Patzman Hits Walk Off Home Run To Beat The Legends
Posted: June 15, 2011
Tim Patzman’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning lifted the Sheboygan A’s over the Appleton Legends 4-3 Tuesday night at Wildwood Baseball Park.
The win couldn’t have come at a better time. Coming into Tuesday’s contest, Sheboygan had dropped three consecutive games, including being swept by Appleton in a doubleheader last weekend.
The A’s were trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the 10th when Derek Peake drove a liner up the middle, plating two runs. The rally stalled when Sheboygan left the bases loaded to end the inning. Patzman, who had been held hitless to that point, wasn’t worried.
“After Berko (Grant Berkovitz) flew out in the bottom of the 10th to keep the game tied, I walked back in here and I was joking around with the trainer and a couple of the guys and I’m like, ‘well now at least I can hit a walk-off bomb to lead off the inning.’ “
Those who overheard the exchange may have taken it lightly, but it was Patzman who had the last laugh as he broke into his trot while the solo shot soared deep into the night.
“I just went in there looking for a fastball and I got one that was down and in and it just carried,” said Patzman. I hit a few balls hard and on the barrel earlier in the game. I knew it was just a matter of time before I didn’t just pop one up and it all happened. It was pretty cool.”
The win gets Sheboygan to 6-4 overall and 2-3 in the Northeastern Wisconsin League. A’s manager Shaun Wegner hopes the victory will help his team get back on track.
“Any win is big especially a win like that where they just took two from us this weekend,” Wegner said. “If you can win more games than you lose you have a chance. We’re going to come out here every day and compete and if we lose we are going to find a way to get better and if we win we are going to build off it and try to turn it into a streak.”
Appleton 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 – 3 7 0
Sheboygan 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 – 4 11 2
WP- Jake Ristow
LP- Dave Salzwedel
Story and Photo by Nathan Woelfel
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.
