A’s Rally Late, Fall In Extras To Kings
Posted: July 26, 2013
A tremendous pitching performance by Jake Schaefer and a perfectly-executed squeeze bunt by Aaron Thorn were wasted when Kyle Eickmeyer delivered a walk-off base hit to give the Kenosha Kings a 4-3 10-inning Wisconsin State League win over the A’s in Kenosha Thursday night.
The loss leaves the A’s with a 32-21 mark for the season, but a lowly 9-13 record in the Wisconsin State League.
Next up for the A’s is the Langsdorf League playoff. Pending any rain problems, the A’s will play the winner of Friday night’s Burlington-West Allis game at 7:30 Saturday night at Wildwood Park. Fans are encouraged to check the A’s website (sheboyganbaseball.org) frequently as rain could be a factor and the game may be pushed back. If rain stops Friday night’s Burlington-West Allis game or delays the Legion Regional tournament currently running a Wildwood Park the A’s playoff game could be moved back to Sunday, or even Monday.
Kenosha scored two first inning runs Thursday night and that would be the only scoring in the game until the eighth inning as the A’s Schaefer and the Kings Jon Olson matched goose egg innings.
The A’s made it 2-1 when Logan Hartwell replaced Olson and loaded the bases with two walks and a hits batsmen before Kings skipper Tim Pulzzano could replace him with Brandon Jeffery. Jeffery got Cole Heili to bounce out, but the out enabled Ben Gordon to score the A’s first run.
The A’s took a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth when Grant Evans led off with a double and scored when a wild throw followed Frank Pietrantonio’s base hit bunt. Pietrantonio moved to third and charged in on Aaron Thorn’s perfectly executed squeeze bunt.
But in the bottom of the ninth, Kenosha scored the tying run when Joe Ballestreri walked and pinch runner Kyle Eickmeyer stole second and third and scored on a passed ball. The Kings won it in the tenth when Paul Pulera singled, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. After two intentional walks, Eickmeyer delivered the walk-off game-winning hit to the right-center gap.
Schaefer went all the way for the A’s, giving up only six hits, while striking out nine and walking ten, two of those intentionally. Olson worked seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks.
Pietrantonio had two of the A’s five hits.
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.
