A’s defeat Bandits 8-6

June 22, 2013

The Sheboygan A's regrouped and took an 8-6 victory from the Manitowoc Bandits at Wildwood Park Friday night.

Wisconsin State League

The Sheboygan A’s regrouped and took an 8-6 victory from the Manitowoc Bandits at Wildwood Park Friday night.

It was the opener of a 5-game weekend that features a pair of Wisconsin State League twin bills against the Eau Claire Cavaliers Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

Saturday is Cancer Awareness night when the A’s will welcome cancer survivors, patients, caregivers and their families. Game time is 5 p.m. Sunday is Labor Day, the annual game that welcomes members of Sheboygan County Labor Unions. Action begins at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Manitowoc jumped out to an early lead as A’s starter Ryan Hamm ran into control problems. The Bandits used walks, a hit batsman and Travis Mason’s double to get three runs before the A’s turned the lights on.

Manitowoc added two more in the third and found themselves down 5-1 before Mitch Gardner entered the ball game and doused Manitowoc’s offense.

Sam Raff’s double was the big contributor to the second inning run and then added another in the third before taking the lead for good with a 5-run fourth inning. Doubles by Ben Gordon and Trevor Theissen sparked the inning and made Gardner a winner. Cole Heili’s home run rounded out the scoring in the eighth.

Gardner shut Manitowoc out on just four hits over the final seven innings.

Theissen, Chad Langley, Luke Maldonado and Gordon all had two hits for the A’s who rebounded from the shaky start and played well after that.

The club takes a 9-11 record into the Eau Claire series.

Story by: SheboyganBaseball.org

The Wisconsin State League is one of the premier semi-professional/amateur baseball leagues in the mid-west. In operation since 1970, the Wisconsin State League is a highly competitive league that features many of the midwest's top current and former collegiate athletes, as well as many former professional baseball players. Keep up to date on everything happening in the Wisconsin State League by following the league online on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.

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