A’s Rally Past Appleton, Return to NEWBL Championship Series
Posted: July 29, 2026
For the second consecutive season, the Sheboygan A’s are headed to the Northeastern Wisconsin Baseball League Championship Series.
The third-seeded A’s rallied from an early 3-0 deficit before breaking a 5-5 tie with three runs in the eighth inning, holding off the second-seeded Appleton Legends for an 8-7 victory Wednesday night at the USA Sports Complex.
The win sets up a rematch of last year’s NEWBL Championship Series against the top-seeded Menasha Macs.
Appleton struck first, scoring once in the opening inning on an RBI single by Alex Ramus before adding two more in the fourth. Harleyjohn Guell doubled home Blake Wallenfang before an error allowed Guell to advance to third, and Evan Olson followed with an RBI single to give the Legends a 3-0 lead.
Sheboygan answered with a four-run fifth inning.
George Hoss singled before Alex Ames drove him home with an RBI single. Chase Hanselman followed with an RBI double to center, Harry Steldt tied the game with an RBI double to right, and Connor Lasch lined a go-ahead RBI single to left, putting the A’s in front 4-3.
Appleton tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when Nick Terrell stole home after advancing to third on a stolen base and a throwing error.
Jimmy Juergensen gave the A’s the lead again in the sixth, launching a solo home run to center field to make it 5-4.
The Legends answered once more in the bottom half of the inning as Terrell singled home Olson to even the score at 5-5.
With their NEWBL-season on the line, Sheboygan delivered its biggest offensive inning of the night in the eighth.
Juergensen opened the rally with a single before Nick Tenny followed with a base hit. Cal Casper worked a walk to load the bases, and Hoss drew another free pass to force home the go-ahead run. Ames then lined an RBI single to right, and Hanselman added a sacrifice fly to give the A’s an 8-5 advantage.
Appleton made one final push in the bottom of the eighth with consecutive RBI singles from Bubba Thompson and Blake Wallenfang to cut the deficit to one, but Noah Imrie entered with two outs and struck out Harleyjohn Guell to end the threat.
Imrie retired the side in order in the ninth, striking out the first two hitters before inducing a flyout to left field to send the A’s back to the championship series.
Gavin Gawronski earned the win after striking out 10 over 5⅔ innings. He allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits. Cade Voelker bridged the middle innings before Imrie struck out four over 1⅓ scoreless innings to close out the victory.
The A’s finished with 12 hits. Ames, Hanselman, Steldt, Lasch and Juergensen each collected two hits. Ames and Hanselman each drove in two runs, while Juergensen added his sixth-inning home run.
Sheboygan will open the best-of-three NEWBL Championship Series Monday night at Menasha. Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday night in Sheboygan, with Game 3, if necessary, returning to Menasha on Wednesday. Tickets for Tuesday’s home championship game will go on sale soon.
Before turning its full attention to the championship series, the A’s resume Wisconsin State League play Thursday night in Kenosha. Sheboygan leads the suspended game 7-4 in the top of the third inning, and a victory would secure the club’s first Wisconsin State League championship since 2000.
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.
