MADISON — The annual Home Talent League All-Star game festivities were held Aug. 3 at the Duck Pond in Madison’s Warner Park. Two Monroe graduates playing for the Argyle Beavers were nominated to play: Kris Rieder and Dylan Schwitz.
Rieder has been playing Home Talent baseball since he was a junior in high school and has played for four teams: Blanchardville, Cottage Grove, Argyle and the defunct Monroe program. He found his way to Argyle following a couple of high school friends and has cemented his place in the team’s starting rotation.
“After college, I got a job back in Monroe, and seeing how they didn’t have a team anymore, I looked for teams in the area,” Rieder said. “Having some of your best friends like Dylan Schwitz and Drew Nafzger playing for Argyle already, it seemed like a pretty fitting place to play and have some fun.”
Rieder is 6-0 this season in nine starts. He’s pitched 64 2/3 innings and has 52 strikeouts and 27 walks with an ERA of 2.22 and a 1.17 WHIP. He began the season with a shoulder issue, but once it healed he came back strong.
“Right out of the gate in my first few starts I felt better on the mound than in years past,” Rieder said. “I have just been taking it one game at a time and focusing on the little things to try and do whatever it takes to get a quality start for the team.”
Rieder, like so many others, began to play baseball as a child and his love of the game continued to grow.
“Baseball has always been a huge part of my life — growing up learning everything from my dad, to now helping my little brother enjoy the game,” Rieder said. “Working throughout the week, it’s nice knowing you get to have something you have loved your whole life to do on the weekends and getting to share that experience with your friends on the team and friends on other teams.”
At 26, Rieder is one of the older players on an otherwise young Beavers team. Despite that, Argyle finished the regular season atop the standings in the Western South Division with a 10-6 record, one game ahead of Wiota and Shullsburg-Benton. The Beavers host Blanchardville in the first round of the playoffs.
“We have a young and talented base,” Schwitz said. “I think we could do great things in our future.”
Schwitz is in his sixth season in Home Talent League, and he’s been selected to the all-star game three times — one of which was the Rising Stars game for first and second year players. He’s hitting .397 this season with a .500 on-base percentage and .683 slugging. He’s scored 19 runs, hit eight doubles, two triples, two home runs and has accumulated 10 RBIs and 12 walks for the Beavers.
“The year has been going well,” Schwitz said. “We play each week like it’s our last. As long as the team is successful, I’m happy.”
Schwitz has been working on hitting off-speed pitches this season and has had success.
“I keep my head on it and my hands back and go with the pitch. But I really think my hitting is better because I am swinging at good pitches,” Schwitz said.
Schwitz had a 14-game hitting streak earlier this season that ended against Blanchardville. He’s hoping for redemption in the playoffs.
“They had a pitcher I had never seen before on the bump and I just couldn’t seem to square any of his pitches up,” Schwitz said of the streak ending.
Schwitz started with the Beavers after high school. Nafzger, his childhood friend from Monroe, knew a coach on the team and the two showed up for batting practice.
“The rest is history,” Schwitz said. “The group of guys I play with are why I keep coming back. It is not a chore to come play. We all support each other and want each other to succeed.
“Personally, I love the competitive atmosphere that the HTL has to offer and hope to play until I can’t physically do it anymore.”
