West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

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After suffering their most lopsided defeat in 8 years, the team successfully rebounded, pounding the King Pins 13-1 in a 5 inning mercy rule victory. The victory keeps the Nationals atop the American Division of the Milwaukee Independent Wood Bat League with a 8-2 mark a the league season's halfway point. The Nationals jumped early on Saturday night, with a four run first inning. Mike Wajerski led off with a single, stole second, and scored on an single by Jake Paige. Rookies Tom Donovan and Pat Bovee added run scoring singles in the frame. The key blow of the contest came in the 4th inning. Replacement centerfielder, Eric Dunn made the most of his debut with a grand slam home run to left field that put the team ahead 10 - 1. Joe Kissler was stellar again on the hill, working five strong innings and allowing no earned runs on four hits while striking out three. Kissler improves to 4-0 on the season. Next up are the Racine Kiwanis in a State League game on Friday June 27. The teams square off at 7PM at Zirkel Field at McCarty Park in West Allis. The rival White Sox follow on Saturday night, also at Zirkel Field. The Independent League opponents will play a DH beginning at 6PM.

Few would have expected the final outcome of Friday night's State League game versus the Kenosha Kings. Even fewer would have believed that the Nationals were in control of the game for the first 5 innings. Friday night the Nationals were trumped by the Kings 17-6. It was the most lopsided defeat for the team since 1995. The local 9 jumped to a 2-0 in the first inning, capitalizing on a walk and 3 Kings' errors. After the Kings notched one run in the fourth on a run scoring double, the Nationals matched. Jake Koutnik's two out, RBI double scored Tom Donovan and the team had a 3-1 lead after 5 innings. Then things changed. Tim Spata, pitching for the first time in a month, began to tire. After holding the Kings to 4 hits through 5 innings, Spata was tagged for 5 hits in the 6th. Combined with 2 walks and an error, the Kings' posted 7 runs to jump ahead 8-3. The Nationals responded in the 7th. After Alex Franson and James Herkowski led off the inning with singles, Jake Koutnik walked to load the bases. Pat Bovee, in his Nationals hitting debut, pounded a seeing-eye single to score two, and Tim Spata followed with an RBI single. With the score 8-6, the team was poised for a comeback. It was not to be. Jim Dettman gave up 6 consecutive hits to lead off the 9th inning, capped by a 3 run homer, and the Kings put the game away. When the matter was settled, the Kings had added 6 runs to put the game away. The team plays again tonite in a key league matchup versus the King Pins. First pitch is scheduled for 7PM at Harden Field.

Mike Wajerski's hustle and leadership has earned him Player of The Week honors for the first time. In 14 plate appearances, Wajerski reached base 9 times, with 6 hits, 5 steals, and 6 runs scored. Runner up this week was rookie Pat Bovee who followed a stellar 2 inning 4 strikeout relief appearance with two spot starts in right field. In 8 plate appearances, Bovee reached base 5 times with 3 hits and 3 RBI's. Click on the "Player of the Week" link in the menu column to view past award winners.

TUESDAY JUNE 17 Milwaukee Athletics 6 West Allis White Sox 1 McGuire's Cats 10 Jetsetter Pilots 9 Milwaukee Angels 10 Rookie's Cubs 6 (8 innings) Milwaukee Angels 2 Rookie's Cubs 0 SATURDAY JUNE 14 Milwaukee Athletics 8 Jetsetter Pilots 1 Milwaukee Athletics 17 Jetsetter Pilots 8 West Allis White Sox 2 McGuire's Cats 1 McGuire's Cats 6 West Allis White Sox 3 Kingpins 10 Rookie's Cubs 5 Kingpins 11 Rookie's Cubs 7