Mallards beat the odds en route to title

Ryan Mellenthin
Correspondent for The Capital Times  —  7/04/2008 9:50 pm

The numbers, and the odds, were stacked against the Madison Mallards with a dozen games to go in the first half of the Northwoods League season.

Their roster was five players short of the league limit of 26, in large part due to several signees still participating in the college postseason.

And the Mallards were deep in the South Division standings and treading water despite being in the midst of an unusual 14-game homestand due to scheduling switches brought about by flooding elsewhere.

But a sweep of the division-leading Wisconsin Woodchucks in a pair of extra-inning games in mid-June sparked a furious run to the finish line that resulted in yet another pennant.

The Mallards clinched the first-half title in emphatic fashion Thursday, pounding out 8-2 and 7-2 victories in seven-inning games for a doubleheader sweep at Battle Creek that secured Madison's fifth postseason berth in six seasons. However, they fell to the Woodchucks Friday 8-7 in 10 innings.

Had the Mallards (22-11) lost either game Thursday, they would have lost out on the title, because Wisconsin (22-12) -- which entered the day in a virtual tie for first -- won 3-2 at Waterloo to finish a half-game back. La Crosse (20-13), the other team with a shot at the title, removed itself from the equation with a 6-5 extra-innings loss at Brainerd.

"I have been around sports for a little while now and that's the gutsiest effort of a group of 21 kids that I have been around," Mallards manager C.J. Thieleke said. "With 10 or 11 games to go we were back five and we're playing with 21 players ... they sucked it up and got hot at the right time."

The Mallards played arguably their best baseball of the season the past 13 days, going 10-2 down the stretch to return to the playoffs after a one-year hiatus. It is the third first-half championship for Madison, which also prevailed in 2003 and 2005.

They will host a first-round Northwoods League division playoff game either Aug. 12 or 13, depending on whether they can secure home-field advantage with the best overall record.

Meanwhile, the Woodchucks started 15-2 but went 5-9 down the stretch. Madison started to turn the tide with back-to-back 10-inning victories on June 21-22 at Warner Park that gave the Mallards the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Wisconsin played one more game in the first half than the other two contenders due to postponements.

Thieleke believes his players were under a lot of pressure going into Thursday's doubleheader, but his team is accustomed to it.

"When you sign to play in Madison there's more expectations than just going out in the summer and getting a few at-bats and trying to get your innings in and what-not," said Thieleke, whose team improved to 12-3 on the road compared to just 10-8 at home.

"It's a little different deal. We play in front of the best fans in the country and they understand that, and they try to provide our fans with some playoff baseball. And the only way you can do that is by winning the half (season title) and it came down to, 'You win two games tonight and it's yours.'

"We couldn't have played any better."

Mallards right fielder Rob Lyerly was 5-for-8 in the doubleheader with three RBIs and and two runs scored, while third baseman Drew Martin -- who arrived recently after competing in the NCAA tournament with North Carolina State -- went 5-for-7 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Shortstop Brandon Wikoff went 3-for-8 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while catcher Eric Nielsen was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored.

Pitcher Alex Rivers earned a complete-game victory in the opener, striking out eight and scattering five hits without walking a batter.

Gabriel Shaw was solid on the mound in the nightcap, striking out seven while allowing just one run in six innings of work. He retired 11 straight batters after a leadoff single by Battle Creek's Dusty Harvard in the first inning.

Meanwhile, the Mallards put up seven runs in the second inning of the nightcap to quell any suspense. The rally was aided by an umpires' decision to call catcher's interference on the Bombers (10-24), wiping out what an inning-ending double play grounder by former Monona Grove athlete Josh Groves.

Madison scored six runs in the frame after that sequence.

"I can't be any more proud of the group of guys that we have. We have great leadership coming from Rob Lyerly, Brandon Wikoff and Eric Nielsen," Thieleke said. "You get a couple of guys that really wanna get it done and the rest of them just follow along, that's the way your leadership should handle the club and that's what a couple of those guys did."

Second half starts Friday: The Mallards open the second half in Wausau on Friday, kicking off a two-game series with the Woodchucks.

They then will travel to Duluth and Alexandria before returning to the Duck Pond on July 11 for a single home game against Wisconsin and a road game against the Woodchucks the following night.

Then, Madison will host the Northwoods League All-Star Game, a two-day event on July 12-13. Rosters are scheduled to be announced Tuesday.

Two relievers added: The Mallards bolstered their bullpen this week by adding left-hander Brent Combs, a junior from Missouri State and right-hander Kyle Rutter, a redshirt junior from N.C. State.

To make room on the roster, Madison waived Russell Harben (season-ending foot injury) and Evan LeBlanc, who signed with the New York Mets after being selected in the 23rd round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft in June.

Ryan Mellenthin
Correspondent for The Capital Times  —  7/04/2008 9:50 pm