Capasso, Steldt, Stanczyk lead A’s in 2012
Posted: August 30, 2012
Their 50th season went into the books as one to remember as the Sheboygan A’s gained the playoffs in two leagues and posted 33 wins.
The A’s competed in three leagues and made the playoffs in the two that have playoffs. Though their playoff performance was disheartening (the A’s lost five of their last seven games), the club was competitive throughout and 2012 has to go down as a good year.
Overall the A’s were 33-27. They finished second in the Langsdorf (11-7), third in the Northeastern Wisconsin (12-8) and fifth in the Wisconsin State League (9-15). In the Langsdorf playoffs, the A’s beat the Kenosha Bobcats to gain the championship series, but lost two of three to the Kenosha Kings. In the Northeastern semifinal series, the A’s were eliminated in two straight games by eventual champion Green Bay.
Jon Capasso, currently playing for UW-Milwaukee, and Harry Steldt, , who played at Concordia and is transferring to UW-Stevens Point, led hitting; while Ben Stanczyk, the former Milwaukee Brewers farmhand, and Brandon Winfield from Marian University led the pitchers.
Capasso hit .342 in 34 games and led the club in on-base percentage, .438, while Steldt hit .337 in 48 games. Steldt led the club in hits, 55, and doubles, 13, and shared the lead in runs scored, 36, with Drew Pearson. Justin Hunt led in games played, 59, plate appearances, 215; at bats, 179, and runs batted in, 35. Tim Patzman led in home runs, 5, and slugging percentage, .471. Pearson led in stolen bases, 17; and Chad Langley led in walks, 38, and triples, 3.
Stanczyk ran his career record to 19-3 with the A’s after going 5-2 this year with a 1.50 earned run average. Winfield set a club record with 10 saves and tied a club record with 23 appearances. He had a 2.67 earned run average in a team high 67 innings. Stanczyk, Derek Loomans and Dillion Engle each won a team-high five games. Engle recorded 65 strikeouts to lead the club. Mitch Gardner threw two shutouts including an opening day no-hitter.
“It was a baseball season. It was exhilarating; it was frustrating. That’s just the way baseball is,” general manager Denny Moyer said. “Coulda, shoulda, maybe, if – none of those count. Wins and losses go in the book; there is no ‘excuse’ column in the box score. We play in three very competitive leagues and the bottom line is we won 33 games, you can’t be too disappointed about that.”
“The most gratifying part of the season for me was the dedication and improvement of our local first year guys. Grant Evans, Sam Raff, Dan Salzbrenner and Nick Gottowski saved our bacon a number of times.”
“The most frustrating parts were all the people we lost that we expected to have on the roster, and the fact that for one reason or another we were missing key people nearly every night. I don’t think Kyle (manager Kyle Trewyn) was able to write in the same line-up twice all year. It was really exasperating for him.”
“Still,” Moyer said, “our 50th season, 33 wins. We got the job done.”
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.
