A’s welcome back top 3 players from last year

Three of the Sheboygan A’s top players over the last several seasons all decided recently that they will return to Wildwood Park for the 2012 season.

Sheboygan’s 2011 Most Valuable Payer and three-time leading hitter Tim Patzman, Most Valuable Pitcher Ben Stanczyk and Most Valuable Defensive player Grant Berkovitz all committed to the 2012 season.

All are former UW-Milwaukee players.

The club is preparing to open its 50th season, which kicks off on Saturday, May 26 when the team hosts the Manistee Saints for a 4 p.m. doubleheader. The Buffalo Joe Band will entertain at the tailgate party which gets under way early in the afternoon.

Patzman, an outfielder, will be starting his sixth season with the A’s. He is a career .350 hitter in 226 games. He led the club in hitting in 2007, 2009 and 2011 and was elected MVP in 2008, 2009 and last season.

Berkovitz is a .320 career hitter in 248 games. He suffered an off-year at the plate last season as work commitments allowed him to play in only 26 games, but he committed only seven errors from the demanding shortstop position and was his teammates’ pick for the defensive honor.

After his career at UWM, Berkovitz had a stint with the Reno Silver Sox of the Independent Golden League.

Stanczyk went 6-0 with a 1.90 earned run average last year and ran his career numbers with the A’s to 14-1 and 1.65. Plus, in limited appearances, he batted .521 and is a .335 career hitter. This season will be his fourth with the A’s.

Following a great 2004 season at UW-Milwaukee (Horizon League Player and Pitcher of the Year), Stanczyk signed with the Milwaukee Brewers and posted a 20-14 record with a 3.91 ERA in 144 games. He got as high as AA Huntsville.

Also signing agreements to play this year are UW-Milwaukee left-handed pitcher Dillion Engle and Sean Beuth, a right-handed pitcher, who played in Milwaukee semi-pro leagues. Engle was a first team All-Greater Metro Conference and all-district honoree at West Allis Hale. Beuth also played at Hale.