exploratory major at Connecticut.
Marzi, a 6’1″, 190 pitcher from Berlin, Connecticut will also be heading to Madison after his sophomore campaign with the Huskies. Marzi has made five starts and pitched 33.1 innings so far in 2012. Despite an 0-4 record he has a solid 2.97 ERA. In his freshman season, he made seven appearances all out of the bullpen, and finished with a 2.79 ERA and 2-0 record in 9.2 innings.
“Anthony has the stuff to be one of our best arms this summer,” said Labbe. “If you look at the success teams have had in the league it almost always is directly related to their pitching staffs, and having as much left-handed pitching as possible is important. Anthony can start for us, or we can use him at the end of the game. He is a competitive kid with a good arm.”
Marzi attended Berlin High School where he went 9-2 with a 0.78 ERA and 131 strikeouts his senior season. He was a two-time All-State performer and holds the school record with 18 strikeouts in one game. Marzi is a pre-kinesiology major at Connecticut.
The Mallards will host their season opener against the Battle Creek Bombers on May 30th at 7:05 pm at the “Duck Pond.” 7-Game Packs, season, and group tickets are on sale now! Single-game tickets go on sale April 28th.
The Madison Mallards are part of the 16-team Northwoods League. The Northwoods League has more teams, plays more games, and draws more fans than any other Summer Collegiate Baseball League in North America.
