It's time, everybody, for me, your rafters.
One of our favorite things to do in the summer,
where we get a chance to hang out with the boys of summer
and talk a little baseball, a little Northwood's
league baseball, and with us today,
we've got Ryan Williams, back with us,
Ryan in a third time, I think,
isn't a second or third time, it's been a third time here.
A third time here, a third time.
All right, man, good to have you here.
Good to see you.
I appreciate you being here.
And we also want to welcome in, Mr. Kyle, Kenny Schultz.
Kenny Schultz.
Kenny Schultz, I'm sorry about that, Kenny.
My computer froze on me for a second.
I'm not going to lie to you.
Kenny, thanks for being here, man.
Thank you.
Appreciate the time.
And before we dive into getting to know Kenny a little bit
more and everything, actually, Ryan,
I do want to start with you, because we just
came off a nice win last night.
How were you able to enjoy the win?
Or were you a little busy?
I know as an intern, you've got to be running around
quite a bit and everything.
But you able to enjoy the game, and all?
I enjoyed it.
Kenny also being in my shoes, like he
can understand, getting their 845 in the morning.
But obviously, a win is a great, great for the program.
Close games, 7.6 win.
Got to go in the all-star break.
It's a nice energy to go into the all-star break.
That's what I always think.
I love it.
Yeah, regardless of what happened to 10 games,
15 games before it doesn't matter.
You go in with that win.
You can feel a lot better, especially in a being honest,
like we always are around here, a rougher season,
not the season we all want, not the season the players
want, you guys want, or anything.
So we take wherever wins we can get them.
And that's a great and momentum builder.
That's something that we can look forward to in the second half
here, as we're in that, and we're in the all-star break.
And get into a little bit of the schedule
and where you can expect the all-star game
and take that in and everything, everybody.
But nice to see for the team to come out of a win like that.
Now, Kenny, for you, your season started,
like, as Ryan was touching on there, as an intern, correct?
Correct, yeah.
Right on, right on.
What was your background going into this?
I know that I see that you're a plover native.
Is that your front, born and raised?
Yep.
Right on.
Great city, great play.
That's really cool to hear, man.
So in school, did you play a bunch of different sports
or mainly just baseball or?
In high school, I played football basketball and baseball.
Right on, right on.
What was it about baseball that made you
want to pursue that?
I think I was always best at baseball.
And as I grew up, I just focused more and more on that.
Yeah, yeah.
I really wanted to be a singer, but I'm bad at it.
So I just went into acting.
I'd hear you.
I hear not that.
But when it comes to pursuing that dream,
which I have all the understanding and admiration for,
anybody who's chasing down a dream, I don't care what it is.
When it came to that, you saw an opportunity here
and were able to have an internship with the rafters, right?
Correct.
Yes.
So your plans for this season were to be working
as an internship and doing a lot of the jobs
and interns do, correct?
Yeah, I didn't exactly know what I was getting into at first,
but after the first week of work, I figured that would
be my responsibilities all summer.
Yeah.
And then, as my Nana used to say, her favorite phrase,
you want to make God laugh, make plans.
And he was laughing.
And he enjoyed the show.
Because that is what your plan is.
That is what the rafters plan is.
And then all of a sudden, nope, we're
going to need to figure out your jersey size.
What number do you want to be, kid?
Because you show up as a pitcher.
How did that happen?
So the first few games of the rafters season
didn't go as planned, I think.
And I thought they could use another arm to fill up
strike zone.
So I reached out to Ken the GM.
And he talked with Ziggy and Ziggy gave me a shot.
And the same day, I signed in.
I know what happened in the rest of the history.
Yeah, that is so cool.
I have to tell you, man, I've never
heard of a story like this.
I've never heard of a story like this.
I think it's wild.
It's awesome.
I could not be happier for you.
I've been cheering your name before I even met you.
And last time Ryan was there, we couldn't stop talking about it.
It's just such a cool story.
But I think, and I don't mean this as any reporting
or anything like that.
But for me, I don't know if people
have covered the coolest part of the story to me.
You went and did that.
You had that strength, that belief in yourself
and also just working in an organization
where you felt comfortable doing that
to talk to the owner about.
They talked to the GM, I mean, about that and everything.
I think that's really cool.
I think that that's great.
There's a level of confidence
that every person needs to be able to get further in life.
I think there's a big difference
between ego and confidence.
That's confidence.
Ego, you just expect them to come to you.
You know, there's something like that or whatever.
Confidence is, well, I like this team.
I want to help.
What can I do to help?
And in true intern fashion, you're willing to do anything
to help, including being in the moment.
Let's take a get-turn chip quite far back.
That's pretty cool.
Congratulations on that, no matter what happens.
That's a real accomplishment.
And especially in baseball, where scouting is so,
yeah, they're looking at your OPS,
they're looking at your batting average, all these things.
In baseball, maybe more than any other sport,
they're looking at what kind of person you are.
They're looking at these kind of things.
That can only help you in your career,
whatever you do with it.
It's only going to help you going forward.
So this decision happens.
You're able to play.
I imagine that this is, are you in shape wise?
Are you feeling confident in that regard
before you even take the mound that,
okay, I'm still in good shape, I'm ready to go.
I try to prepare not only mentally,
but to strengthen before every start.
There's not too much that I have to think about.
Yeah, going into this.
Yeah, I realized I guess I was asking it for one.
You're not too far from school or anything like it.
Still in school and stuff.
So of course, still, but also you're young.
When you're young, like you guys mad at everything,
I'm not taking it lightly that you don't train
to work your tail off and everything.
But as far as, quote, getting into shape
is a lot different for you than it is for me at 48.
That was the mindset I was going into the question with,
but you're good.
You're all right.
When it came to mentally, though,
that being on the mound and being prepared for that,
how did that go?
Were you setting ready for that?
My first time, definitely not.
It took a few pitches, I think, in the moment
to fully realize what was happening.
Yeah.
Because I did not expect to be pitching the same day
that I signed a contract.
Nor did I think I was going to.
Yeah.
Again, you're really stepping up.
Really, you know, something that the team needed
and showing up and being able to do that.
That's great.
That's really cool of you.
What was it like when you were able to tell
your friend's family about that?
It was a great experience.
I never thought I would tell anyone that.
But everyone was very happy for me
and great that I got the opportunity.
Because they knew that I deserve it.
So yeah, yeah, definitely.
What's all this is cool and a really great story.
I think the icing on this cake is the fact
that you're doing this in your home state,
that you're doing this like just a handfeet
or a couple of ways away from your hometown and all that.
I imagine that that brings an extra meaning to it for you.
It definitely brings some meaning.
I, since I've always been around this area
and the more time I've been spending with the rafters,
more people have came up to me and recognized me
or figured out that their kid used to play
in the same team I did.
So.
Those are always fun to the conversation.
Those connections there and stuff.
That's really cool.
That's great, man.
And I cannot thank you enough for hanging out with us
and being a part of this and everything.
What are your feelings going into the second half?
And I'll ask you this to Ryan.
As far as it doesn't not seem necessarily
wins, losses, playoffs, all of that.
Just how are you feeling as far as the team goes going forward
in the second half of the season?
I think so far we have not had the season we hoped for.
That being said, we have a great group of players,
great group of guys with different personalities.
Everyone gets along and the coaches are doing the right things
to teach us what we need to do to improve every day.
And I feel like this last win that we got yesterday
will really give us that push that we need
to keep it rolling after this break.
One of the, when you become a sports fan,
a sports fan, there are certain words
that you completely lose in your lexicon
and in your brain.
Patience is one of them.
You completely forget what the word patience means.
I've never heard of this word.
What do you mean win now?
That's all I want.
I think also as Northwood's fans,
or after fans in the Northwoods league,
we're pretty accustomed to this team being pretty good
or at least very competitive in some of that.
I think it's a great reminder and a great under chance
for us as fans to remember why we go to these games,
what we love about this game.
And really, I think in a fun way,
really going by game by game
and really taking the rest of this second half of the season
and not looking at next week or the end of the season
or what the standings are saying, enjoy the moment.
Get into the game, take in the game,
take in these innings, take in those moments.
We've got, especially here in Wisconsin,
we're going to blink and there's going to be snow
on the ground.
We're going to be talking about football and everything.
Let's enjoy this.
We are so fortunate in this area to have a Northwoods league team
right here in town that owns its own stadium,
that is able to put into the community like it does
and do some really good in this community along with you guys
and the front-off is the staff, everybody.
I think it's a really fun and a really unique thing to have.
So I know that's the way I'm approaching it.
Ryan, how about you, how are you looking at the next half,
the second half of the season?
I'm very excited.
I know given that it's the Northwoods,
you have first half clinch and then the second half
to get the results, the reset.
So it's a whole new team.
I will add the talent that we've had on this year
has been phenomenal.
About an hour and a half ago, we just
had our three-hole hitter, Junior Praha's
get drafted by the Giants in the 10th rounds.
And he played 13 games for us,
batted 300, letter team and home runs
on the entire year with six.
He's just a beaming example of what
the talent that we've had at Witterfield this year.
The biggest problem is going from the first half
to the second half is when you lose those guys
and it's a whole new team.
And that's kind of the thing with the Northwoods
is most teams like Madison, who've had a lot of success
in recent years, they only take full-term guys.
And so that's going to be the next step going into next year.
It's like, OK, we can clearly attract the talent.
How do we keep it?
And that's going to be the mainstay going forward.
It's a great point and a very insightful and the kind
of perspective I think you really need, in general,
in life, let alone in sports.
And especially in baseball at this level.
This season matters, but it's a build up to the next season.
And that's what every season is.
Whether you win the title or you win no games, either way,
you're building that momentum and especially
bringing in as you touch on their kids and more kids
and make them want to play here and everything.
I think that you have a lot of opportunities for that
going forward for the team.
The team has a lot of chance to be able to pull
that kind of talent in for next season or what have you.
And I think that not enough people
know what you just did there about certain teams
and why you see them do well and others don't.
In part, because of this shift,
it happens with the players.
I think that as a rafter fan and one
from the first pitch, I'm proud of that.
I want a team like that.
I want a team that is, yes, I like to win.
Yeah, I remember every single thing about that 16 team
and that penitent is there and everything.
What I remember more is seeing a guy like Kyle Teal,
a guy that I saw and I interviewed here in the old studio
but I interviewed and everything.
And now he's playing for my favorite team.
Like, it's wild, it's wild.
Like developing these guys, playing these players.
I also remember him being at an event too or something.
I don't remember what he batted.
I don't remember his greatest play as a rafter.
He'll be honest, I don't.
But I remember him.
I remember what he did in this town.
I remember his coming in and how cool he was to pay him
and some of those things.
This is what this league is about.
Winning is awesome, winning is great.
Winning fates, winning isn't forever.
These things are forever.
After you guys leave, I got a nice article here
about some of the Northwoods league players.
They're going to be a part of the futures game
and the all-star game.
I don't know if I got enough time.
There's a lot of players.
There's a lot of players.
That really speaks highly of this league.
And especially as MLB has kind of pulled away
from single and double A and some of that,
we're needing more and more opportunities
for where these guys are going to go,
where they're going to chase that dream down.
The Northwoods league is becoming more and more attractive
when it comes to that.
So I think that's only positive on the horizon
for not only the league for our rafters,
especially when we got great minds
and great personalities like you guys.
Thank you so much for hanging out with us guys.
Of course, thank you for having us.
Appreciate the time.
A good luck with the rest of the season.
Ryan, I'll see you in another day or two.
No, I'm not saying it.
But you're welcome to come back anytime.
We'll have you back real soon.
And we'll be talking with both of you again real soon.
Have fun with the rest of the season, you guys.
And thanks a lot for joining us.
Thank you.
Thank you.
