The West Central Trojan high school baseball team had their season come to an end in the opening round of the 2022 South Dakota State B Tournament on Tuesday, May 31st.  After having their opening round game against Dakota Valley postponed a day, the Trojans fell by a final score of 6-5.

West Central had the lead two times in the game.  The first lead came in the top of the third.  Grafton Stroup broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double.  The Panthers responded with two runs in the bottom of the third for a 2-1 lead.

The Trojans took the lead again in the top of the fifth inning.  Deuce Sherrard tied the game with an RBI single.  Stroup drove home another run with a fielder’s choice RBI ground ball.  Zach Madsen also had RBI fielder’s choice ground ball to give West Central a 4-2 lead.  Dakota Valley responded again, this time with four runs to regain the lead, 6-4.

West Central put together a rally in the top of the seventh.  Sherrard started the inning with a double.  Stroup reached on an error, which also scored Sherrard.  The next three batters, however, popped out leaving the tying run at second base.

Stroup had two hits, one a double, and two RBIs.  Sherrard also had two hits, including a double, with one RBI.  Madsen finished with an RBI as well.  Stroup pitched all six innings allowing six runs, but only two earned, on six hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.

West Central finished the season with a 12-3 record.

West Central baseball earned a spot in the State B Tournament with two wins in Region 3B play on Tuesday, May 24th.  West Central defeated Baltic 4-0 and Sioux Falls Christian 12-7.

West Central 4, Baltic 0

Jack Linneman drove home the first run for West Central in the bottom of the first inning.  Gavin Koch gave West Central a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI sacrifice fly.  The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the sixth inning.  Logan Maras had a one-out RBI double, and Koch had an RBI ground out to put West Central ahead 4-0.

Duece Sherrard had three hits.  Maras had two hits, one a double, and an RBI.  Koch had a hit and two RBIs.  Linneman finished with a single and an RBI.  Grafton Stroup also had a hit.  Andrew Zimmer pitched six innings giving up just three hits and four walks while striking out six.  Stroup pitched an inning and allowed a hit while striking out two.

West Central 12, Sioux Falls Christian 7

West Central scored in every inning but one and had 15 total hits in a 12-7 win to advance to the state tournament.

Sherrard scored on an error, and Linneman had an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning.  Sioux Falls Christian took a lead after scoring three runs in the top of the second.  West Central, however, scored two more times in the bottom of the second.  Koch had an RBI triple, and Sherrard followed with an RBI single for a 4-3 lead.

Sioux Falls Christian tied the game with a run in the top of the third, but again, West Central regained the lead.  Ben Sebert had an RBI single, and Koch had another RBI single for a 6-4 lead.  West Central then added four runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Linneman had an RBI single, Camden McDonald reached on an error that scored a run, and Sebert had a two-run single.

The Chargers pulled within two runs, 10-7, after scoring three times in the top of the fifth.  West Central got two insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth.  Stroup scored on a passed ball, and Maras had an RBI ground out.  Sioux Falls Christian only had one base runner in the final two innings of the game.

Koch had two hits, one a triple, and two RBIs.  Sebert had three hits and three RBIs.  Linneman had two singles and two RBIs.  Sherrard, Maras, and McDonald all had two hits and an RBI.  Stroup and Caden Alfson each had a hit.

West Central will play Dakota Valley in the opening round of the State B Tournament at 5:05 p.m. on Monday, May 30th at the Birdcage in Sioux Falls.

The West Central High School club baseball team won two more games on Tuesday, May 17th.  The two wins pushed their winning streak to eight games.  The last loss came against Dell Rapids on April 24th.

West Central 7, Flandreau/Chester 1

Two runs in the bottom of the first inning was enough, but West Central took a 7-1 win over Flandreau/Chester at home.

Jack Linneman got the scoring going with a two-run single in the first inning.  Grafton Stroup scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the third for a 3-0 lead.  Flandreau/Chester scored their lone run in the top of the fourth.  Stroup had an RBI single, and Caden Alfson had an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Stroup added another RBI hit in the sixth inning.

Stroup had three hits and two RBIs.  Alfson had a double and an RBI.  Linneman finished with a hit and an RBI.  Derek Renken had a single, and Zach Madsen had an RBI.  Andrew Zimmer pitched all seven innings allowing an earned run on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

West Central 6, Garretson 1

Braden Herr threw a no-hitter while striking out 10 batters in a 6-1 win for West Central.  The run scored by Garretson came in the top of the first inning and was unearned due to an error.

West Central took the lead in the bottom of the second inning.  Logan Maras reached on an error that scored Camden McDonald.  Gavin Koch followed that with an RBI single.  Alfson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, and Madsen had an RBI sacrifice fly to make the score 4-1.  Koch had an RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, and Duece Sherrard followed with an RBI single.

Sherrard had three hits and an RBI.  Koch had two hits and two RBIs.  McDonald finished with a double.  Stroup, Brodie Herr, Ben Sebert, and Maras all had hits.  Aflson and Madsen each had an RBI.

Playing in their second game of the evening, West Central scored six runs in the first three innings which was enough to defeat the Mt Vernon/Plankinton/Corsica-Stickney (MVPCS) Padres on Monday, May 16th.

Zach Madsen drove home the first run in the bottom of the first inning with a single to right field.  The Trojans scored two more runs in the bottom of the second on a two-run double by Caden Alfson. 

MVPCS cut the lead to 3-2 after scoring two times in the top of the third inning, but West Central’s offense scored three times in the bottom of the inning.  Ben Sebert brought home a run with a single.  Grafton Stroup then added a two-run double to push the lead to 6-2.  Those were the last runs scored in the game.

Stroup had four hits, including a double, and two RBIs.  Alfson finished with two hits, one a double, and two RBIs.  Madsen and Sebert both had singles with an RBI.  Brodie Herr pitched 4 1/3 innings without allowing a hit while striking out four to earn the win.  Madsen pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

West Central scored three runs in the final two innings to get a come-from-behind walk-off win over Tri-Valley on Monday, May 16th in Humboldt.

Neither team scored through the first three innings of play.  Tri-Valley scored both of their runs in the top of the fourth inning.  With two outs in the inning, Carter Sorenson hit a two-run double scoring Nathan Madison and Connor Christensen.

West Central cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth inning when Zach Madsen hit an RBI double scoring Grafton Stroup.  The score remained 2-1 heading into the seventh inning.  After Tri-Valley failed to add any more runs in their half of the seventh, West Central put together a one-out rally.  Ben Sebert reached on an error.  Gavin Koch followed with a single.  Camden McDonald hit a double that scored Sebert to tie the game.  Duece Sherrard drove home Koch with a single to center field to win the game.

Sorenson had two hits, one a double, with two RBIs for Tri-Valley.  Riley Carlson had two singles.  Christensen and Madison also each had a single in the game.  Kaden Egger pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up three runs, two earned, on seven hits while striking out six.

For the West Central Trojans, McDonald had two hits, one a double, and an RBI.  Sherrard also had two hits and an RBI.  Madsen had a double and an RBI.  Jack Linneman and Koch each had a single as well.

West Central won their fourth straight game after a 7-3 win over Sioux Falls Christian on Tuesday, May 10th.

West Central took an early four run lead after the first two innings.  Caden Alfson drove home two runs in the first inning with a single.  Logan Maras had a solo home run, and Grafton Stroup added an RBI single in the bottom of the second inning.

Sioux Falls Christian got a run in the top of the third inning and then added two more in the top of the fourth inning to pull within a run, 4-3.  The score remained 4-3 until the bottom of the sixth.  Duece Sherrard had a two-run triple, and Stroup followed with an RBI triple to put West Central ahead 7-3.

Sherrard had three hits, including the triple, and two RBIs.  Stroup had two hits, one a triple, and two RBIs.  Alfson also had two hits and two RBIs.  Maras finished with a home run and an RBI, and Gavin Koch had a single.  Andrew Zimmer pitched all seven innings allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits and two walks while striking out six.

The West Central High School baseball team won their third game in a row with an 11-2 victory over Baltic on Wednesday, May 4th in Baltic.

West Central scored the first nine runs of the game.  The first two game in the top of the first inning.  Caden Alfson and Andrew Zimmer both had RBI singles.  Three more runs scored in the top of the third.  Two of those came on a two-run home run by Zach Madsen.  Gavin Koch walked with the bases loaded to give West Central a 7-0 lead.

Four more runs were scored in the top of the fifth for the Trojans.  Duece Sherrard had an RBI single.  Grafton Stroup followed with an RBI single.  Alfson added an RBI single with two outs in the inning, and Jack Linneman reached on an error which scored the fourth run of the inning.

Baltic was able to get on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning.  They added another run in the bottom of the sixth.  West Central scored two more times in the game as well, getting single runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

Stroup finished with three hits, one a double, and an RBI.  Alfson collected two hits and two RBIs.  Sherrard had two hits and an RBI.  Madsen finished with a home run and two RBIs.  Zimmer had a hit and an RBI.  Linneman had two hits, and Logan Maras and Ben Sebert both had a hit.  Koch added an RBI.

Braden Herr pitched six innings allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits and four walks with five strikeouts.  Stroup pitched an inning allowing a hit and a walk.

The West Central High School club baseball team scored seven runs in the first three innings as they held for an 11-7 win over Lennox on Friday, April 29th.

The first two runs for West Central came with two outs in the top of the first inning.  Duece Sherrard scored on a wild pitch, and Caden Alfson hit an RBI single.  The Trojans added four more runs in the top of the second.  Gavin Koch had an RBI triple, Sherrard followed with an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch, and Alfson added his second RBI single.  Zach Madsen had an RBI single in the top of the third, and West Central lead 7-0 heading into the bottom of the third.

Lennox scored three times in their half of third inning making the score 7-3.  Jack Linneman had an RBI single in the top of the fourth inning for West Central, and the score remained 8-3 until the bottom of the sixth inning.  Lennox scored two more times, and the Trojans led 8-5 going into the final inning.  West Central scored three more times in the top of the seventh.  Lennox scored two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but the rally ended there.

Alfson had three hits, one a double, and two RBIs.  Sherrard also had three hits and an RBI.  Madsen had two hits and two RBIs.  Grafton Stroup and Ben Sebert both had two singles.  Koch had a triple and RBI.  Linneman had a hit and an RBI.  Andrew Zimmer and Logan Maras both had singles as well.  Madsen pitched five innings to earn the win giving up three runs, all unearned, on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts.  Stroup pitched two innings allowing four runs, one earned, on one hit and four walks with three strikeouts.

The West Central High School club baseball team got back into the win column and ended a short two-game losing streak with an 8-5 win over McCook Central on Wednesday, April 27th.  West Central scored six of their right runs in the first two innings and held the lead for the win to improve to 3-2 on the year.

Grafton Stroup drove home the first run for West Central in the top of the first inning on an RBI sacrifice fly to center field.  McCook Central tied the game, 1-1, after scoring a run in the bottom of the first.  West Central’s offense scored five times in the top of the second.  Logan Maras started the inning with a single and scored two batters later on an RBI groundout by Ben Sebert.  Braden Herr scored on an error to push the lead to 3-1.  Gavin Koch scored on a passed ball, and then Andrew Zimmer had an RBI single.  Dalton Mulder followed with an RBI single, and West Central led 6-1.  McCook Central only got one run back in their half of the inning, and West Central led 6-2 after two innings of play.

Zach Madsen pushed the lead back to five runs after an RBI line drive single scoring Duece Sherrard.  McCook Central, however, cut the lead down to two runs after a three-run bottom of the fifth inning.  The score remained 7-5 until the top of the seventh inning.  Madsen had an RBI groundout scoring Koch for a big insurance run for West Central.

Sherrard had three hits in the game.  Zimmer, Mulder, and Koch all had two singles and an RBI each.  Madsen had a hit and two RBIs.  Stroup and Sebert each had a single and RBI.  Maras finished with a hit as well.  Zimmer pitched 4 2/3 innings allowing five runs, three earned, on five hits and five walks with two strikeouts.  Stroup pitched the final 2 1/3 innings without allowing a hit with two walks and three strikeouts.

The West Central High School club baseball team suffered their first loss of the season.  West Central fell to Tea 7-3 on Friday, April 22nd which was a make-up game from April 12th.

Tea scored six runs spread out over the first five innings.  They scored two in the first, two in the third, one in the fourth, and one in the fifth for a 6-0 lead.

Braden Herr hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth inning scoring Grafton Stroup.  Logan Maras scored on an error on the same play to cut the lead to 6-2.

Tea got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning.  The final run for West Central came in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Ben Sebert, scoring Duece Sherrard.

Sebert and Herr both had singles and an RBI.  Sherrard had a triple.  Zach Madsen, Andrew Zimmer, Maras, and Camden McDonald all had singles as well.  Zimmer pitched four innings allowing five runs, but only one earned, on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.  Jack Linneman gave up an earned run on three hits.  Owen Heath pitched two innings allowing an earned run on a hit with two walks and two strikeouts.