West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

Tyler Eickmeyer, Marcos Cruz, and Nick Lingvay each had multi-hit games and Curt Pryal pitched 7 strong innings as the West Allis Nationals downed the Kenosha Bobcats 6-1 in the Langsdorf League Semifinals on Saturday at Zirkel Field in West Allis.   The victory earned the Nationals a return trip to the Langsdorf League Championship Series where they'll face a familiar foe - the four time defending champion Kenosha Kings.    The Kings defeated the Nationals 2 games to 1 in a hard-fought championship series last year.

The Nationals struck first with two runs in the second.   Marcos Cruz walked and Nick Lingvay singled and Jared Stengel singled them home.   The Nats tacked on two more runs in third.   Erik Martwick and Jared Fon each were each hit by pitches with one out.   Cruz then plated his first RBI of the contest, bringing in Martwick and Fon later came home on a wild pitch.

In the fourth, after walking, Adam Karas scored on a wild pitch.   Marcos Cruz closed the scoring in the sixth, knocking in Erik Martwick and providing the Nats with a comfortable cushion leading into the late innings.

Pryal was effective throughout his outing, and most effective in crisis.   His top moment came in his final inning of work.  After the Bobcats rallied to load the bases with no outs in the seventh, Pryal struck out the meat of the Bobcats order - hitters 3,4,and 5, to end the rally and close out his night.   Kyle Knaust pitched two scoreless frames to end the game.

The Championship Series begins on Tuesday night at Simmons Field in Kenosha.  First pitch is set for 7:30pm.   

Erik Martwick and Jimmy Jungbauer had knocks in a 6 run fifth inning and finished with two hits a piece as the Nationals downed Genoa City 11-3 on Tuesday night at Zirkel Field in West Allis.

Alex Kingsley pitched the first five innings to earn his third win of the year.  Kyle Knaust added three hitless innings of relief, striking out five, before giving way to Jared Stengel who pitched a perfect frame in his Nationals mound debut.

The win assured the Nats a second place regular season finish and a bye to the playoff semi-finals on Saturday July 30.

The Nats close the regular season on Saturday with a DH against the Burlington Barons at Beaumont Field in Burlington.  First pitch of game one is set for 1pm.

Matt Soderlund's two run double in the first and Danny Putnam's two run homer in the eighth were the critical blows in the Nationals 6-3 non league victory over the Kenosha Bobcats on Saturday at Zirkel Field.

Soderlund's knock, his 9th double of the year, gave the team an early 2-0 lead.   Putnam's blast, his 1st of the year, provided some late security after the Bobcats had pulled within a run at 4-3.

Alex Kingsley pitched seven strong innings to earn the victory.  Kingsley allowed three earned runs on seven hits before giving way to Adam Karas in the eighth and Danny Putnam in the ninth.

Next up for the Nationals are the Racine Kiwanis on Tuesday night at Horlick Field.   This league game will begin at 7:30pm.

Tyler Eickmeyer doubled in the bottom of the ninth and scored when the Kenosha Bobcats third baseman threw Kyle Knaust's sacrifice bunt past first base as the Nationals took a tightly contested game from the Bobcats by a score of 3-2.

The Nationals had to battle for runs against Bobcats all star Justin Cokefair.   The only damage they were able to do during his seven innings of work were two runs in the third.   Jared Fon plated the first with a bases loaded walk and Nick Lingvay followed with an RBI single on the infield.

That offense proved to be nearly enough for Nationals starter Jimmy Jungbauer.   Jungbauer went seven strong innings, allowing only one unearned run and left the game with a 2-1 lead.   The Bobcats, though, put another unearned run on the board in the 8th against Nationals reliever Kyle Knaust to knot the score at two and lay the groundwork for the ninth inning rally.

Offense came at a premium on the night.   Eickmeyer and Lingvay led the way with two hits a piece, but the Nationals managed only 6 hits collectively.

Next up is the Langsdorf All Star Game on Friday at Simmons Field in Kenosha.   The Nationals are sending 5 players to this year's game:  Catcher Matt Soderlund, Utility Tyler Eickmeyer, OF's Jimmy Jungbauer and Danny Putnam, and P Curt Pryal.

The next Nationals game is a non-league game on Saturday morning at 11am at Zirkel Field, McCarty Park against the same Kenosha Bobcats.

The West Allis Nationals shook themselves from their offensive malaise Saturday as they cruised to an 11-1 and 8-0 DH sweep of the Racine Kiwanis.

Game one was a more tightly contested affair than the final score indicates.   The Nationals trailed 1-0 until the third when Jimmy Jungbauer's sacrifice fly plated Adam Karas.

That remained the score until the bottom of the fifth when the Nationals exploded for 10 runs - their biggest inning of the year - and ended the game via the mercy rule.   Jungbauer served a two run double to right center to start the rally and a two run triple to end it.   Matt Soderlund contributed a two run double, as well, and Jared Fon, Marcos Cruz, Austin James, and Kyle Kalkopf also added RBI's in the frame.

CJ Herrforth earned the win - his third of the year - with 5 efficient innings of work.   Herrforth needed just 41 pitches, allowing just one earned run on two hits.

Given that efficient performance, Herrforth was able to start game two as well.   Herrforth gave way to Curt Pryal in second and Pryal shut down the Kiwanis the rest of the way in the 8-0 game two victory.

Tyler Eikemeyer was the offensive star.   Eikemeyer knocked in 5 runs with a bases clearing double in the second and a two run single in the third.  Jared Fon, Nick Lingvay, and Marcos Cruz also contributed two hits a piece.

Next up for the Nationals are the Kenosha Bobcats.   The two teams square off in a League game on Tuesday night July 5 at Zirkel Field in West Allis.  First pitch is set for 7:30pm.