Wisconsin Amateur Baseball

10/24/2015 - 2015 Rock River Hall of Fame Inductees

Congrats to the 2015 Rock River Hall of Fame inductees shown below. They were honored at this year's Old Timers Banquet on Saturday, October 24th at the Lions Hall in Clyman.  

 

2015 Hall of Fame Inductees
Jason Feucht - Rubicon
Don "Guy" Gourloe - LeRoy, Mayville
Jason Wesemann - Clyman
Joe Parish - Watertown
 
Posthumous Inductee
Peter Kuehl - Hustisford
 
Rock Diamond Award Winner
Steve Lehmann - Juneau, Clyman

Hall of Fame Bios

Jason Feucht – 42, lives in Appleton and is a Detective for the Town of Menasha Police Department. Jason played mostly 2nd base for 17 years, all with Rubicon. Jason’s outstanding achievements include playing on 5 RRL Grand Championship teams, several runner-up teams, regular season champions and All Star selections. Jason was not only an excellent hitter; he prided himself on his defense. There were years he made only 2-3 errors over the entire season. For the last twelve years of his career, he drove every week from Appleton to play for one of the greatest teams in the RRL. Humorous incident – Back in the early 90’s when I had a little speed, I remember a game at Hustisford where I stole 2nd base. I then heard someone yell foul ball and see the ump with his hands up. I get totally tricked and started jogging back to 1stbase. About half way there, I find myself in a rundown. I got out of it and ended up back on first. Feeling pretty stupid about getting tricked, I stole 2nd again safely. My teammates get plenty of mileage out of that. Jason’s top opponents were Doug Gonring – Kewaskum. I was on the receiving end of plenty of hard hit shots and watched a get few over my head and out of the park. Chris Morgan – Oakfield. One of the toughest right-handed pitchers I ever faced. He had a very tough slider that I never could figure out. Joe Hennen – Hustisford. One of the best hitters against Rubicon. It seemed like he hit over .700 in his career against us. He always made great contact and never missed an RBI opportunity.

Don “Guy” Gourlie – 57, lives in Mayville and is a press brake operator at Mayville Engineering Corporation. Don played 15-18 years with LeRoy and Mayville. He started his first game at the age of 15 and over the course of his career, played every position. Don’s top achievements were beating Oakfield in LeRoy as a pitcher and going 3-4 with a double to beat Slinger in Slinger. Don played in 8-10 All Star games all at either infield or outfield positions. Don would consider it a great honor to be in the Rock River League Hall of Fame. Humorous incident – Being a left handed hitter, Bruce Frank bet me that I couldn’t get a hit right handed. I hit a little grounder between 1st and 2nd for a base hit so I also hit 1.000 as a right handed hitter. Don’s top opponents were Mike Urban – Oakfield, Jay Lenstrom – Slinger and Dennis Vanderbush – Waupun.

Jason Wesemann - 41, lives in Watertown and is Logistics and Production Manager for Glory Global Solutions. Jason was a shortstop and pitcher for Watertown in 1991-92 and for Clyman from 1998-2010. Jason was a member of 5 RRL Grand Championship teams (1992 with Watertown, 2000, 2007, 2008 and 2009 with Clyman). He also was a two time Southern Division MVP (2000 and 2008) and 8 time all league team member. He played on a playoff team in 14 years of his 15 year career in the RRL. He hit over .500 for three straight years (1999-2001) and was in the top 5 in the league in many categories each year. Humorous incident-I was pitching in a playoff game against Rubicon. There were two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning of a tie game and runners on first and third. I am pitching to Casey O’Hagen. With the count 3-1, I threw strike two but the runner stole 2nd base. I call time and Fitz (Manager Tim Fitzsimmons) and Tim Ladron come to the mound. Fitz says “What do you think?” I say “How about the fake pitchout, throw it down the middle for the strikeout?” Fitz smiles, shakes his head and we go with it. We pull it off and get out of the inning. Crazy moment that is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Jason’s top opponents were Corey Held of Rubicon and Ryan Johnson of Helenville.

Joe Parish - 46, lives in Cambridge and is a Manager for First Weber Group Realtors. Joe was a catcher for Watertown from 1988-98 and for Helenville in 1999. Joe is proud of being part of 6 RRL Grand Championship teams in 7 years! He enjoyed playing with a great bunch of guys. Humorous incident – We played a Grand Championship game in Lebanon against Oakfield in 1992 or 1993. After hitting 2 home runs, I then was hit by a pitch! However on the next pitch, Jose Alba hit a home run. Karma!!! Joe’s top opponents were Kirk Kaul of Hustisford, Scott Staude of Johnson Creek and Rusty Tiedeman of Clyman.

Steve Lehmann - 61, lives in Watertown and retired June 30, 2014 after 42 years of working for Union Pacific Railroad. Steve was a pitcher, first baseman and infielder and played 10 years with Clyman (1970-72 & 1992-2000) and 20 years with Juneau (1972-92). Steve played in several RRL All Star games, was MVP in 1985 and Player of Merit in 1991. Steve currently runs the concession stand at Clyman’s home games. He was a member of several TCNL All League teams and played in the American Legion All Star Game at Milwaukee County Stadium in 1972.Steve enjoyed all the teams and players he played with or against be it from the college ranks A ball, Double A, Triple A or local talent. Humorous incident – In the early 1970’s while playing for Juneau, we went to play Long Lake in the last game of the year. Jim Gantner played for Long Lake in his last amateur ball game and was going for the batting title. I was pitching that game. His first three at bats, Gantner hit three missiles right at our second baseman. He never had to move. We did lose the game 2-1 when one of our outfielders lost a fly ball in the sun, but I don’t think Jim won the batting title. Steve’s top opponents were Jim Hoppe of Lebanon and Kirk Kaul of Hustisford. 

 

Source: www.rockriverbaseball.com