The West Central 16U baseball team finished sixth at the 2023 South Dakota VFW State A Tournament held in Beresford Friday, August 4th through Sunday, August 6th. West Central finished their three games with a 1-2 record at the tournament.
Dell Rapids 6, West Central 3
After West Central scored a run in the top of the first inning, Dell Rapids scored six runs in a row in the first three innings for a 6-1 lead. West Central tried to rally, getting a run in the top of this sixth, and one more in the seventh, but Dell Rapids held for an opening round win on Friday.
Bubba Kono and Zach Lorang both had two hits each, each having a double, and one RBI. Landon Holewa had a single and an RBI. CJ DenBoer, Nick Lorang, and Cain Grocott each added a single. Keaton Vessells pitched three innings and allowed six earned runs on four hits and three walks with two strikeouts. Dylan Bettcher pitched two innings and allowed three hits with two strikeouts. Jericho Klein also pitched an inning and allowed one hit and struck out two batters.
West Central 17, Dakota Valley 2
The offense exploded for 17 runs and 16 hits for West Central in an elimination game against Dakota Valley on Saturday. West Central scored five runs right away in the top of the first and kept rolling from there. They also had three four-run innings in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Dakota Valley scored both of their runs in the bottom of the third.
DenBoer finished with three hits, one a double, and two RBIs. Anthony Lanham had two hits, including a double, and three RBIs. Keaton Vessells added a double and triple with two RBIs. Kono had two hits and and RBIs. Z. Lorang had two hits, one a double, and an RBI. Jesse Jost also had two hits, one a triple. Holewa had a triple and RBI. N. Lorang and Grocott each had a single. Lanham pitched all five innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Madison Maroon 15, West Central 9
West Central held a 4-3 lead after two innings, but Madison scored seven straight to take a lead they wouldn’t lose. Madison scored five times in the third and two in the fourth for a 10-4 lead. West Central scored a run in the top of the fifth and three in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 10-8, but Madison had another five-run inning in the bottom of the sixth. West Central added one more run in the top of the eighth.
Keaton Vessells and N. Lorang each had two hits apiece. Carter Evans had a double and three RBIs. Grocott also had a hit and three RBIs. Jost, Holewa, Karson Vessells, Lanham, and Z. Lorang all had one single each. DenBoer added an RBI. Klein pitched three innings and allowed eight runs, three earned, on eight hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Holewa pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed six runs, three earned, on two hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Bettcher pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed an unearned run on a hit and walk with one strikeout.
