The West Central 14U baseball team finished 0-4 at the 2026 South Dakota VFW 7th-9th Alpha State Tournament held in Sioux Falls Friday, July 24th through Sunday, July 26th. They were awarded the William Radigan Sportsmanship Award for the tournament.
Milbank 14, West Central 2
In the first game of pool play on Friday, Milbank got a quick lead in the bottom of the first on their way to the win. They scored two in the bottom of the first and five more in the bottom of the second for a 7-0 lead. Machivelli Lipsey had an RBI single, and Quincy Petersen also had an RBI in the top of the third to make the score 7-2. Milbank, however, would score seven more times in the bottom of the inning for a 14-2 score.
Lipsey and Petersen both finished with a hit and an RBI. Ben Goehring also had a hit in the game.
Belle Fourche 12, West Central 2
West Central faced Belle Fourche in the second pool play game on Friday. Early runs were again key in the game. Belle Fourche scored three in the top of the first, two in the second, and four more in the top of the fourth for a 9-0 lead. Archer Thomsen scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first, and Goehring scored on a dropped third strike for a 9-2 score. Belle Fourche added three more runs in the top of the fifth, and the game ended on the 10-run rule after the fifth inning.
Thomsen, Goehring, and Preston Hoekman all had one hit each.
Sioux Falls Chargers 22, West Central 7
Bracket play began on Saturday. West Central took an early lead in the top of the first. Samuel Spisak and Ashton Brenner each drew a bases-loaded walk. Cameron Heying drove home two with a single. Brenner would score on a steal of home, and Heying scored on an error to give West Central a 6-0 lead. Unfortunately Sioux Falls took the lead in the bottom of the inning with 11 runs. They scored eight more in the bottom of the second for a 19-6 lead. West Central got one run back in the top of the third, but Sioux Falls had three runs in the bottom of inning to end the game on the 15-run rule.
Heying had two hits and two RBIs. Goehring finished with a single and an RBI. Petersen also had a hit. Spisak and Brenner each had one RBI.
Belle Fourche 16, West Central 3
West Central and Belle Fourche faced off again in the 5th/6th place game on Sunday. West Central scored first in this game as well. Brenner stole home in the top of the first for a 1-0 lead. Spisak had an RBI single, and Easton Parsons was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to put West Central ahead 3-0. Belle Fourche, however, scored eight times in the bottom of the first. They had six more in the bottom of the second and two in the bottom of the third.
Thomsen had two of the three hits in the game for West Central. Spisak had a hit and an RBI. Parsons also had an RBI.
