West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

The Nationals put together their finest performance of the season Sunday night, sweeping a pesky Cats squad by scores of 5-0 and 13-1. While the offense was not nearly as plentiful as in recent weeks, the team's pitching and defense made up for it. Jim Dettman held McGuire's hitless for 5 innings in game one before settling for a 3 hit shutout. When runners did reach base in the 5th and 7th innings, the team quickly eliminated the threats with double plays. On offense, a patient plate approach made the difference. Alex Franson set the tone with 3 walks and a single while James Herkowski added two walks and a single. Overall the team drew 10 free passes, three of which scored. Jake Koutnik set a team season record with his 6th triple, but was stranded during a botched rally. Game two was decided early. After starting pitcher Nick Kibler was dinged for one run on three hits, the offense woke and performed as it had in the previous weeks' doubleheader sweeps. Highlights of the team's seven run first inning included a RBI double by James Herkowski and a two run triple by Jake Paige. The mercy rule was applied after 5 innings. For complete statistics, please click on the link, "Stats thru 7-14."