Not a real good week for the Madison Mallards.

They've lost eight straight — a franchise record — to drop to 29-25 overall and 7-14 in the second half. They're in last place in the Northwoods League South Division.

Luckily for the Mallards, they've already got a berth in the NWL playoffs thanks to their first-half title.

The Mallards travel north to the land of the Woodchucks (we're not sure where that exactly is, but it's somewhere in Wisconsin — if only their team name would specify) tonight and return tomorrow to face Jim Gantner's club at Warner Park.

Here are our weekly awards, if it's possible to name players of the week on a team that's lost eight straight:

Hitter of the week: Trent Soares — After arriving late in the summer from Fresno State, Soares is swinging the bat well of late. He's got seven RBIs in his last eight games, and is hitting .276 in that span.

Pitcher of the week: Nolan Cain — One of the few pitchers to not get shelled during the team's losing streak, Cain didn't allow a run in four innings in his last start. I know, not usually award-worthy, but the Mallards' staff has allowed 55 runs in the last nine games.

And two of those games were seven innings a piece as part of a doubleheader in La Crosse.