West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

The West Allis Nationals came up short in their bid to add a WABC championship to their 2015 resume, falling to the Pewaukee Muskies 10-1 on Sunday afternoon.  The loss followed a Sunday morning 5-3 semi-final win over the Lannon Stonemen.

An uncharacteristic defense lapse doomed the Nationals in the championship game.  Pewaukee scored three unearned runs in the third inning and never looked back.

The Nationals ended the 2015 regular season with a 20-7 record and both Wisconsin State League Northern Division and Langsdorf Nite League championships.

Next up for the Nationals are the Lombard Orioles in the Wisconsin State League Championship Series.   The Nationals will host game 1 on Friday night July 24 at Harvey Kuenn Field at Rainbow Park in West Allis at 8pm. Game 2 (and 3, if necessary) will be in Lombard on Saturday July 25.  First pitch is set for 4pm.   10 time defending champion Lombard enters the series with a 32-11 record and ownership of both 2015 Wisconsin State League Southern Division and Regular Season championships.

The West Allis Nationals downed the Milwaukee Beavers 3-2 on Saturday afternoon to advance to Sunday morning's semifinal round versus the Lannon Stonemen at West Bend High School at 10am.

Jimmy Jungbauer earned the complete game victory, allowing only 5 hits while striking out 4.   Max Widmar and Brian Huntzinger led the offense.

Winners of the Semi Final games play at 2pm at Carl Kuss Field in Regner Park. 

A rainout Thursday pushed the Nationals' matchup vs Monches to the Irish's home park for a Friday evening makeup.   After falling behind early 1-0, the Nationals patiently outlasted the Irish 8-1.

Facing a crafty lefty, the normally aggressive Natties drew 13 free passes waiting for pitches over the plate.  When the finally came, they were hit hard to the opposite field gap.  Brian Huntzinger led the offense with two walks, a double, a triple, and two runs scored.  Jake Kolasinski knocked in three runs and Nick Schmidlkofer knocked in two more.

Cody Griebling went the first six innings on the hill, allowing one earned run on three hits while striking out three.  Andy Arenson pitched the seventh, striking out three of the four batters he faced.

Today the Nationals take on the Milwaukee Beavers in both teams' final Pool play game.   First pitch is set for 2:30pm.   A victory will put the Nationals in position to earn a spot in Sunday's semi-final round. 

On Wednesday night the Nationals travelled to West Bend to begin Pool play in the 24 team Wisconsin Amateur Baseball Classic tournament.

The Rubicon Red Sox, whom the Nationals have never before played, were first up and the Nationals prevailed 5-4.   The Nationals jumped to an immediate lead in first when Matt Richer drove home Kyle Kalkopf.   The team added two more in the third on consecutive knocks by Brian Huntzinger, Matt Richer, and Shey Smith.  Smith and Richer teamed up again in the fifth; Richer singled and Smith doubled him home.

Curt Pryal threw five scoreless innings to earn the victory.  He allowed no runs on two while striking out two.   A two out rally in the bottom half of the seventh brought the Red Sox back to 5-4, but Adam Widder induced a weak ground ball for a force out and earned the save.

Next up in the WABC tourney are Monches Irish on Thursday night at 8:30pm in West Bend.