West Central 16U held a brief lead after the top of the fifth inning, but Baltic scored seven times in the bottom of the fifth to get a 12-6 win on Thursday, June 30th.
Keaton Vessells had an RBI triple, and B Herr followed with an RBI single to give West Central a 2-0 lead after the top of the first. Baltic cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the first. They would take the lead with a two-run third inning, and then add two more in the bottom of the fourth. Baltic led 5-2 after four innings of play.
West Central regained the lead in the top of the fifth. Rayce Whiting reached on an error that scored Cade Vanderwoude. Will Nester had an RBI ground out, and Whiting scored on an error to tie the game. Vessells then had an RBI double to give West Central a 6-5 lead. The lead was short-lived as Baltic scored seven times in the bottom of the fifth to take the win.
Vessells had two hits, a triple and double, with two RBIs. Herr had a single and an RBI. Whiting, Cain Grocott, and Jonathan Murray all had a single. Nester had an RBI. Grocott pitched three innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits and three walks. Vessells pitched an inning and had a strikeout. Vanderwoude threw two innings and allowed nine runs, eight earned, on 12 hits.