West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

Strong performances by Non-roster call ups Paul Archambault and Bill Henschell led the Nationals to a 6-3 opening day victory at Genoa City on Saturday.

Archambault had three hits and five RBI's while Henschell held Genoa City to one hit and no runs through the first five innings.

Brandon Hall and Curt Pryal also made big contributions in the victory.    Hall reached base four times, scoring twice, and played stellar defense at first base, saving infielders throwing errors on at least three occasions.

Pryal came through on the mound, earning his first save of the year by going the last 4 innings while allowing only 1 earned run.   Batting second for the first time in his Nationals career, Pryal reached base twice and scored on each occasion.

Retired Old Timer Mike Wajerski added a hit and played solid defense at both short and third.

Fourteen year old prospect Alex Elliott earned his first start as a National and established a franchise record in the fifth inning when he drew a walk and became the youngest National to ever reach base.

The Nationals and Genoa City play the second game of the home-and-home non-league series on Saturday May 14 in West Allis at Zirkel Field.   First pitch is set for 1pm.   Once again, the Nationals will be welcoming Old Timers and prospects to take part in the contest.

The West Allis Nationals rallied late on Thursday night, scoring 8 runs in the final 3 frames to defeat the Kenosha Kings 11-7 and force a third game to decide the 2010 Frank Langsdorf League championship.

The Nats jumped up early after Kyle Kalkopf doubled to lead off the game and scored on Brandon Hall's groundout.   Kalkopf was in the middle of the action again in the third with the score tied.   After reaching on a fielder's choice and advancing to second on an errant throw, Kalkopf stole third on a delayed steal and scored on Jared Stengel's infield single.

Kalkopf's walk with the bases loaded in the fourth plated the team's third run and put the Nats up 3-1, but that lead would prove to be short lived.    Shotty fielding by the Nats and timely hitting by the Kings led to three runs in the fifth and the Kings had a 4-3 lead at the midway point.

The Kings padded their lead with two more in the sixth and appeared to be cruising until Kalkopf was hit by a pitch with one out in the seventh.    Jared Stengel quickly responded with a two run homer to left and the Nats were back in the game at 6-5.    Tom Zimmerman later added an RBI single to knot the game at 6 and chase the Kings starter from the game.

Kenosha wasted no time in responding, taking the lead back in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI double by Billy Johnson.

Mike Kenseth led off the eighth with a walk for the Nationals and was sacrificed to second by Erik Martwick.  He later scored on a bases loaded walk to Brandon Hall and the game was knotted at 7 headed to the bottom of the eighth.   The Kings put runners on first and second with two outs, but failed to score and the game headed to the ninth.

Tom Zimmerman led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch.    Successive sacrifice bunts by Matt Soderlund and Mike Kenseth were executed perfectly and the Nats had the bases loaded with no one out.    That situation didn't last long.    Eric Martwick lined a single to right to give the Nats an 8-7 lead.   One out later, Stengel again came through, clearing the bases with a double to the wall in left and giving the Nats an 11-7 lead.

Curt Pryal made quick work of the Kings in the ninth, working around a two out single to close the door and secure the victory.

The season now comes down to one game.   The Kings will meet the Nats in a deciding game 3 of the championship series at 4:30pm on Saturday at New Berlin West High School.

On a night dominated by pitching, it was only appropriate that small ball decided the outcome.   After a lead off single to start the 10th inning, the Kings loaded the bases when consecutive sacrifice bunts were mishandled.    With no one out, Jason Dennis then hit a sacrifice fly to left to give the Kings their first and only lead of the game, 2-1.  

Erik Martwick walked with two down in the bottom half of the inning and it appeared the Nationals would tie the game when Matt Soderlund smoked a liner to the right side.   Unfortunately, the ball was flagged by the second basemen who then threw to first to end the game.

The real story of the game, though, began and ended on the mound.   Jimmy Jungbauer and Kings pitchers,  Randy Johnson and Eric Schumacher, put on masterful displays while keeping each of the potent offenses at bay.   

Jungbauer pitched all 10 innings, allowing 8 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7.    The run that proved to be the winner in the 10th was unearned.

Johnson went the first 6 for the Kings, allowing only three hits while striking out 9.    Schumacher went the rest of the way, holding the Nationals hitless and striking out 3 to earn the win.

Both sides had opportunities to score.  The Nationals left 10 on base during the first 6 innings; the Kings, 4.

The Nats pushed their lone run across in the third inning.   Kyle Kalkopf led off the inning getting hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a single by Jared Stengel.  After a walk to Brandon Hall and a popout by Dean Mlachnik, Curt Pryal drove Kalkopf home with a ground out to second.

Kalkopf led the Nationals by reaching base 4 times; 3 times after getting hit by a pitch and once on a single.   Jimmy Jungbauer added a single to help his cause.

The Nats and Kings meet again on Thursday at Simmons Field in Kenosha.   First pitch is set for 7:30pm.