Sheboygan A’s rebound against Menasha

The Sheboygan A’s exorcised its recent demons with a 6-4 win over Menasha. The A’s were coming off back-to-back losses against West Bend and Green Bay, and desperately needed to right the ship if they wanted to continue to compete for a first round bye in the impending playoffs.

Manager Derek Loomans said a strong performance from the mound and some clutch hitting was all it took.

“It was a tough opponent, obviously,” he said. “We just put together the at-bats we needed to and got a good pitching performance. We really showed resiliency, especially after the long week that we’ve had, and the long month in general.”

Weston Nelson kicked off the scoring for Sheboygan with a RBI single down the third base line in the second inning, but it was the only damage the A’s could muster in the frame.  In the third inning, Nate Heili drew a walk with the bases loaded to force home a run, making it 2-0 Sheboygan.

John Canipe ousted after five innings. Gave up two runs. Eric Zuberbeir came on to pitch the bottom of the sixth, but struggled from the start.

Trevor Cho knocked a single down the third base line in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring two and doubling the Sheboygan lead. Dylan Detert followed it up with a hard hit ball off the centerfield fence

Menasha finally got on the board in a big way in the top of the seventh, plating four runs, but Heili got one back with a sac fly in the bottom of the frame, making it 6-4 Sheboygan.

From there, the Sheboygan defense held on for the win.

Eric Schmitz picked up the win for the A’s, pitching six scoreless innings before getting into trouble. Loomans said he simply left his starter in a little too long.

“I ran the pitch count up, but the bullpen is pretty worn out too, after the long stretch we’ve had,” he said. “He made one bad pitch and they capitalized on it. It wasn’t a situation where they could hurt us too bad, so it all worked out.”

Sheboygan will host Oshkosh Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. first pitch.