A’s Open 50th Season Saturday
Posted: May 24, 2012
At the close of the 1962 season the players on the Kingsbury Brewers baseball team learned that the Kingsbury Brewing Company was no longer going to sponsor their baseball team. They decided they were not ready to quit playing and formed their own team.
They called it the Sheboygan Athletics and took the field for the first time in May of 1963.
With the exception of one year, 1966, they have been representing Sheboygan against Wisconsin and Midwest semi-pro baseball teams ever since.
They launch their 50th season Saturday with a 4 p.m. doubleheader against the Manistee, Mich., Saints. The saints are the defending Gretial County Baseball League champions and come in with a 1-1 record, having split their season opening doubleheader against Coleman, Mich., last weekend.
Mitch Gardner, former North High School and Marian University pitcher, who went 6-3 with two shutouts including a no-hitter last year with a 2.86 earned run average gets new manager Kyle Trewyn’s nod as the opening day pitcher. Gardner, who is starting his fifth season with the A’s has a career 13-7 record.
Opening day festivities will be under way long before Gardner throws his first pitch.
Beginning shortly after noon, A;s fans will be joined by Buffalo Joe groupies gathering to hear the popular band play in the pavilion for the second annual opening day brat fry.
At about the same time, youngsters will be gathering in the corner of the parking lot with representatives from Mead Public Library, Quality State Oil and CITGO Petroleum. Coloring stations will be provided and up to 500 books will be given away to children along with free A’s tickets while registrations are being accepted for Mead’s summer library program.
On top of that, Highland House is sponsoring the opening day “First 50” and the first 50 fans entering the park will receive a plate of the popular restaurant’s nachos and salsa.
When the action starts it will be veterans Grant Berkovitz and Tim Patzman in the lead roles for Trewyn’s debut outing.
Both are among the leading players in the Wisconsin State League and they will have something to lead this year as, overall, the A’s roster is very young.
All three games this weekend are exhibition games and will be treated as such by Trewyn, who will use the contests to assess his players and make an effort to get action for everybody.
The starter for Saturday’s second game hasn’t been determined, although Alex Raver, Jake Schaefer and Lucas Wilsing are among possibilities. Ben Stanczyk will open on Sunday. Shane Feustel, Ben Hylander, Sam Raff, Jake Schaffhauser and Brandon Winfield will come out of the bull pen.
Matt Bromley, Nick Gottowski, Justin Hunt and Ryan Schilter will split up the catching.
Joining Berkovitz in the infield will be Taylor Schwarz, and Sam Mattheis, with Raff and Hylander doubling as infielders. Working at first base will be Alex Jaskulski and Chad Langley.
Patzman is the lone pure outfielder sure to be available as Josh Gruenke is fighting work conflicts. Catchers Bromley and Schilter can double as outfielders and it is likely some of the middle infielders will get to look at flies as well.
General Manager Denny Moyer has said that the roster is a work in progress as Northwoods teams make their cuts and players return from college commitments. UW-Milwaukee players Eric King and Dillion Engle (pitchers), infielder Trevor Theissen and catcher-outfielder Drew Pearson are still involved in tournament play and catcher Grant Evans has a military obligation.
The A’s and Saints tangle again on Sunday in a 1 p.m. game.
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.
