A’s Announce 2013 Award Winners

Cole Heili of Sheboygan Falls was elected Most Valuable Player by his teammates for the 2013 Sheboygan A’s season.

Heili took the top award, the R.Erlien Jewelers MVP Ring at the annual Sheboygan Athletic Club Awards Dinner held Jan. 4 at Breaking Bread.

Other players honored at the dinner were Chad Langley, Sine Qua Non Award; Harry Steldt, leading hitter; Taylor Schwarz, Most Valuable Pitcher; Luke Maldonado, Most Valuable Defensive Player; and Derek Loomans, Manager’s Award Winner.

Awards given to Heili, Schwarz and Maldonado were voted upon by A’s players.

It is rare that a first year player earns the respect of his teammates to the point where they elect him MVP, but Heili did. Heili played in 60 games before missing the finale after injuring his shoulder in the second game of the Northeastern Wisconsin League’s championship playoff.

The hustling outfielder hit .335, second only to batting leader Steldt, and led the team in runs scored, base on balls, hit by pitch, doubles, triples, home runs, total bases, slugging percentage (.548) and on base percentage (.480). In addition to batting average, he was runner-up in games played, plate appearances, hits, RBI, sacrifice flies and stolen bases.

Heili will be playing for UW-Milwaukee after he recovers from his recent labrum/rotator cuff surgery.

The A’s won three games in 11 innings this year, and it was Chad Langley’s clutch hits that drove in the winning run in all three. That clutch hitting and his consistent play offensively and defensively earned him General Manager Denny Moyer’s Sine Qua Non Award.

Langley, entering his senior season at Marian College, played in all 62 of the A’s games this summer.

He hit .306 and led the team in plate appearances, at bats, hits, runs batted in, sacrifice flies, put outs, total chances, double plays and fielding percentage. He was second to Heili in most of the categories he did not lead.

Schwarz, a UW-Parkside grad, went 5-2 with a 2.77 and two shutouts this season. He gave up only 13 walks compared to his team-leading 62 strikeouts. The most impressive stat, though, is that he completed six of his eight starts. His top outing was an 18-strikeout performance against the Oshkosh Giants.

The slick fielding Maldonado actually won games with his defensive work including making some sparkling plays against West Allis in the Langsdorf League play-in game. He led infielders with a .969 fielding percentage that helped the A’s post a record .962 team fielding percentage this year. He had 153 assists this year. In the 51-year history of the A’s only five players have had more assists in a season. Maldonado plays at Winthrop University.

Loomans led the team in starts, innings pitched and wins to win skipper Tyler Martin’s Manager’s Award. Loomans frequently pitched with little rest and bailed the A’s out of jams time and again when other pitchers weren’t ready or were no-shows. “Derek’s contributions were critical to our winning season,” Martin said.