![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bigsiouxmedia.com\/west-central\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WCBA_Logo-150x140.png\"){kind=logo}
West Central scored three times in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Mobridge 6-5 in the championship game of the 2023 South Dakota VFW 14U State A Tournament in Elk Point on Sunday, July 23rd.\u00a0 Prior to the championship game, West Central earned wins on Friday, July 21st and Saturday, July 22nd.<\/p>\n
In the opening round of the state tournament, West Central defeated the host team by scoring seven unanswered runs.\u00a0 Elk Point-Jefferson scored a run in the top of the first, but the lead didn’t last long.\u00a0 West Central scored two times in the bottom of the inning, a run in the second, two in the third, and two in the fifth for a 7-1 lead.\u00a0 Elk Point-Jefferson added one more run in the top of the seventh.<\/p>\n
Langdon Klinkhammer had three hits.\u00a0 Karson Vessells had two hits and two RBIs.\u00a0 Karson Olson also had two hits with an RBI.\u00a0 Hayes Cain added two hits.\u00a0 Alex Seimonsma and JT Steckley each had a single and an RBI.\u00a0 Dylan Bettcher finished with a single, and Ashton Gebhard had an RBI.\u00a0 Bettcher pitched all seven innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits with seven strikeouts.<\/p>\n
It took until the bottom of the third inning before West Central got some space on the scoreboard, but once they got rolling, the offense put up a lot of runs.\u00a0 Belle Fourche scored a run in the top of the first, but West Central answered with three in the bottom of the inning.\u00a0 Belle Fourche tied the game with two runs in the third.\u00a0 West Central then scored four times in the bottom of the third and three in the fourth for a 10-3 lead.\u00a0 After Belle Fourche got a run in the fifth, West Central scored three more in the bottom of the sixth.<\/p>\n
Klinkhammer had four hits and two RBIs.\u00a0 Gebhard had two singles and four RBIs.\u00a0 Cain and Steckley each had two hits and two RBIs.\u00a0 Vessells finished with two hits, one a double, and an RBI.\u00a0 Bettcher added two singles.\u00a0 Taten VanOverbeke had a hit and an RBI.\u00a0 Olson and Siemonsma each had a hit.\u00a0 Gebhard pitched three innings and allowed three runs, one earned, on a hit and five walks with four strikeouts.\u00a0 Siemonsma pitched four innings and allowed an earned run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts.<\/p>\n
Mobridge struck first in the championship game.\u00a0 They scored four runs in the top of the second inning.\u00a0 West Central cut the lead in half, 4-2, with two runs in the bottom of the fourth.\u00a0 Each team scored a run in the fifth inning, and the score remained 5-3 going into the seventh inning.<\/p>\n
After holding Mobridge scoreless in the top of the seventh, West Central’s offense put together a rally.\u00a0 Bettcher had a one-out double.\u00a0 Cain followed with a single, and Klinkhammer was hit by a pitch to load the bases.\u00a0 A balk brought home the first run to make the score 5-4.\u00a0 Vessells added an RBI sacrifice bunt to tie the game 5-5 and put runners on second and third with two outs.\u00a0 Another balk allowed Bettcher to score the game-winning run take win the championship.<\/p>\n
Bettcher finished with two hits, one a double.\u00a0 Olson had a hit and an RBI.\u00a0 Siemonsma, Cain, and Klinkhammer all had one hit each.\u00a0 Vessells finished with two RBIs.\u00a0 Klinkhammer pitched five innings and allowed one earned run on four walks and a strikeout.\u00a0 Steckley pitched two innings and allowed four earned runs on four hits and a walk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
West Central scored three times in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Mobridge 6-5 in the championship game of the 2023 South Dakota VFW 14U State A Tournament in Elk Point on Sunday, July 23rd.\u00a0 Prior to the championship game, West Central earned wins on Friday, July 21st and Saturday, July 22nd. West […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[41,154],"class_list":["post-1221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-14u-baseball","tag-featured","tag-west-central-14u-baseball"],"yoast_head":"\n