A’s Begin Second Half With Good and Bad News

Posted: July 5, 2022

The Sheboygan A’s mid-season report contains good news and bad news.

The good news is that after a slow start, all of the pre-season talk of having a good ball club has materialized; the bad news is that two players directly responsible for this good season, have gone down to injury.

The A’ are riding a 13-game winning streak going into the second-half of the season. The last loss was at Burlington on June 16.  They were 10-10 at that time, having lost seven of their previous 10 games. Now they are 23-10, confident and anxious for the second half of the season.

Except for two of them: shortstop Riley Palmquist (Marian University) and left-fielder Brady Zackrison (Marian University). Palmquist injured his wrist at the WABC tournament and Zackrison suffered a broken bone in his foot when teammates were mobbing him after his 2-out base hit in the bottom of the ninth beat West Allis, 5-4, in the A’s last game before the holiday break.  It is uncertain when Palmquist will return, Zackrison is likely gone for the season.

“This is so frustrating,” general manager Denny Moyer said. “They were both getting comfortable in their roles and playing very well.”  Palmquist was hitting .301 with 19 runs scored and 10 driven in,  Zackrison was at .347 with 30 runs scored and 22 driven in.

Manager Tim Moyer was disappointed with the injuries, too, but he was a little more upbeat. “We’ll miss Brady for sure, but I haven’t heard the results of Riley’s MRI so I don’t know how serious his injury is. But depth is our strong suit. It will mean more opportunities for guys like Bennet Becker (Carrol College) and Cooper Gosse.“                       

Harry Steldt (UW-Stevens Point Alum) is in the familiar role of leading the A’s in hitting. He’s stinging the ball at a .429 clip with six doubles, five home runs and 26 runs bated in. His OPS is an astronomical 1.293. “He might be having his best year ever.” Tim Moyer said.

A’s leaders contributing to the A’s .317 team batting average are Brad Rindfleisch (16 PA, UW-Stout Alum ) .429, Steldt (111) .427,  Gus Walker (125, Marian University) .389; Jonathan Kim (60, University of Michigan Recruit) .375; Zackrison (118) .347; Cole Miklavcic (8, Marian University Alum) .375; Ross Krist (134, UW-Platteville Alum) .327; Jacoby Endreas (60, UW-Stout) .314; Joey Pettit (17, UW-Whitewater) .308; and Palmquist (94) .301.

The A’s pitching has had as much to do with the winning streak as the hot bats have. Jared Reklaitis (UW-Milwaukee Alum) leads with a 0.61 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 30 innings. Blake Kunz (South Dakota State) has been a pleasant surprise with a win, two saves, and 44 strikeouts in 34 innings. Eric Schmitz (UW-Whitewater Alum) is 6-0 with a 2.36 ERA and Rindfleisch is 4-2 with a 3.80 ERA.

“Reklaitis has been lights out,” Tim Moyer said, ”but all of the guys have been great.”

The A’s resume play Tuesday, July 5, at Wildwood Park against Green Bay, then travel to Appleton for a doubleheader Wednesday, and return to Wildwood Thursday for a game against Manitowoc.


 [DM1]

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 FacebookTwitterInstagram and YouTube.