clarinda a's dugout news - may 2012

Dugout News

Duane A. SturmBranch Manager114 W. Main StreetClarinda, IA 51632

Telephone: 712-542-6334Toll-Free: 888-554-9601

www.raymondjames.com/duanesturm.com

LIFE WELL PLANNEDSecurities offered through Raymond James Financial Services Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC

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We’re Cheering for aHome-Run Season!

Good Luck to theClarinda A’s

We know you have the talent andthe heart, so now we’re wishing

you the luck for a season that hitsit out of the park. Go, team!

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Proud to support the Clarinda A’s

History of the 1980’s and 1990’s follows the team’s growth1980 saw the team win their second Jay-

hawk League title, winning 30 and losingonly nine during league play. During theyear the A’s were ranked number one by theNBC and were seeded number two goinginto the National Tournament where theyhad a disappointing showing, winning onlytheir first game. They did however, have agreat overall season, finishing 53-14. 1981will always be considered “The Year of theA’s”. That is when the team went to Wichi-ta for the NBC World Series and came

home the champions. Going into the tourneywith a 39-14 record, the team won sevenstraight games – over Wellington, KS, Se-quin, TX, Liberal, KS, Kenai, AK, Hutchin-son, KS Fairbanks, AK and a rematch withLiberal in the championship game. In addi-tion to the championship trophy they alsobrought home many individual honors –Paul Homrig, All American outfielder;Mike Nipper, All American shortstop;Chuck Mathews, All American relief pitch-er and leading pitcher; Keith Mucha, AllAmerican third base, leading hitter, tourneyMVP, leading home run hitter and most

extra base hits; Jack Shupe, most popularplayer and Merl Eberly, Manager of theYear and the Hap Dumont award. 1982 wasa season marked by several key injuries thatcontributed to the team’s inconsistency. Theteam did post a fine 42-22 record in spite ofthe ups and downs. Another state champi-onship was won by the A’s in 1983 and theyfinished fifth at the Nationals. They finishedwith a 46-20 record. It also saw major im-provements at the ball park with the installa-tion of new lighting, enlargement of the out-field area and the construction of a new out-field fence complete with advertising. A10th state championship was won by the A’sin 1984. Their overall record was 44-15,going 2-2 in Wichita. The year marked thebeginning of construction on a new conces-sion/club house at the field, with the fundingstarted by the family of Dr. C.E. Nichols.1985 saw the A’s win the Jayhawk Leaguetitle for the first time since back-to-back ti-tles in 79 and 80. They felt they had a goodyear (42-23), blending many newcomerswith veterans. The state championship wasbrought back to Clarinda after losing it in1984 for the first time since 1972. It alsosaw them finish 7th at the Nationals and endthe season at 37-23. The 1987 A’s had a 43-23 record and finished in the first division ofthe Jayhawk League. At the Nationals theyadvanced to the fifth round of play beforebeing eliminated. Leading pitcher for thestaff were Allen Rath and Bob Bretwisch,while Nikco Riesgo and Pat Brady led thehitting attack. Andy Benes, pitcher fromEvansville, was the number one pick in the88 June draft, going to San Diego. 1988started out on the down side, being below.500 at mid-season, but coming on to finish44-11. They also did well at the NBC WorldSeries, finishing third. Catcher Matt Laiolo,outfielder Jeff Goodale and pitcher John De-Silva were named to the All-Tournamentteam. Overall 1989 would have to be termeda success record wise, as they finished sec-ond in the Eastern division of the JayhawkLeague. At the NBC World Series the teamwas out in two games that was a disappoint-ment to all. Injuries were a key factor during

the season, but it forced a lot of the youngerplayers into action who would return for an-other year.

1990 was marred by early season andpre-tournament injuries, but the team won31 of their last 37 games to finish with a 44-22 record and improved their tourney show-ing to 2-2. Many ups and downs were en-countered during the 91 season and recordwise, 44-28 was not on of their best, but inthe league sponsored tournament in Amaril-lo, TX. They were 5-2, winning the leagueportion of the tournament and coming inthird overall. The team finished 30-24 in1992, a year that saw very good balance inthe league. The A’s were plagued by in-juries in the middle infield, but saw verystrong performances on the mound. 1993was a year with many injuries, plus a seasonthat saw with long bouts of record rainfall,which combined to make it very frustratingfor the players and the coaching staff. Theteam did come on late in the season and withthe help of some veteran players were in theNBC World Series for the first time in twoyears. 1994 saw the team make a big turnaround after taking a leave of absence fromJayhawk League play due to the expandedtravel and the expenses that incurred. Theyfinished 47-12 and gaining a seventh placefinish at the NBC World Series. CatcherMatt Braugler and pitcher Casey Cunning-ham were named to the All American team.Again, playing an independent schedule in1995, they posted a 52-12 record and for thesecond straight year claimed the NBC Re-gional championship. Balance, led by astrong offense, was the key to the team’ssuccess. What was expected to be a veteranled squad turned into just the opposite afterthe draft, injuries and academic problemsdepleted the roster. There was great leader-ship from the remaining veterans and therookies worked hard to get the job done.1996 saw the formation of a new league –the MINK – with Clarinda joining St.Joseph Saints, Beatrice Bruins, Omaha Indi-ans and Clay County River Bandits in a fiveteam circuit and the A’s winning the firstyear’s league A’s title. Returning veterans

lead the A’s to a 45-12 overall record offen-sively while newcomers headed the pitchingstats. Leading the hitting was Griffon Mooreat .356, BJ Windhorst at .355 and Ryan Fryat .350. Windhorst and Rod Eberly tied inRBI with 51, followed by Fry’s 36. NateFrese led the pitching with a 9-0 record fol-lowed by WG Smith at 7-2. Smith led in in-nings pitched with 67.2; Frese, 60 and BrianMazone, 48. ERA leaders were Eric Masseyat 2.25, Frese, 2.55 and Travis Wessel’s2.68. Byron Embry was the save leader withsix, followed by Casey Castrop’s five.Starting slowly in 1997 the A’s gained mo-mentum to end with a season record of 31-20, going 2-2 at the NBC. Leading the teamoffensively were catcher Calvin Tanton at.375, followed by infielder Griffin Moore at.359. For the second year in a row infielderRod Eberly led in RBI with 60. DannyHughes led the pitching staff at 6-3 andTravis Wessel who came off a spring injuryto do well down the stretch. Clarinda was alate invitee to the NBC World Series in1998, and took advantage as they went on toa 4-2 tourney showing for a fourth place fin-ish. Mike Terry was named to the All Amer-ican Team as well as being selected as theleading pitcher at the tournament. The over-all season saw the team finish 37-27 withPhilip Ghutzman’s .365 leading the hitters,followed by Gavin Wright, .352; KevinPerkins, .337 and Jamie Bubela, .329.Bubela had 33 RBI, followed by Rod Eber-ly with 32 and Perkinjs with 29. On themound Rich Fimbres was 8-1 with a 3.49,followed by Brian Downing at 5-2 and 1.48ERA. Terry, who joined the team late was 4-1 with a 0.66 ERA. 1999 was not a particu-larly stellar year for the A’s as they finishedwith a 30-31 record. Though the hitting hadsix starters who batted over .300, led by WillSmith at .367, then Hunter Brown, .342 andRyan Stowasser’s.333, they just couldn’tseem to hit with men on. The pitchers wereled by James Carroll with a 5-2 season andJason Walker and Ian Ferguson each at 4-3.Will continue with the 2000’s in the nextDugout News.

Saturday, May26 the A’s will opentheir season with agame versus theKansas City Mon-archs. Ozark Generalswill come in for athree game non-league series with adoubleheader sched-uled for Sunday at6:00 and a single 1:00game on MemorialDay.

This will mark the10th year Ryan Eberly

will manage the team. He will be joined by RodEberly, assistant coach at Highland CommunityCollege, and Craig Hindman will return from Cali-fornia for his third year with the team.

Eberly looks for the MINK League to again bebalanced and be very competitive.

Other members of the league are Chillicothe(MO) Mudcats, Joplin (MO) Outlaws, Nevada(MO) Griffons, Omaha (NE) Diamond Spirit, Ozark(MO) Generals, St. Joseph (MO) Mustangs and theSedalia (MO) Bombers. Omaha Strike Zone willagain be on the non-league schedule, with three newteams, Kansas City Monarch, Rossville (KS) Rat-tlers and Little Rock (AR) to round out the schedule.

“I feel the recruiting has gone well this year,”stated Eberly, “and we have five returning veteransto provide leadership for the newcomers.” Veteransfrom last season include catcher Austin Ascherl,first baseman Ryan Biloveski, outfielders D’MarcoPoindexter and Javis Smith, as well as pitcher JustinPage.

“Appreciate all the hard work and communitysupport that has gone into putting a team on the fieldthis year and now it’s time to PLAY BALL, “ saidManager Eberly, “hope you will get out to cheer forthe “boys of summer” and enjoy the friendly atmos-phere at Municipal Stadium-Eberly Field with yourfriends and family.”

From the President’s DeskAs we enter our 58th sea-

son of Clarinda A’s base-ball, we as an organizationare grateful for all involved– those who have helpedkeep the program goingand become a source ofpride for Clarinda, Iowa. Ithas taken a lot of peopleand a lot of work to keepthe passion for A’s baseballalive.

Since 1954 it has takenmany – players, coaches,board and auxiliary mem-bers, concession and pressbox workers, the city of

Clarinda and YOU the fans to keep the team on the field.Thanks to all.

This year’s schedule has 32 home games, so come outand see exciting baseball and talented young athletes playfor the A’s. Hope to see you at Clarinda Municipal Stadi-um – Eberly Field for another summer of A’s baseball.

1981 National Champs celebrate.

Ryan Eberly, A's Mgr.

2012 Marks 58th Season of Clarinda A’s Baseball

Gary UlmerA's Board President

SPECIAL DATES

Free NightsWednesday, June 6

Clarinda Chamber of Commerce

Sunday, June 17Hy-Vee

Sunday, June 24Subway

Friday, July 3Clarinda Academy

Special EventsMay 24-26

Youth Baseball Clinic

June 23Baseball Day

July 1-5Parent’s Week

July 3Fireworks

2012 Clarinda Iowa A’s Baseball ScheduleMAY

Sat 26 Kansas City MonarchsSun 27 Ozark Generals (2) 6:00Mon 28 Ozark Generals 1:00Wed 30 Omaha Strike ZoneThu 31 at Chillicothe

JUNEFri 1 Kansas CitySat 2 at St. Joseph MustangsSun 3 Joplin Outlaws (2) 6:00Mon 4 Joplin OutlawsTue 5 at Rossville RattlersWed 6 Chillicothe MudcatsThu 7 at Omaha Diamond SpiritSat 9 at Ozark Generals (2) 5:00Sun 10 at Ozark Generals 2:00Mon 11 at Joplin (2) 6:00Tue 12 at Joplin Wed 13 Nevada Griffons (2) 6:00Thu 14 Nevada Griffons Fri 15 Chillicothe MudcatsSat 16 Little Rock, ArkansasSun 17 Little Rock, ArkansasMon 18 St. Joseph MustangsWed 20 Omaha Diamond Spirit

Thu 21 at Rossville RattlersFri 22 at Chillicothe MudcatsSat 23 Omaha Strike ZoneSun 24 Omaha Diamond SpiritMon 25 Rain DateTue 26 at Nevada Griffons (2)

6:00Wed 27 at Nevada Griffons 7:00Thu 28 at St. Joseph MustangsFri 29 Omaha Strike ZoneSat 30 Ozark Generals (2) 6:00

JULYSun 1 Ozark Generals 2:00Mon 2 Rossville RattlersTue 3 Omaha Diamond SpiritWed 4 Omaha Diamond SpiritThu 5 St. Joseph MustangsFri 6 at Sedalia (2) 5:00Sat 7 at Sedalia Sun 8 St. Joseph MustangsTue 10 at Omaha Diamond Spirit

(2) 5:00Wed 11 Rossville Rattlers @

ShenandoahThu 12 Chillicothe Mudcats

Fri 13 at Chillicothe MucatsSat 14 at St. Joseph MustangsMon 16 Sedalia (2) 6:00Tue 17 Sedalia 7:00Wed 18 Rain DateThu 19 Rain DateFri 20 League PlayoffSat 21 League PlayoffSun 22 League PlayoffMon 23 NBC REGIONAL times

& dates TBATue 24 TBAWed 25 TBAThur 26 TBASat 28 thru Aug 11 NBC World

Series in Wichita, KSMINK LEAGUE TEAMS

Chillicothe MudcatsClarinda A's

Joplin OutlawsNevada Griffons

Omaha Diamond SpiritOzark Generals

Saint Joseph MustangsSedalia Bombers

All home games 7:00 unless noted

Clarinda A’s season tickets a real valueClarinda A's season tickets are now available. As in the past the A's are keeping the price low to encourage attendance. Admission at the gate is $2 with students K-12 ad-

mitted free. Family season tickets are $25 and single season tickets are $15. This is a good value for a season that has over 30 home games. With gas prices being high, come ondown to the stadium and see some good baseball right here at home - you never know, there could be another A's major leaguer on the field.

5BThursday, May 24, 2012 Clarinda Herald-Journal