The West Central 14U baseball team finished third at the 2022 South Dakota VFW Class A State Tournament in Winner.  The tournament was held Friday, July 22nd through Sunday, July 24th.

West Central 6, Flandreau 5

The opening game on Friday was a close one for West Central against Flandreau.  West Central was able to hold off a five-run rally by Flandreau to get the win.

Dylan Bettcher scored on a wild pitch in the top of the second inning to give West Central a 1-0 lead.  Anthony Lanham had an RBI triple, CJ DenBoer had an RBI single, and Bettcher drove home another run in the top of third to extend the lead to 4-0.  Bettcher then scored on an error in the top of the fifth, and West Central led 5-0.

Flandreau got two runs in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 5-2.  DenBoer had an RBI sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth to push the lead to 6-2.  Flandreau scored three times in the bottom of the sixth cutting the lead to one, 6-5. Flandreau got two walks in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying run on second, but could not advance the runner further.

Bettcher had three hits and an RBI.  DenBoer had two hits and two RBIs.  Lanham finished with two hits, one a triple, and an RBI.  Nick Lorang and Alex Siemonsma both had a single.  Jack Sebert pitched six innings and allowed five earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts.  Lanham pitched one inning and had two walks with one strikeout.

Lennox 2, West Central 1

In the semifinal round, West Central fell to the eventual state champions in a hard-fought 2-1 game on Saturday.  West Central got a run on an RBI single by Lorang in the top of the second inning.  The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth.  Lennox got two runs with two outs to take a 2-1 lead.  West Central tried to tie the game in the top of the fifth, but Hayes Cain was thrown out at the plate on a ground ball to third base.

Lorang finished with a hit and an RBI.  Bettcher had two hits.  Cain and DenBoer each had a single.  Lanham pitched six innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

West Central 22, Mobridge 8

West Central turned a 5-5 tie after four innings into a 22-8 win on Sunday to take third place over Mobridge.  Both teams scored a single run in the first, two runs in the third and two runs in fourth for a 5-5 tie score after four innings.

West Central then scored two times in the top of the fifth inning and then 10 runs in the top of the sixth for a 17-5 lead.  Mobridge avoided the 10-run rule with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, but that gave West Central another inning of offense.  They scored five more times in the top of the seventh.

DenBoer had three hits, including a home run and double, with three RBIs.  Lanham also had three hits, one a triple, and three RBIs.  Sebert finished with two hits, one double, and three RBIs.  Lorang also had two hits and three RBIs.  Taten VanOverbeke finished with two singles and two RBIs.  Jacob Kono had a double with three RBIs.  Cain added two hits.  Jacob Mallinger had a single, and Siemonsma had an RBI.

DenBoer pitched 3 1/3 innings and allowed five runs, three earned, on three hits and six walks with seven strikeouts.  Siemonsma pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on a hit and two walks with one strikeout.

West Central 16U split a doubleheader with Lennox on Tuesday, July 19th.  The first game went to West Central 8-7, but the second game was won by Lennox 2-6.

West Central 8, Lennox 7

West Central scored the first eight runs in the three innings and then held off a Lennox rally to win the first game.  Jesse Jost scored on an error, Will Nester had an RBI sacrifice fly, and Cain Grocott had an RBI single in the top of the first for a 3-0 lead.

Jost had an RBI single, Rayce Whiting scored on a wild pitch, and Maison Schuldt had an RBI single in the top of the second to extend the lead to 6-0.  Cade Vanderwoude had a bases-loaded walk, and Whiting had an RBI sacrifice fly in the third.  West Central led 8-0 after they were done hitting in the top of the third.  Lennox put together a big rally in the bottom of the third scoring five times.  They added a run in the fifth and sixth inning.  The tying run was on third and winning run on second with two outs, but Keaton Vessells got a strikeout to end the game.

Grocott finished with two hits and an RBI.  Jost, Schuldt, and Whiting all had a hit and an RBI.  Vessells and Carter Evans both added singles.  Nester and Vanderwoude added an RBI.  Grocott pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed five runs, three earned, on two hits and four walks with a strikeout.  Vessells pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts.

Lennox 6, West Central 2

Lennox built a 3-0 lead which was enough to take the second game.  They scored two runs in the bottom of the second and another in the third to lead 3-0 after three innings.  Nester scored on a wild pitch in the top of the fourth.  Lennox responded with two more runs in the bottom of the inning.  Cyrus Maras also scored on a wild pitch in the top of the fifth inning.  Lennox also scored their last run in the fifth.

Jost had the only hit in the game for West Central.  Vanderwoude pitched five innings and allowed six earned runs on 11 hits with four strikeouts.

West Central battled back from a 5-0 deficit, but fell in extra innings at home to Dell Rapids 7-6 on Monday, July 18th.

Dell Rapids got a run right away in the top of the first, another in the second, and three more in the to of the third for an early 5-0 lead.  West Central was able to get a couple of runs in the bottom of the third.  Keaton Vessells drove home two with a single.  After Dell Rapids got one more run in the top of the fifth, West Central scored three times.  Will Nester had an RBI sacrifice fly.  Jesse Jost scored on an error, and Landen Holewa stole home to make the score 6-5.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Vessells had an RBI single to right field to score Holewa and tie the game 6-6.  Dell Rapids got an RBI ground out in the top of the eighth to regain the lead 8-7.  West Central had the tying run on second base with two outs.  Jonathan Murray reached on an error, but Maison Schuldt was thrown out at home to end the game.

Vessells had two hits and three RBIs.  Holewa had two hits.  Nester finished with a hit and an RBI.  Carter Evans and Rayce Whiting both had a single.  Cyrus Maras pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed five runs, four earned, on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts.  Schuldt pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed an unearned run on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts.  Nester pitched three innings and allowed an earned run on two walks and two strikeouts.

West Central 16U scored six times in the top of the eighth to get a 9-4 win over Madison Gold on Thursday, July 14th in Madison.

Madison took the first lead, 2-0, with a two-run bottom of the second inning.  West Central tied the game with two runs in the top of the third.  Will Nester had an RBI single, and Keaton Vessells had an RBI ground ball.  Madison grabbed the lead again, 3-2, with a run in the bottom of the third.  Carter Evans scored on an error in the top of the fourth to tie the game 3-3.

The game would remained tied 3-3 after seven innings to go into extra innings. That’s when West Central put a big number on the board.  Maison Schuldt had an RBI double.  Jesse Jost added a two-run single.  Landen Holewa had an RBI ground out, Jost scored on an error, and Vessells capped off the inning with an RBI double.  Madison got just one run in the bottom of the eighth.

Nester had three hits and an RBI.  Jost had a hit and two RBIs.  Vessells and Schuldt each had a double and an RBI.  Murray also had a double.  Evans finished with a single, and Holewa had an RBI.  Vessells pitched five innings and allowed three runs, none earned, on one hit and five walks with nine strikeouts.  Holewa pitched three innings and allowed an unearned run on one hit and two walks with two strikeouts.