West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

First place Racine visited Zirkel Field on Friday night with an opportunity to separate from a tight Langsdorf pack.   The Nationals had different a idea.

After dropping game one 4-1, the Nats battled back and earned a hard fought 2-1 win in game two.

The Nationals had plenty of opportunities in the opener but largely failed when scoring chances materialized.   The locals had runners in scoring position in each of the first 4 innings, but didn't push a single run across.    In the fifth, James Herkowski did deliver, knocking in Brandon Hall, but the inning quickly fizzled when Erik Martwick hit into a 5-4-3 DP.   CJ Herrforth went 5 innings on the bump, allowing 3 earned runs before giving way to Sam Kenseth, who worked the final two innings.

Game two was a similar story with a different result.    Playing without their top three hitters and 2009 All Stars, the team again was held without a run for the first four frames.    In the fourth, Eric Martwick came through with a run scoring double to break the scoreless tie.     Though Racine answered with a run of their own in the fifth, that would be all that they would get.   Jimmy Jungbauer was in complete control all night, allowing only 5 hits and striking out 7.    His dominance of Racine provided the offense with the chance it needed to win a tight, low scoring game.   That chance was capitalized upon in the fifth.   Kyle Kalkopf doubled with one out and later scored on Brandon Hall's liner to right, giving the Nats a 2-1 lead.

That lead held, but not without some drama in the sixth.   Two misplayed fly balls put runners on second and third with one out.   After an intentional walk, Jungbauer got the six hitter to pop up to first before striking out the 7 hitter to end the inning.

Next up for the Nats is a key matchup against the Brookfield Bulldogs on Tuesday night at Zirkel Field.   Brookfield owns the season series at 2-0, but a Nationals victory will put the teams even at 5-7 in league play and tied for the final playoff spot.    First pitch is set for 7:30pm.