MADISON, WI. – Mallards righty Colin Brockhouse was in control on Friday night in Madison, retiring 16 of the first 19 before allowing a hit, as the Madison Mallards won their home opener 8-3 over the Rockford Rivets in front of a crowd of 6,546
Cole Bellaire (0-1) took the loss, going four innings (three earned) and giving up four runs
Neal Tyrell broke up the no-hit bid with a one out double in the seventh inning and scored a run shortly afterwards on a Ricardo Ramirez double. Jordan Hovey added an RBI single, but the Rivets could threaten no further
After a good start to the game for Bellaire, the Rivets righty ran into trouble in the third by walking Scott Armstrong before a single by Matt McCann. Armstrong would score on an error by Rockford 2B Jordan Hovey. Madison would never look back, building a 5-0 lead before the Rivets rally in the 7th.
The Rivets will travel to Wausau for a two game series against the Wisconsin Woodchucks at 6:35 p.m. Saturday for the opening game. Broadcasts and live streams can be found at NorthwoodsLeague.com. The Rivets’ next home game is at 6:35 p.m. Monday, when they host the Lakeshore Chinooks on Office Night.
Rockford is a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League, which will play its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2016. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 140 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox), Jordan Zimmermann (Detroit Tigers), Curtis Granderson (New York Mets), Lucas Duda (Mets) and Ben Zobrist (Chicago Cubs). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website, NorthwoodsLeague.com. For more information, visit RockfordRivets.com.
