Mallards Top Chinooks 7-2 on Opening Day
Four runs in the fourth pushed the ducks into a secure lead

BOX SCORE HERE: https://northwoodsleague.com/madison-mallards/scoreboard

Madison, WIS. – For the first time in over 20 months the Mallards hosted a game at the Duck Pond, and they sent their limited capacity crowd home happy with a 7-2 win on opening day over the Lakeshore Chinooks.

It was an eventful first inning on both sides, as the Chinooks loaded the bases but were unable to score as Mallards starting pitcher Rryan Lauk struck out the side. The Mallards scored two runs in the first on hits from Cam Cratic, J.T. Benson, Dominic Toso and Joseph Kalafut.  From there, Lauk shut down the Chinooks allowing just one run over five innings of work with seven strikeouts.

Following Lauk on the mound was Kyle Jungers, the Madison native who came out of the bullpen and threw three shutout innings. He struck out six batters in those three innings.

The Mallards then tacked on another run in the eighth on three straight singles from Jacob Slonim, Cratic and Benson. That put them up 7-1 before Christian Horner came in the top of the 9th and closed the door with a 7-2 win.

Turning Point
The fourth inning was the turning point of the game, as the Mallards scored four runs. Three consecutive singles from Benson, Bryant Shallenbarger and Toso got the inning started and then a walk and an error helped the Mallards tack on.

Top Mallards
JT Benson came up with three hits on the night for the Mallards out of the two hole, including a double and two singles with two RBI. He also scored two runs in both the first and fourth innings and played third base despite normally playing in the outfield.

Next Up
Game two of the opening series with the Chinooks will take place tomorrow at the Warner Park Duck Pond once again with a first pitch of 6:05 p.m.