West Central erased a 6-0 deficit to get a 7-6 extra inning win over Dell Rapids in the Region 3A tournament on Tuesday, July 25th. Because there are only four regions, the top two teams from Region 3A will qualify for the state tournament. West Central advancing to the championship game means a state tournament spot.
Dell Rapids built a 6-0 lead in the first three and a half innings. They scored three runs in the top of the second, two in the top of the third, and one more in the top of the fourth. West Central started their comeback in the bottom of the fourth with two runs. Keaton Vessells had an RBI double and then scored on an RBI ground ball by Maison Schuldt.
West Central continued the rally in the fifth inning. Jesse Jost had an RBI single, and Vessells was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to cut the lead to 6-4. Jost had another RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 6-5 game. Carter Evans brought home Schuldt to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, but Cain Grocott was thrown out at home to keep the game tied and force extra innings.
Neither team scored in the eighth inning. Dell Rapids got a one-out single in the top of the ninth, but was unable to advance the runner any further. Landen Holewa was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the ninth. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then moved to third on a single by Alex Siemonsma. Vessells delivered the game-winning, walk-off single to center field.
Evans had three hits and an RBI. Vessells had two hits, one a double, and three RBIs. Jost also had two hits and two RBIs. Schuldt added a single and an RBI. Will Nester, Siemonsma, and Grocott all had a hit.
Cade Vanderwoude pitched three innings and allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits with one strikeout. Cyrus Maras pitched four innings and allowed an earned run on four hits with two strikeouts. Jack Sebert pitched two innings and allowed one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.