West Central 16U played three games at the I-29 League Tournament held in Madison Friday, June 24th and Saturday, June 25th. The team finished 2-1 in the three games.
West Central 13, Tri-Valley 8
A seven-run inning for West Central in the bottom of the fifth inning was the difference in the game on Friday against Tri-Valley.
Will Nester, Keaton Vessells, and Carter Evans all had RBIs in the bottom of the first to give West Central a 3-0 lead. Tri-Valley countered with four runs in the top of the second. Jesse Jost had an inside the park home run in the bottom of the second to tie the game 4-4.
West Central then took the lead in the bottom of the third with two runs. Evans and Cade Vanderwoude both had an RBI single to give West Central a 6-4 lead. Tri-Valley retook the lead with four runs in the top of the fifth, but West Central scored seven times in the bottom of the fifth to take the win.
Vessells had three hits, two doubles, and three RBIs. Evans also had three hits, two of them doubles, and two RBIs. Landen Holewa had two hits and two RBIs. Jost had a home run and two RBIs. Nester and Vanderwoude both had a single and an RBI. Vessells pitched five innings and allowed four earned runs on four hits and five walks with seven strikeouts. Nester pitched an inning and allowed four runs, three earned, on four hits and three walks.
West Central 11, Tea Bolts 7
The middle innings were the difference against the Tea Bolts on Saturday. Both teams scored two runs in the first inning. West Central put four runs on the board in the top of the third inning only to see Tea respond with three runs.
The big blow for West Central game in the top of the fourth inning when they scored three times. Holewa had an RBI ground out, and Nester followed with a two-run double to give West Central a 9-5 lead. Both teams then scored two runs in the sixth inning.
Holewa had two hits and three RBIs. Nester had a double with three RBIs. Vanderwoude finished with two hits. Evans and Cyrus Maras both had a single. Vessells and Cain Grocott both had an RBI. Maras pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs, two earned, on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Grocott pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed a hit and had a strikeout.
Tea Gold 20, West Central 6
Tea had two big innings, one of them in the second, to earn a 20-6 win on Saturday. The first two runs of the game for Tea came in the top of the first. West Central got one back in the bottom of the inning. Tea, however, scored eight times in the second inning and added one more in the third for an 11-1 lead.
West Central got one run in the bottom of the fourth, but once again Tea had another big inning. They scored nine times in the top of the fifth inning. West Central finished with four runs in the bottom of the fifth before the game ended on the 10-run rule.
Nester had a hit and an RBI. Evans had the only other hit for West Central. Holewa added an RBI. Vanderwoude pitched four innings and allowed 11 runs, eight earned, on 15 hits and two walks with a strikeout. Grocott pitched an inning and allowed two earned runs on two hits and a walk. Holewa allowed seven runs, five earned, on a hit and a walk.