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Costly error keeps Mallards from title

The Capital Times  —  8/17/2008 10:46 pm

The Madison Mallards fell short in their bid for the organization's second Northwoods League title, dropping a 6-5 decision to Thunder Bay in the decisive third game of the amateur collegiate baseball league's championship series.

A throwing error committed by Madison shortstop Brandon Wikoff allowed Thunder Bay to score the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of a game punctuated by miscues on both sides.

The Mallards led 5-3 going into the eighth inning, but sloppy play in the field led to one Thunder Bay run before Derek Wiley came to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third.

Wikoff ranged to his right to retrieve Wiley's sharply hit ground ball, but the throw was wild, and two runs scored on the play.

"We don't want the ball hit to anyone else other than Brandon," Mallards manager C.J. Thieleke said in a postgame radio interview. "It was a tough play in the hole."

The win gave Thunder Bay its second Northwoods League title, both at the expense of the Mallards. The Border Cats also defeated Madison in the 2005 championship series.

After splitting the first two games of the series in a pair of one-run games, Madison jumped out to an early lead when Rob Lyerly's RBI double plated Wikoff in the top of the first.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Wiley slammed a two-run homer in the bottom half of the frame. The Border Cats added another run in the fifth, aided by a Wikoff error.

Wikoff made amends later, though, scoring the run that put the Mallards back in front on a bizarre play in the top of the seventh.

With the bases loaded and one out, Thunder Bay second baseman Connor Lind couldn't handle Lyerly's ground ball, allowing two runs to score. Lyerly attempted to advance to second, and when the Border Cats made a throw to nab Lyerly, Wikoff darted for home and scored to make it 5-3 in favor of Madison.

Wikoff reached on a two-out single in the ninth, but Thunder Bay reliever Jimmy Stanley struck out Lyerly to end the game and clinch the title.

The Capital Times  —  8/17/2008 10:46 pm