Menasha’s Late Rally Knocks Off A’s 6-4
Posted: July 23, 2013
Two 3-run innings erased a 4-0 Sheboygan lead and propelled the Northeastern Wisconsin League-leading Menasha MACs to 6-4 win in Menasha Monday night.
While the loss doesn’t eliminate the A’s from home field advantage in the playoff it did create the necessity of a miracle. The best the A’s can do if they win out is 13-7, Menasha already has 13 wins with five games to play, and Appleton has 12 wins with four games to play.
The 10-7 A’s play at Green Bay Wednesday night and host Oshkosh in doubleheader Sunday afternoon.
Next up for the A’s is a Tuesday night game against the West Allis Nationals. The A’s are tie for first in the Langsdorf league, and to win the regular season championship and top seed in the playoffs, they have to beat West Allis and Kenosha has to lose to Northern Illinois. That game is also scheduled for Tuesday night.
Last night four straight hits – singles by Ryan Schilter and Sam Mattheis were followed with doubles by Grant Evans and Frank Pietrantonio – gave the A’s a 3-0 lead in the second inning. They made it 4-0 in the third when Cole Heili was hit by a pitch, advanced on Chad Langley’s hit, stole third and scored on an error.
Sam Raff was cruising on the mound for the A’s. He was flawless through four innings, but was greeted in the fifth by Jared Surman’s double. Two walks and four hits later, Menasha had three runs in and the bases loaded with nobody out. Raff responded with two straight ground balls to first baseman Langley who fired home for force outs and then got Mac Shuman to pop up and maintain the A’s lead at a now narrow 4-3.
Menasha brought in Jason Wierschke and Jack Taschner to pitch the final five innings and they stopped the A’s offense – the A’s would get just two walks and two base hits the rest of the way.
Raff was going strong stopping the MACs in order in the sixth and seventh.
But Menasha threatened in the eighth and capitalized with three runs in rain and lightning off Raff and reliever Peter Sommerfeld.
Frank Pietrantonio led the A’s with a single and a double.
Raff took the tough loss with ex-major leaguer and former Sheboygan A’s pitcher Jack Taschner getting the win.
The A’s are 30-20 for the season.
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.
