Mallards Victorious in Low Scoring Affair
Ducks’ bullpen tosses shutout in win against Rockford
Madison, WI – The Mallards were able to grind out a 2-1 victory at Warner Park to retake the series lead over Rockford on Wednesday night.
It was the first start of the season for Mitchell Leroy for the Mallards after previously making five appearances out of the bullpen to start the year. Leroy (4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) was able to tiptoe around some trouble to turn in a solid performance on the mound in his first Mallards start. He was followed by Justin Miller, Adrian Montilva, and Bryce Woody (S, 3) in relief and the trio tossed six consecutive innings of shut-out ball to secure the second win of the four-game series.
For just the third time in the past two weeks, the Mallards were able to cross the plate first. Madison’s multi-talented leadoff man J.J. Rollon continued to play well on both sides of the field and shot a double to right field to begin the day for the Ducks on offense in the 1st. An errant throw from Rockford’s right fielder moved Rollon 90 feet closer. Marcus Brodil was able to drive Rollon home on the first pitch of the next at-bat to give the Mallards a 1-0 lead. Left fielder Scott Shaw walked against Rivets’ starter Tanner Knight (L, 1-2, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) and made his own way around the base paths with a stolen base, an error on the throw to second base, and a wild pitch for a 2-0 edge. Rockford countered with one run of their own in the top of the 2nd inning. Rockford’s cleanup batter Ty Crittenberger walked against Leroy and played copycat off Shaw. Crittenberger advanced on a wild pitch, stole third, and scored the only Rivets run of the day on a second wild pitch. The two offenses would sit at a complete standstill for the next seven innings. The only other threat in the game came in the top of the 5th against Justin Miller. The bases were loaded with two outs before Miller struck out Crittenberger to leave the bases loaded. Bryce Woody earned his third save by striking out four and not allowing a single base runner in just over two innings pitched. Woody has now struck out ten of his last fifteen batters faced.
The Mallards travel to Rockford Stadium in Illinois tomorrow to wrap up the four-game set with the Rivets. A Mallards win would mean their first series victory since the second week of June. Coverage can be found on the Northwoods League website under the ‘Live Action’ tab at 6:35 PM.
