Wausau Woodchucks
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau Woodchucks blew a two-run lead in the top of the 9th inning but came back for a 6-5 win in ten innings against the Madison Mallards on Friday.
Madison was down to their final strike in the ninth inning, trailing 4-2, before Davis Hamilton and Brock Lulewiscz delivered back-to-back singles to tie the game. In the tenth, the Mallards took the lead 5-4 on a Gavin Brozozowski RBI single. What looked like two straight wins for Wausau against their rivals felt lost.
However, the mentality of the Woodchucks remained constant: fight until the very. End. After multiple tight losses this year, Wausau got on the right side of one Friday night.
Courtesy runner Dylan Schlotterback (Paris JC/Kansas) started the bottom of the tenth at second base, per league rules. He quickly moved to third base on a past ball, while Anthony Quigley took a leadoff walk. Noah Malone (Loyola Marymount) would drive in Schlotterback on a fielder’s choice groundout to make it 5-5. That moved Quigley to second base.
The next hitter, Josh McClintock (Dodge City CC/Western Illinois), took another walk, and then, with Max Soliz (Kansas) at the plate, Wausau coach Corey Thompson took a chance. With two strikes on Soliz, Thompson called for a double steal. Quigley moved to third base, and when the throw came there from Madison’s catcher, it got behind third baseman Brock Lulewiscz, the man who had tied the game back in the ninth, and into left field.
Quigley would score the game-winning run to clinch Wausau’s first walk-off win of the season, and its second win against Madison. With the win, Wausau moves into sole possession of first place in the Great Lakes West Division for the first time this season. The error that forced the winning run across was Madison’s sixth on the night, a new season high for the Mallards.
Wausau now has a chance to win the four-game series against the Mallards when the Woodchucks travel to Warner Park to face Madison on the road on Saturday and Sunday. First pitch for Saturday’s game is 6:35 PM, with Wausau native Sam Nitzke (Angelina College/UT-Tyler) expected to take the mound to start. The next event at Athletic Park will be the first-ever game for the Wausau Ignite softball team, as they host the La Crosse Steam on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
Other scores from Friday in the Northwoods League- Great Lakes Division:
Royal Oak (MI) 3, Wisconsin Rapids 1
Traverse City 9, Rockford 2
Kalamazoo 14, Battle Creek 3
Kenosha 4, Lakeshore 2
Fond du Lac 6, Green Bay 2
Rochester 14, Eau Claire 4
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