West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

Saturday night the Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers shared similar experiences. Both teams jumped out to big leads only to watch their opposition storm back and tie the game. Unlike the Brewers, however, the Nationals scratched out a late run to take back the victory. After jumping to a 5-0 lead, the Nationals bats and gloves went into a slumber. The team was no-hit over the final four frames and committed several costly defensive miscues to allow McGuires to storm back and tie the game at 5. Mike Wajerski changed the momentum in the seventh inning. After leading off the inning by reaching on an error, Wajerski promptly stole second and advanced to third on a groundout by Joe Reisinger. After Jim Dettman popped out on the infield for the second out, the stage was set for Wajerski's heroics. With a 2-2 count on Chris Marks, McGuires pitcher, Owen Erickson, crossed up his catcher and unleashed a wild pitch that ricocheted off the backstop. Alertly and aggressively, Wajerski raced for the plate and scored the lead run by executing a perfect headfirst slide to avoid the tag of the pitcher. With a precarious one run cushion, Dan Lorum entered the game for his first action of the year. Lorum closed the door on McGuires, earning the save. Jim Dettman started on the bump for the Nationals, but struggled with his command. Tim Spata relieved Dettman in the fifth and earned his second win of the young season. Joe Reisinger and Alex Franson led the offense with two hits each. The nightcap offered no such drama. The Nationals sent 14 men to the plate in the top of the first inning while jumping out to a 10-0 lead. Chris Marks knocked in 4 runs in the inning with a double and triple. The team ripped a season game high 16 hits in the blowout with multiple hit games from Wajerski, Reisinger, Dettman, Marks, Koepp, Paige, and Franson. Nick Kibler was dominant on the mound. Kibler struck out 5 in 4 innings of work while allowing only one hit. Joe Kissler mopped up in the fifth.

The two-time defending champions opened the league season in impressive fashion Sunday night. In a road DH versus the expansion Landmark Inn franchise the Nationals cruised to 18-0 and 11-0 victories. Rain shortened game two to three innings, but Landmark conceded the victory. There was no shortage of impressive performances. Leading the offense were Jim Dettman, Chris Marks, Alex Franson, and newcomer Mike Wajerski. Each contributed multiple hit games. Tim Spata was the winning pitcher in game one, going the distance while striking out 6 and walking 2. Nick Kibler cruised in the rain shortened nightcap. Kibler struck out 8 and walked 4 in the rain-shortened contest. FOR COMPLETE STATS ON THE GAME CLICK ON THE APPROPRIATE LINK IN THE LEFT HAND COLUMN.

Saturday's DH versus Lifetime Financial was postponed due to wet grounds. A time and date for the makeup has yet to be scheduled.

Carthage College is headed back home. With a 3-0 lead in the seventh inning of their first tournament game, the Redman imploded. 12 runs, 6 hits, 4 errors, and 3 hit batsmen later, the team was doomed to an uphill battle through the losers' bracket. That proved to be an insurmountable challenge Saturday. The Redman ended their run at the National Championship with a 15-5 loss the the College of New Jersey. Congrats to Nationals Dan Lorum, Jimmy Jungbauer, and Johnny Meier!

The Nationals gained their first win of the year in improbable fashion Sunday. Trailing 5-0 in the seventh inning, the team rallied for eight runs and held on for an 8-5 victory over the Sheboygan A's in Sheboygan. After being stymied by A's ace, Mike Casper for six innings, the Nationals took advantage of his replacement. A combination of patience and timely power led to eight unanswered runs. Trevor Koepp's three run home run to left field opened the flood gates and Chris Marks' bases clearing double closed the scoring. Jim Dettman went all seven innings for the Nationals, walking 4 and striking out two. Dettman limited the potent A's offense to only 3 earned runs. The A's redeemed themselves in the nightcap with a 9-3 victory. The Nationals chased the A's starting pitcher in the third inning, taking a 3-2 lead. The A's, however, answered with two of their own and never looked back. The Nationals, now 1-4, open the regular season on Saturday night at Zirkel Field in McCarty Park. The first game of the DH begins at 6PM.