West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

The Nationals' Matt Soderlund scored the game's only run and the Nationals escaped Kenosha with 1-0 victory and a leg up in the Langsdorf League Best-of-Three Championship Series.

The Nationals scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 13th inning when Soderlund drew a leadoff walk, stole second base and scored on a two-out, RBI single by Nick Lingvay.

The four-time defending Langsdorf champion Kings put runners at first and second with two outs in the bottom half of the inning only to come up empty once again, ending the game on a strikeout from Joe Ferro.

Jimmy Jungbauer pitched ten scoreless innings for the Nationals before giving way to rookie Adam Widder who threw the final three to secure his first Nationals victory.

Randy Johnson took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and tossed eight scoreless innings in a no-decision.  Jason Bunton (3-4) took the loss with five innings of relief.

Both teams had several scoring opportunities earlier in the contest, but pitchers stepped up with timely strikeouts with men in scoring position to defuse the rallies.

“It just came down to who was going to get the clutch hit,” Kings’ manager Tim Pulizzano said. “They were the ones that had it.”

Johnson allowed just two hits and finished with two walks and eight strikeouts. The right-hander allowed back-to-back singles to start the seventh inning — a leadoff blooper and a bunt single — before answering with three straight strikeouts to end the rally.

“We’ve faced (Jungbauer) many times and he’s the type of guy you have to get to early,” Pulizzano said. “When he settles in, this is what he has the potential to do. There were four great pitching performances (from both starters and relievers) and it was a case of two teams standing toe-to-toe. I don’t think you’ve seen the last of us.”

With Jungbauer out of the game, the Kings appeared to be on the verge of ending the marathon. Mark Cibrario and John Hasser led off with back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners with no outs. After Pinch hitter Jason Acevedo struck out on three pitches, Kyle Frye fouled off a first-pitch, suicide squeeze attempt and then hit a weak dribbler to short that forced Cibrario into a pickle.

Cibrario was tagged out for the second out of the inning and Ferro struck out on a called check swing to end the rally.

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Zirkel Field in West Allis. A potential third and deciding game is slated for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Simmons Field.

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.