Madison, Wis. (August 3) – On a night when Green Bay and La Crosse tabbed victories to stay hot on the Madison Mallards’ (19-11, 39-26) heels for second place in the South Division’s second-half standings, field manager Donnie Scott and company overcame a 5-0 deficit after just one inning of play to grab a crucial 6-5 victory against the Alexandria Blue Anchors (16-16, 28-39) Monday night at the Duck Pond. Jonathan Quintana’s (Barry University) triple and run scored in the bottom of the eighth provided the go-ahead run for Madison, who has now strung together four consecutive victories.
The night began on what could perhaps be considered a worst-case scenario for the Mallards, who witnessed starting pitcher Spencer Goebel (Spring Arbor Univ.) allow five consecutive hits to Alexandria before exiting with five earned runs to his credit over just 0.1 innings of work. Troy Kenkel (UW-La Crosse) came on in relief of Goebel to end the inning sans another run allowed. Feeding off Kenkel’s clutch relief, Madison’s lineup then responded with two runs in the bottom of the first thanks to Jason Goldstein (Illinois) RBI single and Cameron Frost’s (Washington State) run-producing double.
Still facing an uphill climb with a 5-2 deficit entering the top half of the second, Kenkel proceeded to blank the Anchors lineup over the next three innings of play to take the Mallards to the bottom of the fourth. Mallards third baseman Charlie Cody (Virginia) extended Madison’s momentum with an RBI single in the fourth, after which Madison tabbed a two more runs scored – both on wild pitches by Alexandria’s pitching staff, which owned a 4.97 ERA on the road in 2015 – in the sixth to bring Scott and company even with the North Division opponent, 5-5, after six complete innings of play.
After Justin Watts (Northern Kentucky) induced a swinging strikeout of Ricky Sanchez (Notre Dame) to conclude a scoreless top of the eighth inning in which Alexandria loaded the bases, Quintana stepped to the plate as Madison’s leadoff hitter and laced a triple down the right field line. He then touched home on a throwing error to cap a wild 15 seconds of play in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Mallards their first lead of the game. Pitching the ninth, Watts’ strikeout of Steve Sada (Miami-Ohio) with the bases juiced sealed Madison’s comeback effort against the Blue Anchors.
With another comeback win in the books and a one-game lead on second place in the second-half division standings, the Mallards will look forward to an off day on Tuesday for the Northwoods League’s 2015 Big-League Dreams Showcase at Warner Park before revving back up for their 7:05 p.m. tilt with the Anchors on Wednesday. Wednesday will be Charter Communications Team Poster Giveaway night at the stadium, including Kalahari Resorts Indoor Theme Park Pass Giveaway to the first 500 fans. 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.
