West Central’s bid for a high school state baseball title ended just a little short at Sioux Falls Stadium on Tuesday, June 1st.  West Central fell to Dell Rapids, a Region 3B foe, in the championship game 9-2 taking the 2021 South Dakota High School Baseball Association runner-up spot.

West Central’s run through the state tournament started on Monday, May 31st.  They opened the tournament against Platte-Geddes/Dakota Christian/White Lake/Corsica/Stickney and advanced after an exciting 6-5 win.

West Central scored the first three runs of the game.  Zach Madsen hit an RBI single in the top of the second inning. West Central added two more runs in the top of the fifth on RBI singles by Dylan Sherrard and Loren Jacobson.  PG/DC/WL/C/S tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but West Central added three in the top of the seventh.  Grafton Stroup had a two-run double, and Jacobson scored on a wild pitch to give West Central a 6-3 lead.  They needed all three runs as PG/DC/WL/C/S scored two times before Stroup was able to get the final out on the mound.

Ryan Healy, Jacobson, Madsen, Seth Gabbert, and Sherrard all had singles in the game.  Jacobson, Madsen, and Sherrard all had an RBI.  Stroup had a double and two RBIs, and Noah Hohn had a triple.  Gabbert pitched five innings allowing three earned runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts.  Stroup pitched the final two innings allowing two earned runs on three hits with one strikeout.

West Central defeated Vermillion in the semifinals on Tuesday.  West Central scored six runs over the last three innings to secure the 9-4 victory to send them to the championship game.

They had three runs in the top of the first inning and led 3-0 until Vermillion scored a run in the bottom of the fourth.  West Central added two runs in the top of the fifth, but Vermillion responded with two of their own in the bottom of the inning to make the score 5-3 after five innings.  West Central again added two runs in the top of the sixth inning for a 7-3 lead.  Vermillion picked up a run in the bottom of the sixth, but two more runs by West Central in the top of the seventh put the game out of reach.

Healy and Madsen both had two hits and an RBI in the game.  Jacobson also had two hits, including a double.  Stroup had a triple and two RBIs.  Hown had a double and an RBI.  Ben Sebert and Gabbert both had a hit.  Sherrard had a hit and three RBIs.  Braden Herr pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up three runs, two earned, on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts.  Stroup pitched 1 1/3 innings allowing one run, which was unearned, on two hits with one walk and one strikeout.  Hohn pitched the final inning allowing no runs on two hits.

West Central then faced Dell Rapids in the title game on Tuesday evening.  West Central scored two times on three hits in the top of the first inning to put the pressure on Dell Rapids early.  Hohn had an RBI single, and Adam Parsons had an RBI ground out in the inning.  West Central, however, was held to just one hit the remainder of the game as Dell Rapids scored a run in the bottom of the second, five more in the third, two in the fifth, and one in the sixth for the win.

Jacobson had two of the four hits for West Central, including a double.  Hohn had a hit and RBI, and Healy had the other hit in the game.  Hohn pitched 4 1/3 innings allowing eight runs, only three earned, on 10 hits with two walks and four strikeouts.  Jacobson pitched the final 1 2/3 innings allowing one earned run on four walks and a strikeout.

West Central finished the season with a 12-5 record and as the State B runner-up.

The West Central high school baseball team is headed to the State B tournament after getting two wins in the Region 3B tournament held in Tea on Tuesday, May 25th.

West Central was the #3 seed in the tournament and played their opening round game against #6 Garretson.  West Central scored two in the bottom of the second inning, which was enough as they held Garretson to just one run on their way to a 5-1 victory.

Grafton Stroup had three hits and two RBIs in the game.  Ryan Healy had two hits, one of them a double, and an RBI.  Zach Madsen and Ben Sebert both had a hit and an RBI.  Seth Gabbert added a double, and Dylan Sherrard and Loren Jacobson both had a hit.

Gabbert pitched 6 1/3 innings allowing one earned run on three hits with five walks and eight strikeouts.  Stroup pitched 2/3 of an inning without allowing a hit.

West Central then met #2 Tea in the state qualifying game.  After a scoreless first inning, West Central’s offense exploded scoring 20 runs on 16 hits while holding Tea to just one hit in a 20-0 win.  West Central scored seven in the second, three in the third, seven more in the fourth inning, and three in the fifth inning.

Healy finished the game with three hits and three RBIs.  Jacobson had three hits, including a triple, and two RBIs.  Stroup had three hits, one a double and one a triple, as well as two RBIs.  Noah Hohn had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs.  Ben Serbert had a hit with two RBIs.  Gabbert finished with a hit and RBI.  Adam Parsons, Jack Linnemann, and Zach Madsen all had a hit as well.

Hohn pitched all five innings allowing just one hit with three walks and five strikeouts.

The 2021 South Dakota High School Baseball Association Class B State Tournament will be held at Sioux Falls Stadium on Monday, May 31st and Tuesday, June 1st.

West Central scored two in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the bottom of the sixth inning to earn a 7-3 win over Sioux Falls Christian on Monday, May 17th.

West Central scored the first three runs of the game.  Loren Jacobson had an RBI ground out in the top of the first inning to score Ryan Healy for a 1-0 lead.  The first four batters of the third inning for West Central all hit singles.  Grafton Stroup had an RBI on his hit as did Noah Hohn to push the West Central lead to 3-0.

Sioux Falls Christian two runs in the bottom of the third inning on back-to-back singles to cut the lead to 3-2.  Sioux Falls Christian then tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning after a West Central error.

The Trojans regained the lead in the top of the fifth inning.  Stroup lead off the inning with a home run to right field.  Braden Herr hit an RBI sacrifice fly later in the inning to make the score 5-3.  Two more runs scored in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Jacobson and an RBI double by Stroup.

Stroup had three hits, including a home run and double, with three RBIs.  Jacobson had two hits and two RBIs.  Hohn finished with two hits, including a double, with an RBI.  Herr also had an RBI.  Healy picked up two hits, and Ben Sebert, Adam Parsons, and Seth Gabbert all had a hit.

Herr pitched four innings giving up three runs, two earned, on two hits with five walks and six strikeouts.  Stroup pitched the final three innings giving up just one hit and had five strikeouts.