Madison, Wis. (June 26) – Guided by their best power output of the season and more impressive starting pitching, the Madison Mallards (19-13) walked away with a convincing 11-4 victory over the Kenosha Kingfish (20-12) Friday night at the Duck Pond.
The victory guaranteed field manager Donnie Scott and company a two-game series split with their South-Division opponent heading into Saturday’s matchup with the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters and ensured the Mallards would remain one game back of the south division lead.
Anthony Gonsolin (St. Mary’s College) and Cameron Frost (Washington State) led Madison’s offensive charge, each clubbing a home run en route to a 6-for-10 combined performance at the plate with six runs batted. Jean Ramirez (Illinois State) and Chris Tschida (Western Illinois) went yard in the win, additionally, while Matt Bower (Washington State) turned in his fourth quality start of the season on the mound, allowing two runs – one earned – across six innings in which he struck out four and walked one.
“They just came out aggressive, and that’s what it’s all about,” said Scott of his lineup after the win. “They really let it go tonight, especially the top of the lineup – that was incredible. I thought he (Bower) was outstanding. His breaking ball got sharper as he went; I don’t know about velocity. But he just started getting more bite. He got the ball up a little bit (at times), but he made the adjustment, started to get the ball down. He got more aggressive, too.”
Madison’s aggressive approach showed early. The bottom of the first inning saw Madison grind out four hits, including Gonsolin’s home run, which eventually gave the Mallards a 4-0 lead. Kenosha followed with a pair of runs in the top of second, but Scott’s lineup kept the foot on the gas pedal, tabbing four runs in the third and two more in the home half of the fourth frame, giving the Mallards a 10-2 advantage heading into the fifth inning.
Following Bower’s impressive outing, Grant Spranger (Southeastern CC) came on in relief of the 6-foot-5 southpaw in the top of the seventh. The Kingfish threatened soon after, knocking out three hits en route to scoring one run despite loading the bases in the inning. With his shaky seventh inning behind him, though, Spranger recovered to toss the final three frames of the contest on the mound for Madison, allowing one earned run with two strikeouts and a walk before inducing a game-ending ground out to shortstop Tony Butler (Madison College).
With their impressive victory behind them, the Mallards will turn their attention toward the opener of a two-game set with the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters Saturday night at the Duck Pond. First pitch for Saturday’s contest is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. For tickets, call the Mallards ticket office at 608-246-4277 or visit www.MallardsBaseball.com for more information.
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The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit www.MallardsBaseball.com.
