Schwarz, Winfield, Langley Return

Three notable names from the 2012 roster have returned for another season with the Sheboygan A’s.

Heading the list is veteran Taylor Schwarz, who is back for his sixth season. The other two are left-handed pitcher Brandon Winfield and first baseman Chad Langley, both impact players from Marian College back for their second seasons.

Schwarz, a switch hitter has a .265 career average with 30 doubles and 76 runs batted in. Despite being remarkably steady as a left-side infielder, Schwarz is becoming even more valuable as a pitcher and is penciled in for a lot of innings this year. He is 9-4 in his career with a 3.08 earned run average.

A 4-year letterman at South High School, Schwarz set 17 school records before going on to play collegiately at Madison Tech (3-year all-conference), North Carolina Greensboro and UW-Parkside.

Winfield, a crowd favorite, set both the team’s one-season and career saves record last year with 10, en route winning the team’s prestigious Sine Qua Non Award. He was accorded second team all-league honors on both the Wisconsin State League and the Northeastern Wisconsin League.

He led the club in appearances (23) and innings pitched (67) last year when he went 2-6 with a 2.67 earned average. He finished second in the NEW with a .44 earned run average in 21 innings.

Winfield is currently 2-1 with a 1.49 earned run average in 36 innings pitched at Marian University, where he is a junior. He lettered in baseball and basketball at Ripon High School and helped the Ripon Legion team to two state championships.

Langley hails from Racine and is a classmate of Winfield’s at Marian.

He is enjoying a super season for Marian coach Jason Bartelt, currently hitting .440 in 26 games and has yet to commit an error with 240 chances. He hit .259 with seven doubles, three triples and a home run and 29 runs batted in in 54 games with the A’s last season.

After earning All-Conference honors at Horlick High School he came to Marian and hit .320 as a freshman.

“Getting these three back is a huge plus for us,” said General Manager Denny Moyer. “Taylor’s experience and his bat from both sides of the plate are big bonuses. The drawback is that his job limits his availability. He is one of the top pitchers on the roster and is likely to be in the starting rotation.”

“Brandon is a gamer. He took a lot of those losses when he shouldn’t even have been out there. He’s a competitor and he’s a real team guy. He wants the baseball,” Moyer said.

“Chad gives us some punch from the left side and he adds a lot of stability. Things are starting to come together” he said.

A’s Notes:
Scoreboard – Wildwood Baseball Park’s new scoreboard has arrived. Installation preliminaries are under way and the club is hoping the new scoreboard will be up by Opening Day, May 29. Donors and advertisers are still being sought.

Open for Business: The park is finally open! The extraordinarily wet spring, delayed the park opening for more than three weeks, but the North and South varsities were finally able to play there this past week.

Season Tickets: Season tickets have arrived and will be sent out within the next couiple weeks to season ticket holders.

Food Pantry Night: The A’s open May 29 against the Menasha MACs. It will be Food Pantry Night and fans bringing a non-perishable food item to the game will get $1 off the price of their ticket.

Brewers Trip: The A’s are looking to fill four buses with their Annual Labor Day Sheboygan Day at Miller Park. Fans wishing to go are urged to sign up early since the cutoff to order tickets is July 29. Cost is $60 which in includes game ticket, motor coach transportation, tailgate party and 10th inning back in Sheboygan.

Golf Outing: The annual Snipe Scramble A’s Golf Outing is set for Sunday, Aug. 18 at Town & Country. Early sign-up is encouraged for this event as well as it is growing in popularity every year. Cost is $75 (golf, cart, lunch, dinner, raffle and beverage tickets).