A’s Lose Heartbreaker
Posted: July 9, 2009
When this 2009 season comes to an end, this week will be the one that will be most remebered.
The Kenosha Kings nipped the Sheboygan A’s 3-2 in 11 innings at KenoshA’s Simmons Field Thursday night. It comes on the heels of a 2-1 loss at Oshkosh earlier in the week. Winning on the road is tough in the Wisconsin State League, but memories of losing those oh-so-close ones, well, they just don’t go away.
Mitchell Gardner may never forget it. Gardner started and fired nine innings at the powerful Kings, scattering seven hits and striking out seven. The first year A’s player had his team in a 2-2 tie when he left after nine innings. But those Kings can’t be stopped forever and they put three hits and a walk together in the 11th to score the winning run off reliever Gabe Marshall.
“Your pitcher (Gardner) was something else,” Kenosha manager Tim Pulizzano said. So was his. Jon Kleinmeyer went all the way — 11 innings worth — and held the A’s to just two second inning runs. Ryan Schmitz and David Novak singled. Randy Rennicke bunted them up and then Taylor Schwarz hit a sacrifice fly to score Schmitz and Brett Cleveringa singled in Novak.
Unlike that second inning, failures to get bunts down in the fifth and eighth innings stopped potential scoring opportunities. Kleinmeyer allowed only seven hits in his 11 innings. When a guy’s going that well, you can’t squander the opportunities you do get. Failures to execute are usually the difference in 3-2 games.
The A’s get more chances this weekend. They are in Chicago to play the Melrose Indians in a Saturday doubleheader and the Chicago Wildcats in a Sunday doubledip. All four games are at Oak Forest High School. The players bus leaves from Wildwood Park at 9:45 a.m.
The Sheboygan A's are members of the Wisconsin State League and Northeastern Wisconsin Baseball League. The A's have helped develop more than 43 players that have reached professional baseball, including 2002 World Series Champion Jarrod Washburn (Anaheim Angels). All Sheboygan A's home games are played at Wildwood Baseball Park in Sheboygan. Connect with the A's on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
