Justin Nuoffer
RBI leader Jake Randa in fine form at bat.
The Madison Mallards still have a month left on their 2018 regular-season schedule, but this hard-hitting team has already claimed a spot in the postseason.
That’s what happens when you win the first half of the Northwoods League’s South Division. Madison’s franchise-best 28-8 record through the first 36 games of a 72-game schedule placed the Mallards 3.5 games in front of the Kalamazoo Growlers and secured the team a place in the Northwoods League playoffs next month.
Mark your calendar: The Mallards will host a first-round playoff game Aug. 13 at Warner Park. And yes, tickets are already on sale at mallardsbaseball.com.
Madison led all Northwoods League teams in first-half wins, with North Division champ Bismarck Larks managing 25 wins.
This season’s first-half title is Madison’s first since 2013, when the Mallards went 21-12 in the first half and eventually won the 2013 NWL Championship. Almost a dozen players from that team eventually played professional ball, including Brock Stewart, who pitched 80 innings with the Los Angeles Dodgers between 2016 and 2018 before he was reassigned to the minors earlier this season.
The 2018 Mallards are making a definitive statement in this, their 18th year in Madison. Through July 8, they led the 20-team league in hits (403), home runs (33) and total bases (578), and they ranked second in runs batted in (210).
Outfielder Jake Randa and infielder Tyler Plantier both stand among the league’s top six RBI leaders, with 34 and 32, respectively; Plantier, a junior at the University of Richmond, also leads the Mallards in homers with nine. Meanwhile, Dalton Wiggins, a freshman pitcher from Marietta College, is one of several NWL pitchers with four wins this season. Only David Lemasters from the Rochester (Minn.) Honkers and Justin Slaten from the Eau Claire Express have more, with five each.
Now let’s hope Madison doesn’t collapse and stumble into the postseason. The Mallards opened their second half with five straight losses during the first week of July.
Beginning July 13, the Mallards have 17 regular-season home games remaining, including Goat Yoga Night at the Duck Pond on Tuesday, July 17, featuring an hour-long session in the outfield from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. First pitch against the Lakeshore Chinooks from Mequon will be at 7:05 p.m.
The Summer Collegiate World Series is scheduled for Aug. 15-17; this could be Madison’s longest Northwoods League summer in five years.
