The West Central 16U baseball team came home with a third place finish at the 2021 South Dakota VFW 16U Class A State Tournament held in Madison Friday, August 6th through Sunday, August 8th.

West Central opened the tournament on Friday with a big 15-3 win in six innings over Madison White.  West Central had a seven-run second inning and five-run sixth inning as their two big innings in the game.  They pounded 14 hits led by Dalton Mulder with four hits, two doubles, and four RBIs.  Dylan Sherard also had four hits and an RBI.  Camden McDonald, Justin Zirpel, and Dyaln Stromer all had a hit and two RBIs in the game.  Brayden Odegaard had a double and an RBI.  Derrick Renken had a double, and Cade Vander Woude had a hit.  Owen Heath pitched all six innings allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

In the semifinal round on Saturday, West Central tried to put together a late rally against Dakota Valley, but Dakota Valley held on for a 6-4 victory.  Dakota Valley scored a single run in the first, second, and third innings for a 3-0 lead.  West Central got a run back in the bottom of the third, but Dakota Valley scored three more times in the top of the fifth to push the lead to 6-1.  West Central had a three-run bottom of the sixth, but couldn’t quite complete the come back.

Mulder had two hits, including a double, and an RBI.  Renken had a double and an RBI.  Odegaard finished with a single and an RBI, and Sherard also had a single in the game.  Andrew Zimmer pitched 4 2/3 innings allowing six runs, five earned, on 12 hits with two walks and a strikeout.  Renken pitched 2 1/3 innings allowing just one hit along with two strikeouts.

West Central survived a late push by Wagner in the 3rd/4th place game on Sunday winning 9-7 to take home third place.  West Central scored first in the bottom of the first inning to lead 1-0.  After a Wagner run in the top of the second tied the game, West Central pushed across three runs in the bottom of the second inning.  They would add three more in the bottom of the fifth for a 7-1 lead.  Wagner rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 7-5, but West Central got two big insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Those two runs were just enough for the win as Wagner scored two times in the top of the seventh.

Stromer had three hits and three RBIs to lead West Central.  Sherard and Renken both had a single and an RBI.  McDonald, Zirpel, and Landon Holewa each had one hit.  Vander Woude had an RBI.  Mulder pitched five innings allowing two runs, neither of them earned, on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts.  Renken pitched 2/3 of an inning allowing three runs, all unearned, on a hit with three walks and a strikeout.  Holewa pitched 1 1/3 innings allowing two earned runs on a hit with five walks and two strikeouts.

The West Central 16U run through the Region 1A tournament came to an end on Wednesday, July 28th.  Wagner scored seven late runs and held off a West Central rally to get an 11-9 victory and advance to the championship game.

West Central scored first in the top of the first inning.  Camden McDonald and Andrew Zimmer both had RBI ground outs for an early 2-0 lead.  Wagner cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the first.  West Central got another run in the top of the second on an RBI ground out by Will Nester.  Wagner, however, took the lead in the bottom of the second with three runs and led 4-3 after two innings of play. 

West Central regained the lead in in the top of the third on a two-run single by Gage Nelson.  The lead extended to 6-4 after McDonald reached on an error which also scored Nester.  The big inning for Wagner came in the bottom of fifth when they scored four runs to get an 8-6 lead.  Wagner added three more in the bottom of the sixth to push the lead to 11-6.  West Central put a little rally together in the top of the seventh.  Dylan Stromer had an RBI single. Dalton Mulder scored on an error, and Nelson had an RBI ground out to cut the lead to 11-9, but that rally was stopped there.

Stromer had three hits and an RBI.  Nelson finished with two hits and three RBIs.  Zimmer had two hits, one a double, and an RBI.  Dylan Sherard had two hits.  Nester had a hit and an RBI, and Justin Zirpel had a double.  Cade Vander Woude pitched five innings and allowed eight earned runs on 13 hits with five strikeouts.  Zirpel pitched an inning allowing three runs, none of them earned, on one hit and two walks with two strikeouts.

Even though the regional tournament is over for West Central, they still finished in the top four of the region to qualify for the state tournament.  The 2021 South Dakota VFW 16U Class A State Tournament will be held in Madison August 6th – 8th.

The West Central 16U team got two wins at the Region 1A tournament on Tuesday, July 27th after dropping their first game on Monday.  The first win qualified West Central for the state tournament, and the second win kept them alive in the region tournament as they push towards a higher seed.

West Central knocked Chamberlain out of regional tournament with an 11-3 early in the day.  West Central scored all 11 runs in the final three innings.  Chamberlain scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to break a scoreless tie, but West Central got four runs in the top of the fifth, two in the sixth, and then had a five-run seventh inning.  Chamberlain only scored two times in the bottom of the seventh.

Camden McDonald had two hits and two RBIs.  Dylan Sherard had a double and two RBIs.  Dylan Stromer and Cade Vander Woude both had a single and an RBI.  Gage Nelson and Andrew Zimmer each had a hit, and Justin Zirpel had an RBI.  Owen Heath pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing three earned runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts.  Maison Schuldt pitched 1/3 of an inning and allowed just one walk.

West Central then took on the defending state champions, Beresford, in the final game of the night in Humboldt.  After Beresford scored in the top of the first inning, West Central took control of the game in the bottom of the first and never looked back.  West Central scored five times in the bottom of the first.  Each team scored a run in the second inning putting West Central in front 6-2.  West Central then exploded for 11 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to end the game on the 15-run rule.

Zirpel had three hits, including a triple, and five RBIs.  Stromer had two hits and three RBIs.  Zimmer had a hit and three RBIs.  McDonald had a hit and an RBI.  Sherard had a hit.  Vander Woude and Schuldt each had an RBI.  Derrick Renken pitched all four innings allowing just two runs, one earned, on one hit with four walks and six strikeouts.

The West Central 16U team fell to Dakota Valley in the Region 1A tournament in Humboldt on Monday, July 26th.  West Central was held to just two hits in a 3-0 loss to Dakota Valley.

Dakota Valley got single runs in the top of the first, fourth, and sixth innings. 

Camden McDonald and Justin Zirpel had the two hits for West Central.  Andrew Zimmer pitched six innings allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts.  Owen Heath pitched an inning recording one strikeout.

West Central will play Chamberlain in an elimination game on Tuesday, July 27th, at 3:00 p.m.

The West Central 16U baseball team came out on the right side of a slugfest on Thursday, July 22nd against Tea.  The two teams combined for 25 runs and 20 hits with West Central getting the 18-7 victory in six innings.

West Central scored the first run in the top of the first inning.  Tea took the lead in the bottom of the second inning with two runs.  West Central responded with four straight.  They scored two runs in the top of the third and two more in the top of the fourth for a 5-2 advantage.  Tea tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.  West Central, however, took the lead for good with two runs in the top of the fifth and then exploded for 11 runs in thee top of the sixth inning to go ahead 18-5.  Tea scored just two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and the game ended on the 10-run rule.

Gage Nelson finished with three hits.  Derek Renken had two hits, one a double, and five RBIs.  Andrew Zimmer had two hits and four RBIs.  Camden McDonald had two hits and two RBIs.  Dueece Sherard added a single and an RBI.  Will Nester had a double.  Both Dylan Stromer and Cade Vander Woude had a single.  Dalton Mulder had one RBI in the game.

Mulder pitched five innings allowing five runs, four earned, on five hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.  Vander Woude pitched an inning giving up two runs, both unearned, on two hits with a strikeout.

West Central scored 16 runs in just two innings in a 16-0 win over Hamlin on Thursday, July 15th.  The two teams were tied 0-0 after the first inning, but West Central then scored seven runs in the second inning and nine more in the bottom of the third to end the game on the 15-run rule.

Andrew Zimmere had two hits, one a double, and four RBIs.  Dylan Stromer had two hits and two RBIs.  Will Nester had a double with two RBIs.  Xzavian Ferris had a double and an RBI.  Cade Vander Woude and Jon Murray both had a single and an RBI.  Duece Sherard finished with a single.  Dalton Mulder, Owen Heath, and Gavin Gerlach all had an RBI. 

Heath pitched three innings giving up just two hits while striking out seven batters.

West Central scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to defeat Madison White 5-2 on Tuesday, July 13th.

Madison got the first run in the top of the third inning, but West Central scored twice in the bottom of the inning.  Justin Zirpel had an RBI triple and Camden McDonald followed with an RBI single for a 2-1 lead.  Madison tied the game in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI ground out.

The score remained 2-2 until the bottom of the sixth inning.  Xzavian Ferris got an RBI single to give West Central a 3-2 lead.  Duece Sherard followed with a two-run double for the 5-2 advantage.

McDonald had three hits and an RBI.  Zirpel had two hits, one a triple, with an RBI.  Ferris had a hit and two RBIs.  Cade Vander Woude had two hits.  Sherard finished with a double and two RBIs.  Dalton Mulder, Gage Nelson, and Derek Renken all had a single.  Renken pitched six innings allowing two earned runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.  Andrew Zimmer pitched an inning allowing one hit with two strikeouts.

West Central scored 26 runs and belted 21 hits in a five-inning 26-7 win over Madison White in Madison on Thursday, July 8th.

West Central scored in every inning.  They scored one run in the top of the first, eight in the second, three in the third, two in the fourth, and then 12 runs in the top of the fifth inning.  Madison got three runs in the third and four in the fourth.

Andrew Zimmer had three hits, two home runs and a double, with six RBIs.  Braydon Odegaard had three hits, including two doubles, and three RBIs.  Duece Sherard had three hits, one a double, and three RBIs.  Justin Zirpel had three hits, two of them doubles, and three RBIs.  Camden McDonald had two hits and two RBIs.  Xzavian Ferris had two hits, one  double, and an RBI.  Derek Renken had two hits.  Cade Vander Woude also had two hits, one of them a double.  Gage Nelson had a hit and an RBI.  Dalton Mulder and Maison Schuldt both had a single.

Mulder pitched two innings allowing just one hit with one walk and two strikeouts.  Sherard pitched 1 2/3 innings allowing seven runs, four earned, on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts.  Zimmer pitched 1 1/3 innings allowing two hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

West Central scored five times in the top of the first inning and continued to roll from there on their way to a 13-2 win in five innings over Madison on Thursday, July 1st.

Justin Zirpel brought home the first two runs on a triple.  Zirpel scored the third run on a wild pitch.  Dylan Stromer had an RBI triple, and Gage Nelson had an RBI ground out all in the top of the first inning.  Madison got two runs back in the bottom of the inning to make the score 5-2.

West Central added two runs in the top of the second with two outs.  Camden McDonald scored on an error, and Nelson drew a bases-loaded walk to push the lead to 7-2.  Four more runs were scored in the top of the third inning.  McDonald had a two-run double and later scored on an error.  Stromer added another RBI triple to make the score 11-2.  The final two runs were scored in the fifth inning when Dalton Mulder had an RBI double, and Gavin Gerlach had an RBI single.

Stromer had two triples and two RBIs.  McDonald had two hits, one a double, and two RBIs.  Mulder had two hits, including a double, and an RBI.  Zirpel had a triple and two RBIs.  Gerlach had a single and RBI.  Duece Sherard had a double, and Nelson had two RBIs.

Andrew Zimmer pitched all five innings allowing two earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts.