04/06 – 04/07/13
sports | 65
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Home run trot: Mike Madigan of the Ramblers rounds third base and receives a glad hand from first-year coach Nick Bridich in Saturday’s season opener.
photography by joel lerner
Goodbye, baseball
Loyola’s Madigan exhibits early power surge ■ by kevin reiterman Senior Mike Madigan has been an absentee home run hitter. “The last time I hit a home run … {now, wait for it} … I was in the eighth grade,” said the Loyola Academy first baseman. “I hit it at some random park.” The lanky 6-foot-4 Madigan — no relation to Mike Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, though, he said, “I get that all the time.” — smacked a solo shot in the fourth inning of Saturday’s 8-1 season-opening win over visiting Rockford Guilford. To quote an ESPN anchor, “You can go ahead and call the next of kin (because) that one’s a goner.” Or, “Like a kid going home crying to his mommy, that one’s not coming back!” Madigan’s home run disappeared over the leftcenter field fence and into the down-slopped woods at the Loyola varsity field at the Munz Campus. Gone forever. Never to be seen again. To get that ball back — for posterity reasons — you would need a search and rescue team. Madigan wasn’t the only Rambler to go yard. Junior teammate Drew Owen also knocked one — with a runner on — into the same woods in the fifth inning. “Our at-bats today were pretty darn good,” said Loyola’s brand-new head coach Nick Bridich. “We’ve got guys, 1 to 9, who can put the ball in play.” Bridich, who had been the head coach at Chicago De La Salle for the past four seasons, watched his team score eight times on 11 hits. His No. 7 hitter — Madigan — was a triple away from hitting for the cycle. “He gave us some quality at-bats,” said Bridich, a graduate of Marquette University High School in Milwaukee who played his college baseball (middle infielder) at Butler University. “He had some pitches to drive. He was aggressive.” Madigan also doubled in the second inning, when his big fly to dead-went off the outfielder’s glove. In his third at-bat, he singled to center.
“I had been struggling, offensively,” said Madigan. “I’ve been working a lot on my swing. Trying to figure things out. It came together today. “Today was special,” he added. “Hopefully, I’ll keep it going.” Madigan, a corner infielder, was just as happy with the team’s showing. “We’ve got a talented group,” he said. “We’re sticking together and playing good team baseball.” The Ramblers will be aiming for a big turnaround this year. They finished 11-24 last spring. Bridich will depend heavily on senior Daniel Rafferty, who will play at Bucknell University. The left-hander will be the ace of the staff — he allowed only one hit and one run in four innings against Rockford Guilford — and No. 3 hitter in the batting order. His first at-bat on Saturday was a two-run single in the first inning. “He’s played a lot of baseball,” said Bridich. “He’s tough. Tough as nails.” The LA coach also is super high on Dan Woodrow. The senior right-fielder (2-for-4) made an instant impact in the season opener. “Having your leadoff hitter rip a triple … You can’t start a season much better than that,” said Bridich. “He’s another D-1 kid,” the coach said. “He runs the 60 in 6.7. And you saw his arm today, when he threw out a runner at home by 10 steps.” Junior shortstop Tom Bordignon, who is hitting in the two hole, is another tough out. He went 1-for-3 and scored three runs against Guilford. His day also included a fabulous defensive play. “He’s a competitor,” Bridich said. “He’s a hardnosed. And he’s ready to take on a leadership role. In fact, he craves that.” Bordignon is penciled in as the No. 3 starting pitcher. “He throws 85 to 87 (mph),” the coach said. “He’s got unlimited pitching potential.” The big RBI guy on Saturday was Owen. In addition to his homer, the center fielder brought in a run with a sacrifice fly to finish three RBIs. Owen, who can reach 91 mph, will be the No. 2 starter.■
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