Lutz had ‘Major League’ moment
Posted: Nov. 3, 2009
Many area baseball fans know just what kind of an impact player he was in Wisconsin, playing on the diamond for the Lannon Stonemen and Milwaukee Wolf’s Cleaners amateur baseball teams.
But not as many are aware that John Lutz had a brief movie career, too.
Lutz played shortstop for the New York Yankees, wearing No. 2 in the famous movie “Major League,” staring Charlie Sheen and Wesley Snipes. A large portion of the movie was filmed at Milwaukee County Stadium.
The Milwaukee Thomas More graduate was one of several area players selected by the casting personnel to play for the teams featured in the 1989 blockerbuster hit.
Some of the other players included former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher and current color commentator Pete Vukovich, former Lannon and Milwaukee Wolf’s Cleaners shortstop Dan Wnuk and former Wolf’s Cleaners manager Dan Mikorski, who plays the skipper in the movie for the Bronx Bombers. -Chris Schuck
Sussex splits, Lannon struggles in LOL
Posted: June 9, 2014
Sussex smacked around Oconomowoc’s Land O’Lakes baseball team like never before on June 8 at Tetzlaff/Veteran’s Field.
The Cardinals won, 16-1, in seven innings. The game was shortened by the LOL Western Division 12-run rule.
Tim Saskowski pitched for the Cardinals. He allowed just two hits, both to Oconomowoc leadoff hitter Chandler Ziemann. He struck out three and walked none.
“Sasquatch pitched outstanding,” Sussex utility player Nick Ghelfi said. “He just went right at them.”
The lone run for Oconomowoc came in the top of the third inning when Josh Hottinger reached on an error. Bob Bolson executed a sacrifice bunt before Ziemann singled.
Todd Johnson had four hits, including a home run, and five RBIs for the Cardinals. Bryan Laabs had three hits and two RBIs. Seth Kroenke went 2 for 2 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Ryan Weissman and Cory Gasper each had two hits, and Tanner Johnson scored three runs.
Every spot in the order had a hit for Sussex against three Oconomowoc pitchers.
The Cardinals lost by a narrow 7-6 count against the Brookfield Bulldogs on June 7 at Tetzlaff/Veterans Field.
Travis Thompson pitched a complete game for the Cardinals, allowing 14 hits. He struck out eight and walked two.
Bill Gorman had three hits for the Bulldogs. Greg Basthemer was the winning pitcher, giving up 11 hits while striking out five. Austin Jones also pitched for the Bulldogs.
Ryan Weissman hit a home run in the bottom of the fourth inning for the Cardinals. He finished with three hits. Seth Kroenke also dialed long distance, ending up with two hits and two runs scored. Former Purdue University standout Ben Kaebisch had two hits along with player/manager Cory Gasper.
Lannon falls to Blue Sox
Lannon lost against the Brookfield Blue Sox on June 7, 13-2, at McCoy Field. Kyle Senft had two hits for Lannon. Tim Biron, Brodie Engle, Nick Erd and James Heinritz each had one hit for the Stonemen.
Troy Kenkel was the pitcher of record for the Stonemen, working into the sixth inning. Erd also pitched.
Nick Rechlitz, Tim Kahle, Bill Posteluk, Steve Bartlein at Pat Tobiasz all had two hits for the Blue Sox.
John Arnold was the complete game winning pitcher for Brookfield.
West Bend leads the Western Division with a 6-1 record. The Brookfield Bulldogs are next at 7-2, with Pewaukee sporting a 6-2 record. Sussex is 6-3, the Brookfield Blue Sox are 5-3 and Lannon is 5-4.
On June 14, the Stonemen are at Roosevelt Field for a 2 p.m. meeting against the Five O’s.
West Bend visits Tetzlaff/Veterans Field to face the Cardinals, who host the Brookfield Blue Sox on Sunday.
Sussex, Lannon in battle for playoff spots
Posted: June 16, 2014
The Sussex Cardinals Land O’Lakes Western Division baseball team lost against West Bend on June 14, 9-3, at Tetzlaff/Veterans Field, falling to 6-5 in the wooden-bat baseball league this summer.
Nick Schreiber had three hits out of the leadoff spot for the Cardinals. Ryan Weissman had two hits, including a double. Cory Gasper, Todd Johnson, Tanner Johnson, Scott Carberry and Bryan Laabs each had one hit.
Taylor Paepke had a good game all-around for the Cardinals in center field.
Travis Thompson pitched all nine innings, allowing eight earned runs on 13 hits. He struck out four and walked three. Bryant Bullock pitched a complete game for West Bend. He gave up 10 hits while walking two and striking out two.
Sussex lost against the Brookfield Blue Sox on June 15 at home, 8-6. Ben Kaebisch, who scored a run in the bottom of the ninth reached base safely four times. Laabs went 2 for 4. Todd Johnson, Gasper, Tanner Johnson and Carberry all had one hit.
Schreiber pitched four innings for the Cardinals, suffering the loss. Thompson pitched five innings.
“We left too many guys on base this weekend,” Sussex player/manager Cory Gasper. “We didn’t have timely hits.”
Still, Gasper believes in Sussex.
“I still think we’re a team that’s going to make the playoffs,” Gasper said.
Stonemen roll past Oconomowoc
Lannon topped host Oconomowoc on June 14 at Roosevelt Field, 11-3.
Troy Kenkel pitched a complete game for the Stonemen, allowing eight hits and two earned runs. He didn’t walk a batter, striking out eight.
“He did a really good job all afternoon,” Lannon manager Bruce Mayer said.
Joe Erd, who finished the game 4 for 5, had a three-run double in the top of the sixth inning, when Lannon scored four times.
“That was the hit that really broke the game open; we’ve been getting a lot of contributions from our younger players,” Mayer said.
Kyle Senft went 3 for 4 with three runs scored for the Stonemen. Zach Kozlowski, Dan Wnuk and Tim Biron each had two hits. Dean Haase, Wnuk and Biron each scored twice.
West Bend now leads the Western Division standings with a 7-1 record. Pewaukee is 8-2, and the Brookfield Bulldogs are 8-3. The Brookfield Blue Sox are 6-4, tied with Lannon. Merton, winners of a forfeit on June 15 against Menomonee Falls, is 5-4. The top six teams make the postseason playoffs.
Sussex is 6-5 and hosts Hartland at Tetzlaff/Veterans Field at 1 p.m. June 22. Lannon hosts Menomonee Falls at Joecks Field at the same time.