Nighthawks gained early upper hand in playoff series

West Allis - After easily defeating Muskego, 11-4, in a Land O'Lakes Eastern Division playoff game on Aug. 3, the West Allis Nighthawks lost to Mother Nature on Sunday.

The Nighthawks were supposed to meet Muskego again at Horn Field in the second game of the series, with a third and deciding contest slated for later Sunday if the Impact won the first game.

Instead, the heavy rain that fell Sunday morning postponed all action, leaving West Allis with a 1-0 series lead.

The second game was scheduled for Monday evening in Burlington, with the third game, if necessary, on Tuesday night. Both games came after press time for this section.

The winner was to play on Wednesday evening in the second round of the playoffs against a foe to be determined.

In the Aug. 3 game against Muskego, Andy Schwall and Brian Stoecklein led the offense, while Alex Tomter hurled a complete-game five-hitter.

Schwall went 2-for-4 with a triple and home run, driving in five runs and scoring four, while Stoecklein was 3-for-5 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs scored.

Scott Sievert collected two hits and two RBIs and Ryan Welch went 3-for-4 with a double.

Tomter struck out three and walked just one, surrendering only a pair of two-run home runs on the night. He pitched five 1-2-3 frames and retired 18 of the last 21 hitters he faced.

Schwall got things started offensively with a two-run triple in the first inning. Sievert singled him in to give West Allis a 3-0 lead.

With the advantage at 3-2 going into the fifth, Stoecklein belted a solo shot for his first home run since returning to the Nighthawks in July. Sievert later doubled in a run to make it 5-2.

Muskego again rallied within one, but Stoecklein singled in a run in the sixth and Schwall followed with a three-run blast as the Nighthawks went up 9-4. They added single runs in the seventh and eighth.

"Every time they came close, we came up with more runs," said manager Andy Steinbrenner, whose team finished 11-10 in the division.