West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

The Nats suffered their first two losses of the season Saturday in Genoa City and both came in heartbreaking fashion.

In game one, the Nats broke a scoreless deadlock with 2 runs in the fifth inning.  With one out, Kyle Kalkopf at first and Sam Kenseth at second, Adam Karas hit a sharp grounder to first.  The first baseman attempted for the force at second, but his throw was wild and went into short left field allowing Kenseth to score and Kalkopf to advance to third.   Jim Jungbauer followed with a slow hit ball to third that scored Kalkopf.    Jungbauer knocked in Kalkopf again in the seventh to give the Nats a 3-0 lead and put them three outs from victory.

That victory appeared probable with Curt Pryal on the hill.   Pryal had cruised through the first six innings, allowing only 2 hits and 2 walks on 58 pitches.   The seventh inning was a different matter.   Genoa City rallied with a series of well-placed singles to pull within a run.  Then, with the bases loaded, Pryal appeared to get out of the jam with a soft fly to left center.   Unfortunately the soft fly had a little extra carry on it and it eluded Adam Karas, allowing the tying and winning run to score.

Game two was equally painful.   The Nats rallied from a 2-0 deficit with 4 runs in the sixth, keyed by doubles from Jared Stengal, Tom Donovan, and James Herkowski and a single from Austin James.    That lead, though, was quickly dispatched in the bottom of the inning.  Genoa City added three runs on four hits and walk to take a 5-4 lead. 

The Nats didn't go quietly in the seventh.   After Jared Stengel flew out to deep left for the second out, Tom Donovan walked.   Curt Pryal followed with his own towering fly to deep left but on this otherwise windy day, the ball did not carry and his hit was secured by the left fielder at the wall in left center to end the game.

Sam Kenseth was the tough luck loser.   Sam pitched all 6 innings, striking out 9.

Next up is another tough test for the Nationals.   Thursday night the squad faces the LOL West defending champion Brookfield Bulldogs at Zirkel Field.