West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

Gather round the computer boys and girls. Today's story is one of family, magic, and blessings. The general malaise engulfing the spirits and bats of the Nats was present again last night. Seven days after having been swept by the rival Cubs, the maroon looked flat. Little brothers can smell when big brothers are vulnerable, and look to take advantage. Saturday McGuire's was the little brother. They jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a bad hop single. Big brother was slow to respond, but when big brother responded, little doubt about the family pecking order remained. Tom Donovan delivered a glancing blow with his third inning RBI groundout to get the team on the board. Later, after a Nick Kibler triple, Jared Stengel hit a sacrifice fly and the score was knotted at two. However, little brother was still dancing. The Nationals entered the seventh with a precarious 3-2 lead and had shown little punch. Enter Big Brother. Tom Donovan and James Herkowski led off with walks. After Jake Koutnik sacrificed and Tim Spata drew an intentional walk, Jared Stengel stepped up. His liner to the left field corner cleared the bases and gave the team its first comfortable lead at 6-3. Jim Dettman, Jason Koconis, Jake Paige, and Erik Dunn each followed with RBI singles and the Nationals had pulled away 10-2. That was more than enough for Joe Kissler. Joe improved to 7-0 on the season with his complete game performance. Joe's line: 7IP/5H/2ER/2BB/8K. With the team's offensive recession declared officially over, game two was a rout. An early 3-0 lead quickly grew to 13-0 before things got interesting. Little brother, unable to compete with the tools of the trade, decided to fight dirty, resorting to verbal assaults and a beanball. Big brother withstood this last ditch effort before the referee mercifully called an end to the fight in the fifth inning and the Nationals up 19-0. The knockout had been delivered. What's the moral to the story you ask, grasshopper? No morals here. Just baseball. Winning is magic and magic is elusive. When you have it, cherish and protect it. It is like the wind. It cannot be harnessed or contolled. Understand this and your respect for the game will be rewarded. Ignore or neglect this principal and suffer the wrath of the baseball gods. (Those Nationals who are confused should seek out Paige or Wajerski for an explanation.) Next up....Milwaukee Athletics (12-6) Tuesday July 29 @7PM, Zirkel Field in McCarty Park, West Allis. A victory in one of their final two games will clinch the team the American Division Regular Season title.