Plover, Point match mettle Thursday

By Nathan Vine
Journal staff


Like most of the best rivalries in sports, the rest of the season seems to be only a footnote when the Stevens Point and Plover American Legion baseball teams square off.

On Thursday, the teams will resume the annual battle for area bragging rights at Leo "Cub" Mancheski Field, and the coaches of both squads agree there won't be a better show in town.

"This is definitely the highlight of the season. No matter what kind of records we have coming in, You know this is going to be a big game," Plover coach Wayne Sankey said. "Getting swept by the other guys is something that could make or break your summer."
"Those games are always fun. No matter when it is, it is always a good rivalry," Sixers coach Brad Wysocki said. "These are guys that really know each other and know how the other team plays. But, you come out here and step between the chalk with the Point and Plover uniforms on, that is your worst enemy for nine innings."
Both teams go into Thursday's contest riding a bit of a hot streak early in the season. Plover holds a sparkling 6-0 mark, while the Sixers have won three of their last four games to improve to 3-3.

Sankey said he is extremely pleased with the early success of the Black Sox, and attributes some of that to the fact that many area teams played late into the postseason, including his Pacelli squad which won the Division 3 state title.

"I definitely didn't expect that we'd come out and go 6-0, but we'll certainly take it," Sankey said. "I think one of the biggest things that has helped us has been that a lot of these kids played a lot of ball in the spring and got a lot of at-bats to work with coming in."
Sankey also gives a lot of credit to a deep and solid pitching staff, including Jake Owens, Nate Tuen, Adam Evanoff, Jeff Sadlemyer and Jason Pezewski, which has given the team a number of options in any situation.

"We've thrown seven guys already, and from what I see in practice we probably have two or three more who could pitch for us," Sankey said. "We definitely have a well-rounded staff."
The Sixers, meanwhile, have relied heavily on the leadership of several returning starters, including players like Brad Heeg and Matt Simonson, who were allowed to return for another season of legion ball after a rule change pushed back the age of eligible players.

"Because of the rule change, we have great leadership coming back in Heeg and Simonson," Wysocki said. "There are a bunch of guys who have seen a lot of time with us, and it is just going to help us out that much more."
But Stevens Point has also benefited from the emergence of several first-year Sixers, including Donny Carter of Rosholt, who went 2-for-3 in the team's 9-3 win over RSW on Tuesday.

"These are guys that are going to be able to step in. They had success in Junior Legion and will really be able to contribute right from the start this season," Wysocki said.


Stevens Point Sixers 2003 roster
Name #
Jeff Herzog 1
Brandon Ganoni 2
Donny Carter 3
Adam Macht 4
Ryan Blomlie 5
Nate Domaszek 6
Matt Simonson 7
Eric Schipferling 8
Justin Pezewski 9
Charlie Staszek 11
Brad Heeg 12
Matt Zimmer 13
Jake LaRonge 14
Randy Printz 16
Brandon Eckendorf 18
Kyle Lepak 21
Nick Pratt 22

Plover Black Sox 2003 roster
Name #
Jake Owens 5
Ted Schalfke 6
Nate Tuen 8
Mitch Miskoski 9
Scott Kingston 11
Garrett Wroblewski 12
Derrick Lepak 13
Jason Pezewski 15
Ahern Cashin 16
Joel Hojnacki 17
Jeff Sadlemyer 18
Phil Koback 19
Wes Sutton 20
Adam Evanoff 22
Jeremy Richter 27
Jason Higgins 30

Article courtesy of the Stevens Point Journal www.stevenspointjournal.com