The West Central 16U team took third place at the 2024 South Dakota VFW State A Tournament in Vermillion held Friday, August 9th through Sunday, August 11th.
West Central 7, Mobridge 0
In the opening round of the tournament, West Central pulled away late for a 7-0 win over Mobridge. After a scoreless first inning, West Central got a single run in both the second and third innings for a 2-0 lead. They added three more in the bottom of the fifth and two in the sixth for the 7-0 score.
Anthony Lanham pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. Jericho Klein pitched the final 1/13 innings and struck out one batter. CJ DenBoer, Hayes Cain, Langdon Klinkhammer, and Taten VanOverbeke all had one hit each. Zach Lorang and Nick Lorang both had an RBI.
Dakota Valley 6, West Central 5
A late rally by Dakota Valley gave them a one-run win in the semifinals on Saturday. West Central took the lead right away in the top of the first with a run. They would score fore more in the top of the third for a 5-0 lead. Dakota Valley, however, got two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the sixth to tie the game 5-5. With one out and a runner on third, a sacrifice line out allowed the game-winning run to score for Dakota Valley in the bottom of the seventh.
Z. Lorang finished with a double and two RBIs. Cain had a single with an RBI. N. Lorang and Ashton Gebhart each had a single. Keaton Vessells had an RBI. Klein pitched five innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits and three walks with a strikeout. Alex Siemonsma allowed three earned runs on three hits. Vessells pitched 1 2/3 innings and allowed an unearned run on a walk with two strikeouts.
West Central 3, Tri-Valley 2
In the 3rd/4th place game on Sunday, West Central grabbed an early lead. They scored two runs in the bottom of the first and added another in the third for a 3-0 lead. Tri-Valley got a run in the top of the fourth and another in the fifth to cut the lead to 3-2. Tri-Valley got two runners on base in the top of the seventh, but were unable to get the tying run home.
Z. Lorang finished with two hits. Gebhart had a single with two RBIs. Vessells also had a hit with an RBI. N. Lorang added a double. DenBoer, Cain, Klinkhammer, and Siemonsma all had one hit each. Gebhart pitched four innings and allowed an unearned run on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Klinkhammer threw three innings and allowed an earned run on four hits with three strikeouts.
