Spicer, MN- August 14, 2016. In the final game of the 2016 Northwoods League regular season, The Madison Mallards (20-16, 43-29) dropped Sunday evening’s contest to the Willmar Stingers (23-13, 41-31) by a final score of 14-7.
Nico Hoerner (Stanford) didn’t wait long to get the offense going, as he ripped a single into right field on the game’s third pitch. After a groundout put Hoerner in scoring position, Nelson Maldonado (Florida) drew his 30th walk of the season to put runners on the corners with one out. Zach Jarrett would deliver with a timely RBI to right field to put the Mallards on the board first. The Mallards weren’t done scoring, as Nate Palace (Valparaiso) lined a fastball to the warning track to score Maldonado from third. With the two run first, It marked the second consecutive night in which the Mallards scored a run in the first inning.
After the Stingers answered with a 3-run first inning, the Mallards showed their resiliency by bouncing back immediately. After Hoerner singled again, Matt McCann (Fairleigh Dickinson) would rip a single into right field to put runners on the corners with one out. Maldonado would follow with a timely hit to tie the score at three, and Zach Jarrett would tally his second RBI of the night by grounding into a fielder’s choice to score McCann from third as the Mallards regained a 4-3 lead.
The Mallards bats would remain quiet until the sixth inning, before Bryce Carter (Stanford) would make things interesting. After Josh Stowers (Louisville) walked on four pitches to lead off the inning, Bryce Carter would rip a 2-run home run to dead center field to cut the deficit to just two. The Stingers would respond with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the sixth, to open up a six run lead.
Madison would get their final run in the seventh inning. Maldonado led the inning off with a double off the wall in right field. Maldonado was then replaced by Jesse Medrano (Fresno St.) on the base paths. With Medrano advancing to third on a wild pitch, Jarrett would tally his third RBI of the night with a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Mallards their seventh run. Jarrett finished the game 1-5 with 3 RBI’s, and led the Mallards during the regular season with 57 total RBI’s.
The two teams would combine to score twenty-one runs on twenty-one hits, as both teams’ head into the Northwoods League Playoffs with red-hot offenses.
The Mallards will begin the 2016 Northwoods League South Division Playoffs at home Monday night as they play host to the Battle Creek Bombers. First pitch from the Duck Pond is scheduled for 7:05. Tickets can be purchased online at www.mallardsbaseball.com
The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball, 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 150 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 (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.mallardsbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the Mallards as your favorite team.
