Madison, WI – June 1, 2012. A clutch two out hit by second baseman Luis Munoz (Coffeyville CC) in the bottom of the ninth that scored left fielder Tom  Lally (Central Michigan) delivered the Mallards a 3-2 win over the La Crosse Loggers. The win has the Mallards off to a 3-0 start to the year adn a share of first place in the South Division of the Northwoods League.

The Mallards struck in the first inning with an infield single by right fielder Tyler Marincov (North Florida). The Loggers first baseman Juliene Jones (Sacramento CC) played the ball like it was going to go foul, but the ball stayed fair and allowed center fielder John Welborn (Texas-San Antonio) to score from second. 

In the second the Mallards were able to extend the lead off of a double steal by catcher Mike Reuvekamp (California) and shortstop Seth McMullen (Winona State). With two outs Logger catcher Tyler Servais (Princeton) played the steal to second but was unable to catch Reuvekamp, allowing McMullen to score from third.

The Loggers were held hitless until the fifth when a single by Servais followed by a home run by Jones tied the score at two.

The game remained deadlocked until the bottom of the ninth when Munoz’s heroics won it for the Mallards. Munoz was able to drive a first pitch fastball from Logger reliever Jacob Dorris (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) into right field to score Lally.

Right-hander Trevor Foss (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) turned in a strong performance in his first outing of the season, allowing only two runs and four hits in 8.0 innings. The Janesville native kept the Loggers guessing all night, racking up 11 strikeouts.

Lefty Sam Forkert (Marian) earned the win for the Mallards, throwing a scoreless inning of relief in the ninth. In his second appearance of the year Forkert (1-0) didn’t surrender a hit and struck out two.

Dorris (0-1) was tagged with the loss for the Loggers. The right-hander gave up three hits and the winning run in his 2.2 innings of relief.

The Mallards pitching staff continued their strong start to the 2012 campaign, their 39 strikeouts is tied with Wisconsin Rapids for the league lead.

The Mallards travel to La Crosse for games two and three of their weekend series with the Loggers. They return to the “Duck Pond” on Monday, June 4th to square off against the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. That night will be Charter Communications Swamp People Night at the ballpark, Mallards fans will have the opportunity to meet Bruce Mitchell from the hit TV show.

The 2012 season is upon us! Single-game tickets are on-sale for all Mallards home games!

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.