West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

The Nationals defeated Addison, IL 9-2, followed by a dramatic 7-6 victory over first place Lombard, IL to complete a successful weekend of games in Sheboygan.

Cody Griebling started and went the distance in game 1 vs Addison, striking out 12.  Kyle Kalkopf led the offense with 2 doubles and 5 RBI.

Game two was a back and forth affair.  Lombard jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first, but the Nationals responded with 4 runs of their own.   Lombard later tied the game at 4, but Max Widmar hit an opposite field homer in the fifth to give the Nats the lead.   Lombard responded with a 2 run homer in the sixth to take a 6-5 lead.   After a quiet sixth, the Nats rallied in the bottom of the 7th.  Ben Carpenter reached on an error to lead off and Jonah Meidl followed with a single.  With one out, Max Widmar singled to left, his fourth hit of the game, to tie the score at 6.   A Shey Smith flyout advanced runners to second and third with two outs bringing Aaron Goecks to the plate.   With two strikes, and after fighting off a few pitches, Goecks hit a squibber off the end of the bat to no man's land on the third base side of the hill, scoring Meidl with the winning run.   With the victory the Nats moved into 3rd place in the WSL.

Next up for the Nats are the second place Sheboygan A's on Wednesday night at Kuenn Field in West Allis. First pitch is set for 7:30pm. 

In a first time meeting between the expansion DePere Dodgers and Nationals, righthander John Keane threw seven shutout innings in a complete game 8-0 victory.   Keane allowed only three hits and struck out six on the day.

Kyle Kalkopf and Brian Huntzinger led the offense with two hits each.   Huntzinger, Ben Carpenter and Jonah Meidl scored each scored two runs.   Shey Smith and Kalkopf knocked in two.

Next up for the Nationals are the Addison, IL Braves at 1pm Sunday in Sheboygan.   That game will be followed by a match up with the first place Lombard, IL Orioles.   

The West Allis Nationals beat the rival Kenosha Kings on Thursday night at Simmons Field Kenosha 7-0 behind a solid outing from Jim Jungbauer.   Jungbauer allowed only 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7 in the complete game shutout victory.    The win moves the Nats closer toward the upper tier of the Wisconsin State League.

The offense proved steady on Thursday, scoring at least one run in six of seven innings.  Matt Richer led the way with 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 steals and an RBI.   Kyle Kalkopf also had a big night with 3 hits and 2 RBI's.

The Nationals will spend this coming weekend in Sheboygan, playing neutral site games against the DePere Dodgers (Sat 10am), Addison, IL Braves (Sun 1pm) and Lombard, IL Orioles (Sun 3pm) before finally heading back home for a Wednesday July 13 clash against the Sheboygan A's. 

The West Allis Nationals have been nothing if not consistent this season.   Once again the team squared off for a DH against a Wisconsin State League opponent and once again the team split a DH, losing game one 11-5 before taking the nightcap by a score of 6-4.

The Nats fell into an early hole in game one and were never able to recover.   Matt Richer led the offense with 2 hits including a double and 2 RBI.    Brian Huntzinger, playing on a bad wheel, added a hit and 2 RBI.

Game two's results were more pleasing for those who consider themselves fans of the squad/club/posse/cult. Tom Starck battled 7 innings with his command, but made big pitches when it mattered to earn the W.  Kyle Kalkopf, Matt Richer, Aaron Goecks, and Curt Pryal all had multiple hit games for the locals.   Richer and Pryal each knocked in two runs.

Next week is busy with a game Thursday night in Kenosha versus the Kings, Saturday morning in Sheboygan versus the DePere Dodgers, and a Sunday afternoon twinbill in Sheboygan versus the Addison, IL Braves and the Lombard, IL Orioles. 

The West Allis Nationals and Oshkosh Giants split a DH on Saturday afternoon and Kuenn Field in West Allis.  Oshkosh took game one, 7-3 and the Nationals took the nightcap, 11-1.

Game one was tight until Oshkosh broke the game open with a 4 run fifth, chasing starter Aaron Woods.   The Nationals registered nine hits in the affair, led by Kyle Kalkopf and John Keane with 2 each, but left runners in scoring position in the first, fourth and seventh innings.   Max Widmar's solo blast to CF was the offensive highlight.

In the second game, the Nationals jumped to a 3-0 lead after one inning and 7-0 after two and never looked back.  Max Widmar led the offense with 4 hits, including a triple, and 3 RBI.  Curt Pryal, Matt Richer, and Jonah Meidl had 2 hits each; Pryal and Alex Elliott had 2 RBI.

Next up are the Sheboygan A's in Sheboygan at 7:30pm Thursday June 30.