Mallards Use Late Rally to Beat Woodchucks After Rain Delay
MADISON, WI – In a game which hung in the balance throughout, the Wisconsin Woodchucks (41-24) came up short by a score of 4-3 in Madison Saturday night.
After the 11th meeting of the season between the Woodchucks and the Mallards (33-30) was delayed for over two hours due to rain, no team led by more than one run all night. The Mallards now sit 2.5 games behind the first-place Chucks in the second-half standings with one week left in the season.
Cade Denton tossed six innings of two-run ball in a no-decision. He allowed only three hits, striking out a season-high seven batters and inducing a pair of inning-ending double plays.
Clayton Mehlbauer hit his fourth homer of the season, a solo blast to right-center in the top of the third inning which knotted the score at one apiece.
Antonio Valdez walked and scored on a hit-and-run by Chase Bessard, putting the visitors ahead 2-1 later in the inning.
But Madison responded to tie the game at two after a leadoff double and sacrifice fly. The score remained tied throughout the middle of the game as each team stranded several baserunners.
The Woodchucks struck out a total of 18 times, a season-high mark on a night when the slick infield posed problems for defenders on both sides.
Kevin Kilpatrick reached on a dropped third strike in the eighth and stole second. Later in the inning, Ben McCabe’s fly ball to left broke the tie and put the Woodchucks back in front.
But after the Chucks stranded McCabe and Ryan Sepede in scoring position, the Mallards bounced back in the bottom of the inning. A pair of base hits, a walk and an error plated the winning runs in a game that ended after 11:30 p.m.
Reliever Tommy Wahl took the loss after allowing the unearned runs. The Mallards now lead the season series 6-5 and draw one game closer in the division standings.
The defeat sets up a pivotal matchup tomorrow afternoon, determining whether the Mallards can get within 1.5 games of the Woodchucks in pursuit of the second playoff spot in the Great Lakes West.
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
