{"id":13015,"date":"2018-06-30T21:56:19","date_gmt":"2018-07-01T02:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/?p=13015"},"modified":"2018-06-30T21:58:34","modified_gmt":"2018-07-01T02:58:34","slug":"mallards-clinch-first-half-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/","title":{"rendered":"Mallards Clinch First Half Crown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Madison, Wis. \u2013 \u00a0The Madison Mallards (25-8) clinched the South Division first half title with a 12-6 win over the Green Bay Bullfrogs (12-21) on Saturday night at Warner Park. After the Kalamazoo Growlers fell to the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders earlier tonight, the Mallards victory seals a spot in the 2018 NWL Playoffs in August. The first half title is the Mallards first since 2013 when the Mallards went 21-12 in the first half. Madison went on to win the 2013 NWL Championship later that summer.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tonight, the Mallards were propelled by a patient approach at the plate and timely hitting in key situations. The Mallards tallied only seven hits at the plate but drew eight walks and were hit by a pair of errant pitches. Madison\u2019s key offensive moments came in just two innings as the Mallards scored six in the second frame and three in the third. Mallards outfielder <strong>Jayse McLean <\/strong>(NDSU) crushed two home runs into the Great Dane Duck Blind Suites to lead the Madison offense.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Turning Point<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Madison second baseman <strong>Max Hewitt<\/strong>(Oklahoma State) delivered a two-run double while <strong>Jesse Forestell <\/strong>(Western Michigan) and <strong>Trevor Schwecke <\/strong>(UW-Milwaukee) added RBI hits to give the Mallards an early 6-0 advantage in the second inning. Then, <strong>Jayse McLean <\/strong>cranked a three-run bomb deep into the night to extend the lead in the bottom of the third. After three, the Mallards led 9-2.<\/p>\n<p>The Bullfrogs were able to chip into the advantage during the middle innings setting the stage for a top of the eighth inning. Mallards reliever <strong>Trace Norkus <\/strong>(North Florida) entered in a dangerous spot with the tying run at the plate and two down in the inning. With runners on first and second and Madison holding a 9-6 lead, Norkus picked up a huge strikeout to end the threat. Norkus has held hitters to a 1-for-22 clip with runners in scoring position this season. Norkus then closed out the game with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth to seal the first half crown.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Top Mallards <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mallards outfielder <strong>Jayse McLean <\/strong>(NDSU) crushed two home runs and knocked in four runs in the huge victory. His second was a solo shot that added insurance in the bottom of the eighth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trevor Schwecke <\/strong>collected a pair of hits and knocked in two runs. Schwecke now has four doubles this season and has raised his average to .310.<\/li>\n<li>Mallards starter <strong>Dalton Wiggins <\/strong>lasted 5.0 innings and allowed three runs on four hits, earning the win in the Mallards division-clinching victory.<\/li>\n<li>Madison closer <strong>Trace Norkus <\/strong>picked up his NWL-leading ninth save in the win. Norkus has yet to allow a run through 15.0 innings on the mound this season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Playoff Information<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thanks to tonight\u2019s victory, the Mallards will play in the first round of the 2018 NWL playoffs at Warner Park on Monday, August 13. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM and gates will open at 5:30 PM.<\/p>\n<p>For current season ticket and package holders, tickets for the playoff game will go on sale at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, July 3. For the rest of the public, playoff tickets will go on sale at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, July 10. Additional details will be sent to season ticket and package holders and will also be available at mallardsbaseball.com soon.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Next Up<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tomorrow, the Mallards travel to the Green Bay looking for the series sweep at 1:05 PM. The Mallards return home for a three-game homestand starting Tuesday, July 3. The game will feature a post-game performance by Run Forrest Run presented by MGE followed by fireworks presented by LSM Chiropractic. Also, make sure to take advantage of the Wisconsin Ticket special. Get a ticket package that\u2019s valued at $40 for just $19. For tickets and more information visit mallardsbaseball.com. Make sure to catch every Mallards game on The Zone, 1670 AM and 96.7 FM.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>###<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate 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 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). \u00a0All league games are viewable live via the<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/portal.stretchinternet.com\/nwl\/\"><em>Northwoods League portal<\/em><\/a><em>. For more information, visit<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mallardsbaseball.com\/\"><em>www.mallardsbaseball.com<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Mallards as your favorite team.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Madison, Wis. \u2013 \u00a0The Madison Mallards (25-8) clinched the South Division first half title with a 12-6 win over the  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":13016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,15,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-permanentslider","category-team-news","category-update-ticker"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mallards Clinch First Half Crown - Madison Mallards<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mallards Clinch First Half Crown\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Madison, Wis. \u2013 \u00a0The Madison Mallards (25-8) clinched the South Division first half title with a 12-6 win over the [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Madison Mallards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-01T02:56:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-01T02:58:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/06\/6.30Recap_Web.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"602\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"347\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin-madison\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin-madison\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/\",\"name\":\"Mallards Clinch First Half Crown - Madison Mallards\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/06\/6.30Recap_Web.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-01T02:56:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-01T02:58:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/46b43d0ad20fd9ed52a4e903985bbc7e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/06\/6.30Recap_Web.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/06\/6.30Recap_Web.png\",\"width\":602,\"height\":347},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mallards Clinch First Half Crown\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/\",\"name\":\"Madison Mallards\",\"description\":\"Official Home of Your 9-Inning Vacation!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/46b43d0ad20fd9ed52a4e903985bbc7e\",\"name\":\"admin-madison\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6ea235f7a270a99181441184c7825bc91a9c4de8cb4e5993ee68714304fdfcc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6ea235f7a270a99181441184c7825bc91a9c4de8cb4e5993ee68714304fdfcc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin-madison\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/author\/admin-madison\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mallards Clinch First Half Crown - Madison Mallards","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mallards Clinch First Half Crown","og_description":"Madison, Wis. \u2013 \u00a0The Madison Mallards (25-8) clinched the South Division first half title with a 12-6 win over the [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/","og_site_name":"Madison Mallards","article_published_time":"2018-07-01T02:56:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-07-01T02:58:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":602,"height":347,"url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/06\/6.30Recap_Web.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin-madison","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin-madison","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/","url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/","name":"Mallards Clinch First Half Crown - Madison Mallards","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/06\/6.30Recap_Web.png","datePublished":"2018-07-01T02:56:19+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-01T02:58:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/46b43d0ad20fd9ed52a4e903985bbc7e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/06\/6.30Recap_Web.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/06\/6.30Recap_Web.png","width":602,"height":347},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2018\/06\/30\/mallards-clinch-first-half-crown\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mallards Clinch First Half Crown"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#website","url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/","name":"Madison Mallards","description":"Official Home of Your 9-Inning Vacation!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/46b43d0ad20fd9ed52a4e903985bbc7e","name":"admin-madison","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6ea235f7a270a99181441184c7825bc91a9c4de8cb4e5993ee68714304fdfcc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6ea235f7a270a99181441184c7825bc91a9c4de8cb4e5993ee68714304fdfcc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin-madison"},"url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/author\/admin-madison\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}