By: Ryan Hill — Public Relations
Madison, WI — August 11, 2013. The Lakeshore Chinooks (23-13, 44-26) secured a spot in the Northwoods League playoffs with a 17-3 blowout win over the Madison Mallards (20-17, 41-29) Sunday afternoon at the ‘Duck Pond.’
The Chinooks had a magic number of one entering play on Sunday and either needed a win or a La Crosse Loggers loss. They have home-field advantage in the divisional round and will host the Mallards tomorrow at 6:35 pm. The Mallards will host Game No. 2 Tuesday at 7:05 pm and Game No. 3 (if necessary) will be at Lakeshore on Wednesday at 6:35 pm.
Mallards starter Rex Morrow (Madison College) quickly got through the first inning by allowing just one hit but ran into trouble in the second. He got the leadoff batter out but it would be two walks and three hits later before he recorded the next out. The Chinooks ended up sending 10 batters to the plate and four different batters recorded RBIs.
Morrow then allowed three straight hits—two singles and a double—before recording an out in the next inning and was replaced by Anthony Olson (Oakton CC). Olson retired three-straight to end the third but allowed three runs in the fourth, two of which came on a Chris Manning (Valparaiso) home run to deep left.
The Mallards, who registered only four hits on the night, finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Drew Weeks (North Florida) gave the Mallards their first hit of the game by blasting a two-run shot to left-center field. It was his 10th long ball of the season and his second in as many days.
Chinooks starter Tyler Thicke (UW-Milwaukee) ended up throwing five innings and allowed two runs (both earned) on two hits while walking three and striking out three. He improves to 5-2 on the year. Tyler Wolfe (Des Moines ACC) came in for the Chinooks in the sixth and allowed just one run on two hits over the last four innings to pick up his first save of the season. John LaPrise (Virginia) doubled in the eighth and was knocked in one batter later on a Joe McCarthy (Virginia) single to right.
Morrow allowed six runs on eight hits in 3+ innings and drops to 0-1 on the year. Geonte Jackson (San Jacinto CC) and Erik Forgione (Washington) also saw time on the mound for the Mallards. Jackson allowed six runs on four hits over the seventh and eighth innings while Forgione allowed three hits but didn’t allow a run.
Chinooks shortstop Sawyer Polen (Kent State) led the way at the plate by going 2-for-5 with five RBIs. Manning was equally impressive and was a triple away from the cycle and knocked in two runs.
LaPrise became the third player in the history of the Northwoods League to hit over .400 in a season by finishing with a .407 average. Waterloo’s Luis Rivera hit .437 in 1995 and La Crosse’s Andrew Knapp hit .400 in 2011. Weeks extended his league-leading RBI total and is currently four ahead of Willmar’s Marc Flores (Hawaii). Weeks finishes the regular season with 67.
The Madison Mallards are your Northwoods League South Division First Half Champions! Playoff tickets are on-sale now!
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. In 2013, the Northwoods League is celebrating its 20th season.
