West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

It was hard to determine the greater foe on Saturday night, the West Allis White Sox or Mother Nature. After Friday and Saturday rains, Zirkel Field was saturated and in need of preparation if games were to be played. Thanks to the handiwork of manager, Tim Spata, and several of his associates, games were on! The inability to take pre-game batting practice showed, though. Game one was a scoreless duel until the sixth inning when Brian Gibson's jam job single over first base scored Jake Koutnik with the game's first run. Tim Spata then followed with an RBI single and pitcher Joe Kissler did the rest. As he did in similar fashion against the Milwaukee Angels, Kissler stymied the opposition bats, allowing the Nationals time to get their offense in gear. On this day, Kissler threw his second shutout of the season in leading the Nationals to a 2-0 victory. Kissler improves to 5-0 on the season. Little changed in game two. Neither team was able to muster any offense until the fifth inning. After a Tim Spata walk and Mike Wajerski bunt, Jake Paige blooped a single. Alex Franson followed with a sacrifice fly to medium left, scoring Spata, and the Nationals had a 1-0 lead. The West Allis White Sox matched, however, in the sixth and the game headed for extra innings. In the eighth, Jared Stengel was the catalyst. His two out single to center put the White Sox' tiring starting pitcher in the stretch. From there, he struggled to find the strike zone, walking Gibson, Spata, and, finally, Mike Wajerski on a 3-2 pitch to bring home Stengel with the lead run. That was enough for Nationals pitcher, Nick Kibler. Kibler overpowered the White Sox in the eighth and the Nationals walked off with a 2-1 victory. The victory puts the Nationals alone atop the American Division of the Milwaukee Independent Wood Bat League at 10-2. With the cancellation of the previously scheduled July 4 doubleheader, the team takes a well-deserved holiday break. No games are scheduled until Tuesday July 8 when the Nationals host the Jetsetter Pilots at Zirkel Field in McCarty Park. The single, nine inning affair will begin at 7PM.