West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

It's tough to find individual performance to celebrate when the team loses a tough championship series, but Joe Kissler's efforts need to be mentioned. Kissler's 6.3 innings of shutout baseball allowed the Nationals to win game one of this season's championship series. The level of this accomplishment was magnified days later when the rest of the staff was unable to shut down the Angels offense, ultimately succombing by scores of 11-4 and 3-2. Great season, Joe!

Most games are lost, not won. That lesson was demonstrated not once, but twice on Saturday night as the West Allis Nationals and Milwaukee Angels split the first two games of their best-of-three championship playoff series. The Nationals took game one 3-0, but fell in the nightcap 11-4. The opener was a pitchers duel. The only runs of the game came in the third inning due in part to Angels miscues. Brian Gibson led off the inning with a double down the right field line. After Jason Koconis was unsuccessful bunting him to third, Angels catcher, Ben Krey, did the job in allowing a ball to get by him to the screen. Koconis quickly capitalized with a line single to left field and the Nationals were up 1-0. Next up was Jake Koutnik. Koutnik's sacrifice bunt was fielded by Krey and thrown away down the right field line, scoring Koconis. A third Angel miscue in the inning-a ground ball under the glove of the shortstop-allowed Koutnik to score and put the Nationals in command at 3-0. That was more than enough for Joe Kissler. Kissler battled the Angels with 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball. Kissler lacked his usual velocity and command, but made big pitches to get out of several jams. Tim Ustruck got the final two outs to secure the victory. The tables turned in game two. The normally slick fielding Nationals were stung by a couple of tough hops in the first two innings and fell behind 3-0. Nick Kibler started the game on three days rest and was the unfortunate recipient. Kibler left after four innings and the team down 6-1. Jim Dettman mopped up, but the offense failed to get charged up until the seventh inning when the game was out of hand at 11-1. Tuesday night will decide the Milwaukee County Championship. Game time at Zirkel Field is 7PM.

Due to Milwaukee County budget cuts, the Doyne Park Golf Course will close effective August 18. Not to worry golf fans. The "Doyne Open" lives on! Click on the link and learn more about the Nationals annual year end golf outing and awards ceremony.

Little has come easy or been predictable for the Nationals this year. Tuesday night's elimination game versus the Kingpins was no different. Shortly before game time the team learned that starting CF Erik Dunn would be unable to play after turning his ankle. In one quick moment, Dunn joined a long list of Nationals outfielders to have been sidelined this season. Though hurt by his loss, the team did as it has done all year, patching together an alternative lineup. Jim Dettman, assumed the CF duties despite having played there very little this season. The Kingpins capitalized immediately. After starting pitcher, Nick Kibler walked Rick Lopez to start the game, second basemen, Nate Miller smoked a line drive to center that Dettman misplayed into a triple. Three hits and a hit batsmen later, the Kingpins had a 3-0 lead. Kibler escaped with no further damage but the Nationals failed to respond in their half of the first inning. Kibler then took control. The veteran righthander struck out two of the three men he faced in the second inning and followed by setting the side down in order in the third, fourth, and fifth innings as well. Kibler's command allowed the Nationals offense to get the team back in the game. Consecutive singles by Tom Donovan and James Herkowski were followed by a Brian Gibson RBI double and the team had its first tally. Unfortunately, Herkowski was thrown out at the plate on the play and the rally was halted prematurely. Not to worry. Mike Wajerski led off the following inning with a bunt single, stole second, and moved to third on a ground out before Alex Franson drove him home for the team's second run. James Herkowski's leadoff homer in the fourth tied the game 3-3 and Nationals appeared to be on the verge of breaking the game open. Brian Gibson followed with a single and Jim Dettman walked, but the rally fizzled with no further damage. The fifth inning saw the Kingpins bring their ace righthander to the hill. Rebounding from a 145 pitch effort on Saturday, Nick Witthuhn promptly walked Alex Franson and beaned Trevor Koepp to give the Nationals runners on first and second with no outs. Witthuhn responded, however, by striking out Donovan, Herkowski, and Gibson in order to end the fifth inning threat. The game remained deadlocked at three until the bottom of the seventh inning. With the count 3-2 and two outs, James Herkowski fought off an inside fastball for a single over the first basemen's head. The Nationals had their first lead at 4-3. An RBI groundout by Alex Franson in the bottom of the eighth gave the team a security run, but the Kingpins were not finished. Nick Witthuhn led off the top of the ninth with a triple to left center field and scored on a single by Kevin Miller to cut the lead to 5-4. Alex Franson then made a key play, picking Miller off first base after a botched attempt at a sacrifice bunt. A lazy fly to Trevor Koepp ended the game and the Nationals escaped with a 5-4 series clinching victory. Next up is the Milwaukee County Championship series versus the National Division Champion Milwaukee Angels (18-5). The Nationals (20-9) and Angels last squared off in June when the teams split a doubleheader. The Angels, no doubt, will be looking to avenge last season's playoff losses to the Nationals. The Best of Three series begins Saturday night August 16 with a doubleheader starting at 6PM at Zirkel Field in McCarty Park.

Prepare for Tuesday. That is the only solace the team has after a tough 5-4 loss in game two of Saturday's doubleheader set the stage for a deciding third game in the semifinal round of the Milwaukee Independent League playoffs. With two outs and James Herkowski at the plate, Erik Dunn was picked off first base...allegedly. The successful pickoff had been preceded a play earlier by a similar pickoff attempt. After receiving grief from the Kingpins bench on his first safe call, the umpire responded with a blatent and delayed "make up" call, thumbing Dunn, and ending a furious seventh inning rally one run short. Trevor Koepp's RBI triple and Dunn's RBI single were wasted and the team was left to wonder what could have been. Game one was a different story. The Nationals jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second inning on a run scoring single by James Herkowski, RBI double by Brian Gibson, and RBI triple by Jason Koconis. That offense proved to be more than adequate as staff ace, Joe Kissler, neutralized the potent Kingpin offense. The only blemish on Kissler's scorecard was a third inning tally as the Nationals cruised to a 6-1 victory in the opening game. The Kingpins struck first in the second game, scoring once in the third to take a 1-0 lead. The Nationals responded, though, in the top of the fourth. After an Erik Dunn walk and seeing-eye single by Herkowski, Tom Donovan struck a ground ball between third and short. Dunn scored to tie the game. Solid execution game the Nationals the lead in the fifth. Mike Wajerski legged out a bunt single and was sacrificed to second. After Alex Franson reached on an error, Trevor Koepp fisted a bloop single to right field, scoring Wajerski and putting the Nationals up 2-1. That lead lasted until the bottom of the sixth. Starting pitcher Tim Spata allowed consecutive singles and began losing command. After a successful sacrifice bunt, the Kingpins squared the game at two. Several walks and a wild pitch later, the Kingpins had taken a 5-2 lead and were three outs away from victory. Unfortunately for the Nationals, they were only required to earn two of them. Tuesday night's elimination game versus the Kingpins begins at 7PM at Zirkel Field in McCarty Park. The winner advances the Milwaukee Independent League Championship Series. That series begins on Saturday with a 6PM doubleheader at Zirkel Field in McCarty Park.