West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

The West Allis Nationals offensive woes continued on Tuesday night as the four time defending League Champion Kenosha Kings came to Zirkel Field and shut out the Nationals 3-0.

Wasted in the effort was a strong pitching performance by Jimmy Jungbauer.  Jungbauer went 7 innings allowing only one earned run on five hits while striking out six.   Newcomer Adam Widder threw the final two frames in his Nationals debut, striking out two.

Kyle Knaust, Matt Soderlund, Danny Putnam, and Jared Fon collected the only hits of the game for the Nationals who were shut out for the third time this year in league play and fourth time overall.

The Nats next play on Saturday afternoon at New Berlin West High School.  The Racine Kiwanis will be in town to play a DH starting at 1pm.

Matt Soderlund scored from third on a passed ball in the eighth inning to snap a 3-3 tie and the Nationals held on to win, 4-3, in a non-league contest vs the Kenosha Bobcats at Simmons Field in Kenosha.

The Nats entered the eighth down a run after the Bobcats had rallied to take a 3-2 lead in the prior half inning.  Curt Pryal led off the inning with an infield single and went to second on a throwing error.  After a Jared Fon groundout, Pryal went to third on Matt Soderlund's grounder to second.   Soderlund reached base as the ball was misplayed.   Jimmy Jungbauer then singled to left on the first pitch he saw, scoring Pryal and tying the game at 3. 

Curt Pryal, in relief of starting pitcher CJ Herrforth, held down the Bobcats in the eighth and ninth innings to earn his second victory of the year.   Pryal threw the  4 innings, allowing two hits and two runs while striking out 5.

Pryal and Jungbauer led the Nationals with two hits a piece.

Next on the schedule is a league game against the division leading Kenosha Kings.   This will be the first meeting of the year between the two squads which split 6 games last year, the last three of which were in the championship series in which the Kings prevailed 2 games to one to secure their fourth consecutive league title.   First pitch will be at 7:30pm on Tuesday night at Zirkel Field in West Allis.

The West Allis Nationals combined timely hits with a couple of misplayed balls to post 6 runs in the first inning Saturday en route to an 8-1 victory over the Burlington Barons.   The league victory put the Nats alone atop the Langsdorf League, one half game ahead of the idle Kenosha Kings.

After Danny Putnam reached on a fielder's choice and went to third on a single by Curt Pryal, Jared Fon knocked in the first run of the game with a line single to left.   Matt Soderlund followed with a three-run homer to left center to put the Nats ahead 4-0.  After Kyle Knaust singled and Austin James reached on an error, Adam Karas singled to left, scoring both and giving the Nationals a cushion that would never be threatened.

Nationals pitchers Jimmy Jungbauer and Alex Kingsley were both very sharp.  Jungbauer went 5 innings to earn the win, striking out four and walking only one while Kingsley went 3 innings allowing only 2 hits and walking one.   Danny Putnam worked the ninth in his first mound outing of the year, walking in the Barons' only run of the game.

The Nats have a week long break before facing the West Allis White Sox on Saturday June 18.  The two teams will square off for a league doubleheader beginning at 2pm at New Berlin West High School.

The locals skipped batting practice on Tuesday night and the result was a 15 hit effort which carried them to a 13-3 non-league victory over the Kenosha Bobcats.

Logical, right?

The Nationals jumped early, scoring three times in first, once in the second, and six times in the third.   During that stretch, Kyle Kalkopf reached base and scored three times and Danny Putnam had three run scoring knocks - including a triple that nearly left the park.  

Every Nationals starter that played the full game - one that ended early in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Putnam - recorded at least one hit.   Matt Soderlund led the way with four safeties.   In addition to Putnam's three hits, Kyle Kalkopf, Jared Stengel, and Austin James added two a piece.

CJ Herrforth started on the mound for the Nationals.  Despite the early cushion, he struggled with command, issuing an uncharachteristic six walks in four innings of work.   Kyle Knaust earned the victory in relief throwing three perfect frames and striking out three.

Next up are the Burlington Barons in a Langsdorf League game.  The two teams will match up for a single game on Saturday at Burlington's Beaumont Field.  First pitch is set for 1pm.

Summer finally arrived Saturday and the Nationals bats warmed in a sweep of the league's newest franchise, the Kenosha Bobcats.   The sweep put the Nationals atop the Langsdorf League, one half game ahead of the idle Kenosha Kings.

Tyler Eikemeyer's three hits and four RBI paced the Nationals to a 9-2 victory in game one and Eikemeyer, Erik Martwick, and Curt Pryal led the offense to a 4-2 victory in the nightcap.

The Nats got on the board out of the gate in game one when Pryal singled home Eikemeyer in the first inning.   The Bobcats responded with two of their own before Nationals starter Alex Kingsley settled in.  

The Nats broke the game open in the third with the help of two critical errors by Bobcats shortstop Robert Weis.  Matt Soderlund's two run double opened the scoring and Tyler Eikemeyer's bases clearing double closed it, but not before the Nationals had batted around and posted seven runs.

Kingsley cruised from there, limiting the Bobcats to just a seventh inning single the rest of the way.  Kingsley earned his first victory of the young season, striking out seven and walking four.

Game two was a tighter contest.  Eikemeyer and Martwick led off the first inning with singles and stolen bases and scored on Jared Fons groundout and Curt Pryal's sacrifice fly to give the locals an early 2-0 lead.   Nationals starter Jimmy Jungbauer, like Kingsley, battled through command issues in a tough first inning but escaped after allowing only a single tally.

The Nats extended their lead to 4-1 after single runs in the third and fourth innings.  Pryal's second sacrifice fly of the contest scored Martwick after his double in the third and Eikemeyer's single scored Kenseth after his single in the fourth.

Provided a small cushion, Jungbauer battled through five innings to earn the victory.   Though in trouble each inning, he made critical pitches with runners in scoring position and departed with a 4-2 lead.

Curt Pryal pitched the final two innings to earn his second save of the season.

The Nats and Bobcats square up again on Tuesday in a non-league contest and Harvey Kuenn Field in West Allis.  First pitch is set for 7:30pm.