Maldonado, Steldt, Heili All-WSL Picks
Posted: October 25, 2013
Three Sheboygan A’s were accorded All-Wisconsin State League status by vote of the league’s managers and general managers.
Second baseman Luke Maldonado and designated hitter Harry Steldt were first team picks and rookie outfielder Cole Heili was elected to the second team. Maldonado out-polled Kenosha’s JT Schneider, 12-4. Steldt was a unanimous pick.
Maldonado hit .350 in the league and his fast hands and flashy glove were major factors in his selection. Steldt hit .317.
The league champion Lombard Orioles and runner-up Eau Claire Cavaliers, who had no less than seven of the Wisconsin State League’s top 11 hitters, and players from the Orioles, took all four of the league’s top individual honors as well as filling eight of the 10 spots on the all-league team.
Outfielder Brady Burzynski of the Cavaliers was voted Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year. He shared the MVP award with outfield mate Laderrius Cole who was runner-up in rookie voting. Lombard’s Jeremy Stachwyk was picked as Pitcher of the Year and Jeff Vukovich Manager of the Year. It was the 12th time that Vukovich won the award and the seventh straight.
It was a big year for State League hitters with five .400 hitters and a total of 15 .300 or better hitters.
Cole led the league in hitting (.470) and Burzynski came in second (.458). Cole also led the league in runs batted in (17) and on base percentage (.539), while Burzynski led the league in runs scored (23), hits (33) and stolen bases (13).
Stachwyk was 4-0 with the Orioles with a league leading 1.09 earned run average and a league-high 40 strikeouts in 33 innings. He and teammate Craig Lipp were both a league best 4-0. Kenosha’s Randy Johnson, who was Pitcher of the Year in both 2011 and 2012, was runner up this year.
Vukovich led his championship Orioles to a 21-2 record. Second in Manager of the Year voting was Eau Claire’s Mark McHorney.
Cavaliers on the first all-league team are the two outfielders, Burzynski and Cole, third baseman Yuki Yasuda, shortstop Kyle Comer and catcher Brian Burman. Orioles on the first team are first baseman Nick Mitedero and pitchers Stachwyk and Lipp. Rounding out the first team is Kenosha outfielder Paul Pulera.
The other .400 hitters this year were Mitedero .431, Yasuda .414 and second team first baseman Nick Degan of Eau Claire.
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.
