Madison, Wis. – The Madison Mallards (8-3) escaped with a 7-6 victory over the Battle Creek Bombers on Friday night at the Duck Pond. While the Mallards pulled out to a 6-1 lead early on, the Bombers fought back to pull within a run in the seventh inning before the Madison bullpen shut the door to seal the win. Winners of six straight, Madison continues to sit alone atop the Northwoods League South Division.
Offensively, Madison was again powered by the tandem of Jake Randa (NW Florida State) and David Vinsky (Northwoods). Randa totaled four hits, including his league-leading seventh double, and knocked in two runs. Meanwhile, Vinsky plated three runs on four hits and also drew a walk. Overall, the pair powered the Mallards to six runs in the game’s first four innings.
Turning Point
After the Bombers pushed across five runs in the top of the seventh inning to make the score 7-6, Madison could not afford to allow any more damage. Reliever Jonah Smith (Creighton) worked a scoreless eighth inning, striking out a pair, to hold the one-run advantage.
In the ninth, Mallards closer Trace Norkus (North Florida) entered to attempt to seal the victory. After walking the leadoff man, Norkus induced a fly ball and struck a man out to set up a high-leverage situation with two down and a man on third. Norkus sealed the win with a soft grounder to Max Hewitt (Oklahoma State) at third base who ranged to his left, threw, and nabbed the runner by a step at first base to record the game’s final out.
Top Mallards
- Randa, Vinsky, and Tyler Plantier (Richmond) each extended their season-long hitting streaks. Randa and Vinsky both recorded four hits and combined for five RBI.
- Trace Norkus (North Florida) earned his fourth save this season, staying perfect in save opportunities this summer. Norkus worked out of a nobody out, man on second jam in the ninth inning to secure the Mallards win.
Quoteables
David Vinsky, on continuing his season-long hitting streak, along with Randa and Plantier…
“We try not to think about it too much. We just try to get our one hit and keep it rolling. But those guys are amazing and they set the table for everyone else.”
Next Up
The Mallards host the Bombers for game two of the two-game set tomorrow night at 6:05 PM. The game features post-game fireworks presented by Budweiser and gates are scheduled to open at 4:30 PM. For tickets and more information visit mallardsbaseball.com.
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The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via theNorthwoods League portal. For more information, visitwww.mallardsbaseball.comor download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Mallards as your favorite team.
