Announcement
Errors Doom Nationals in Game 1 loss to Racine
Posted by Steve Elliott on
Jul 27 2004
at
05:00PM PDT
in 2019 Season
By Steve Elliott
Slow and steady wins most races. That rule held true on Tuesday night.
Defensively, the Nationals were anything but slow and steady. Outstanding, run-preventing plays by Chris Marks in left and Kellen Haynes at second were offset by a variety of defensive miscues sending the Nationals to a tough 8-5 defeat in the semi-final playoff series opening game at Harden Field.
Marks' glovework prevented Racine from taking a lead in the bottom of the first. After leadoff hitter Chase McCulloch singled, Josh Barrett stepped up and ripped a line drive to deep left field. Marks broke back, lunged near the fence, tipped the ball, and caught his own rebound with his back to the infield. Thinking the ball was dropped, McColloch was easily doubled off. The play took on extra significance when the next hitter lined a single to the outfield. After an error put runners on first and second, pitcher Brandon Kellbach struck out Joe Wendt to end the inning.
The game remained scoreless until the third. Racine pushed two runs across on three hits and one costly Nationals throwing error. A hit batter, error by shortstop Jake Page, and an errant pickoff throw by Kellbach produced another Racine run in the fourth.
The Nationals, though, were able to respond in the fifth. After walking with one out, Joe Reisinger advanced to second on a single by Jake Paige. Two passed balls later, Reisinger was home with the first Nationals run of the game. Paige then scored when Mike Wajerski's ground ball between third and short was mishandled for an error.
Racine nearly broke the game open in their half of the inning. A walk, single, and sacrifice put runners on second and third with one out. Kellbach hit the next batter to load the bases. The following hitter singled to center, but Mike Wajerski successfully deked the baserunners into believing the ball would be caught. Playing the ball on one hop, Wajerski threw to second to get the force and hold Racine to one run. With two outs and runners now on the corners, Racine sent the runner from first on a hit-an-run. The play would have been successful if not for an excellent effort by Kellen Haynes. Haynes, who broke to cover second on the play, reversed direction on contact, sprinted to his left, dove to knock the ball down, and made the throw to first to nip the runner by a hair. All said, the Nationals escaped allowing only one run and keeping the game close at 4-2.
A three run sixth gave the Nationals their first lead of the game at 5-4. Taking advantage of uncustomary wildness by Kiwanis' starter Justin McGuire, Chris Marks and James Herkowski walked to lead off the inning. When Tom Donovan and Jared Stengel each lined run scoring singles, league ERA champion McGuire was pulled. Jake Paige later knocked in the third run of the inning, but the rally was halted when Kellen Haynes grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
That would be it for the Nationals' offense. Racine kept the pressure on. After a lead off strikeout, Joe Wendt homered to left to tie the game. With two outs, a single and another error doomed the Nationals. Racine capitalized, scoring both runs on a single by Tyler Pratt.
Joe Wendt, who knocked in 4 runs on the night, gave Racine insurance with a run-scoring single in the eighth to push the lead to 8-5. With the exception of a Wajerski one out walk, the Nationals went quietly in the ninth.
Game two is set for Friday night at 7PM at Zirkel Field. The Nats hope their home surroundings aid them in producing better results.
Slow and steady wins most races. That rule held true on Tuesday night.
Defensively, the Nationals were anything but slow and steady. Outstanding, run-preventing plays by Chris Marks in left and Kellen Haynes at second were offset by a variety of defensive miscues sending the Nationals to a tough 8-5 defeat in the semi-final playoff series opening game at Harden Field.
Marks' glovework prevented Racine from taking a lead in the bottom of the first. After leadoff hitter Chase McCulloch singled, Josh Barrett stepped up and ripped a line drive to deep left field. Marks broke back, lunged near the fence, tipped the ball, and caught his own rebound with his back to the infield. Thinking the ball was dropped, McColloch was easily doubled off. The play took on extra significance when the next hitter lined a single to the outfield. After an error put runners on first and second, pitcher Brandon Kellbach struck out Joe Wendt to end the inning.
The game remained scoreless until the third. Racine pushed two runs across on three hits and one costly Nationals throwing error. A hit batter, error by shortstop Jake Page, and an errant pickoff throw by Kellbach produced another Racine run in the fourth.
The Nationals, though, were able to respond in the fifth. After walking with one out, Joe Reisinger advanced to second on a single by Jake Paige. Two passed balls later, Reisinger was home with the first Nationals run of the game. Paige then scored when Mike Wajerski's ground ball between third and short was mishandled for an error.
Racine nearly broke the game open in their half of the inning. A walk, single, and sacrifice put runners on second and third with one out. Kellbach hit the next batter to load the bases. The following hitter singled to center, but Mike Wajerski successfully deked the baserunners into believing the ball would be caught. Playing the ball on one hop, Wajerski threw to second to get the force and hold Racine to one run. With two outs and runners now on the corners, Racine sent the runner from first on a hit-an-run. The play would have been successful if not for an excellent effort by Kellen Haynes. Haynes, who broke to cover second on the play, reversed direction on contact, sprinted to his left, dove to knock the ball down, and made the throw to first to nip the runner by a hair. All said, the Nationals escaped allowing only one run and keeping the game close at 4-2.
A three run sixth gave the Nationals their first lead of the game at 5-4. Taking advantage of uncustomary wildness by Kiwanis' starter Justin McGuire, Chris Marks and James Herkowski walked to lead off the inning. When Tom Donovan and Jared Stengel each lined run scoring singles, league ERA champion McGuire was pulled. Jake Paige later knocked in the third run of the inning, but the rally was halted when Kellen Haynes grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
That would be it for the Nationals' offense. Racine kept the pressure on. After a lead off strikeout, Joe Wendt homered to left to tie the game. With two outs, a single and another error doomed the Nationals. Racine capitalized, scoring both runs on a single by Tyler Pratt.
Joe Wendt, who knocked in 4 runs on the night, gave Racine insurance with a run-scoring single in the eighth to push the lead to 8-5. With the exception of a Wajerski one out walk, the Nationals went quietly in the ninth.
Game two is set for Friday night at 7PM at Zirkel Field. The Nats hope their home surroundings aid them in producing better results.
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Team Record
wins
26
losses
18
ties
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Last Five Games
| Sun, Aug 14 | vs. kenosha kings | (W) 4 - 3 |
| Sat, Aug 13 | at sheboygan a's | (W) 7 - 8 |
| Fri, Aug 12 | vs. sheboygan a's | (W) 8 - 7 |
| Thu, Aug 11 | vs. kenosha kings | (W) 4 - 1 |
| Sat, Aug 06 | at kenosha kings | (W) 3 - 5 |
