Madison shutout through six, rally falls short in later innings

Madison, WI – The Mallards continued their homestand on Monday, wrapping up their series with Traverse City. After the Pit Spitters walked-off Madison on their own field on Saturday night, Traverse City won the series with a 7-4 victory on Sunday.

After Madison scored first in the first two games of the set, Traverse City took the early lead in the finale. Jake Hilton threw 31 pitches in the 1st inning and while limiting further damage, a wild pitch gave the Pit Spitters a 1-0 advantage.

While Madison stayed scoreless through six due to the scoreless outing from Nico Saldias, the Pit Spitters offense extended their lead in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings against Hilton and Chad McCann. With a 2-0 edge, Alec Atkinson hit his first homer of the year off McCann in the 5th to move the lead to four. Both walks issued by McCann in the 6th would later come around and score.

Donnie Scott’s Mallards were finally able to muster together some offense in the bottom of the 7th. With the bases loaded, Kyle Schroedledoubled home all three runners for his first hit as a Mallard to cut the lead in half, 6-3.

Madison’s Cam Clines finished the game out of the bullpen. After recording the first two outs in the 9th, four straight Pit Spitters reached and an insurance run scored on a wild pitch for the second time in the contest.

The Mallards threatened closer Mitch White in the bottom of the 9th. A single off the bat of Jackson Tucker put the tying run at the plate but Ryan Sprock lined out on the first pitch.

Madison finishes their stay at home tomorrow against Fond du Lac, a make-up of the game that was postponed due to poor air quality on June 28th. Madison and Fond du Lac will be the only Northwoods League game played on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 P.M. CST.