West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

The Nationals offense awoke from its long slumber with an impressive perfomance on Tuesday evening. Playing the first game of a home and away series against the National Division leading Kingpins, the local 9 exploded for 11 runs in an 11-4 thumping. Trevor Koepp broke the game open in the third inning with a two run triple that gave the Nationals a 4-1 lead. By innings end the lead had grown to 7-1 and the team never looked back. Tim Ustruck was the winning pitcher, going the first five innings and allowing only two runs. Pat Bovee and Jim Dettman each pitched two innings to close out the affair. Next up are the Kenosha Kings on Friday nite at Zirkel Field in McCarty Park. First pitch is 7PM

Entering Saturday night's contest the Nationals and Angels had both established themselves as the team to beat in their respective divisions. The Nationals led the American Division with a 5-1 mark and the Angels had equalled that mark in the National Division. At the conclusion of Saturday's doubleheader, no clear-cut leader had been established. The Nationals took the first game, 2-0, as Joe Kissler threw a gem. Tom Donovan's seventh inning RBI accounted for the game's first run. However, the Angels woke from their slumber in the second game. Generating offense early, the Angels took a 4-2 lead and never looked back. The game was marred by the ejection of Nationals starting pitcher, Nick Kibler in the fifth inning. Next up for the Nationals are the Kingpins, a squad that nearly defeated the eventual 2002 champion Cubs in the first round of the playoffs. The teams square off at 7PM Tuesday at Kuenn Field for a nine inning affair. The series continues on Saturday with another 9 inning game at Harden Field.

Joe Kissler came up big when his team needed him most. Playing the division leading Angels and with his team struggling offensively, Kissler met the challenge. His shutout allowed the team to steal a 2-0 victory after scoring a couple of runs late in the contest. Congrats to Joe and his sparkling 0.00 ERA!

Rookies' Cubs 5 McGuire's Cats 4 (12 innings) Rookies' Cubs 15 McGuire's Cats 2 Milwaukee Angels 18 Jetsetter Pilots 2 Milwaukee Angels 8 Jetsetter Pilots 3 WA White Sox 7 Kingpins 4 Kingpins 7 WA White Sox 2

With his team facing the threat of being swept and falling to second place, Nick Kibler took the hill on Saturday. Nick's 9 inning performance at a time when the team was flat demonstrated the type of leadership the West Allis Hale Huskie baseball team already knows about. Kibler's gritty 9 strikeout/6hit/5walk performance on a cool evening kept the Nationals in the game until they could do the necessary offensive damage to achieve the victory. Well done, #16!