A’s Battered in Playoff Opener
Posted: August 7, 2010
When everybody else in the semi-pro baseball circuit gears up for post-season play the Sheboygan A’s seem to be downshifting.
On Saturday, a pumped up Appleton Legends team embarrassed the A’s by a 15-5 score in a game stopped in the seventh inning by the 10-run mercy rule.
The A’s now face a win-or-pack-it-in Sunday afternoon when they meet those same Legends in a 1 p.m. game at Wildwood Park.
The club played a couple good games last week to secure a playoff berth, but en route lost two of three games to a De Pere team that won only three games all season long. They shrugged that off and talked about making some noise in the playoffs.
The Legends muffled them on Saturday.
The A’s took a 2-1 lead (with Matt Schilter figuring in both runs) into the bottom of the third, but then starter Chevy Tollefson lost it. He walked the bases full and then surrendered a triple to John Henrickson. Appleton went on to score five runs in the inning for a 6-2 lead.
Then came the fourth. Appleton had runners on first and second with one out when Henrickson hit a ground rule double that bounced over the short, temporary fence that graces left field at Nienhuis Field. Except that the umpires had the only four eyes in the ballpark that didn’t see the ball bounce over. The 1-run double became a 3-run home run and a 9-2 Appleton lead.
While coming back from a deficit like that against Appleton’s pitching staff presents a formidable challenge, it became nearly impossible when frustration shoved aside discipline and two of the A’s top hitters were directed to leave the park.
Appleton scored six runs in the seven thinning to hit the 10-run margin and take the A’s out of their misery.
Matt Schilter had a single and double and Kyle Edlhuber a triple to lead A’s at the plate. Tollefson took the loss.
Jack Larsen is scheduled to pitch for the A’s on Sunday.
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.
