Orange City Iowa — A pair of runs in the top of the 8th inning powered Western Christian to a 5-3 extra inning win over Sioux Center in the first qame of the 2A District 1 quarterfinals on Saturday in Orange City.
Western opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first inning. Lead off hitter Levi Jansma singled and later scored on a sac fly by Evan Wibben to give the Wolfpack an early 1-0 lead.
Western made it 3-0 with a 2-run fourth inning. Wibben led off the inning with a single and scored when Mason Stetson doubled to right. Kobi Baccam followed Wibben with a single and later scored from third when the Sioux Center pitcher was called for a balk.
Sioux Center got on the board in the bottom of the fourth as Cade Bleeker walked and later scored on a double by Avery Sanbulte to make the score 3-1.
The Warriors cut the lead to 3-2 in the 6th inning as Bleeker walked and later scored on a Jackson Stander single. Sioux Center pulled even at 3-3 in the 7th inning as Braden Jahn singled and later scored on a throwing error as he advanced to third base.
The Wolfpack scored the game winner and an insurance run in the top of the 8th inning. Zach Van Essen singled and later scored on a single to left by Kobi Baccam. Baccam was plated when Levi Vanden Bos followed with a double. Western held the Warriors scoreless in the bottom of the 8th to earn the win.
Zach Van Essen got the win in relief. He went 3 innings striking out 3 and walking 1. He gave up 1 earned run. Tyson Boer went the first 5 giving up 1 earned run. He struck out 1 and walked 5.
Jackson Stander took the loss. In 4 innings of relief he gave up 2 runs on 2 hits. He struck out 3 and did not walk a batter. Cade Bleeker went the first four. He surrendered 3 runs, 2 of them earned on 4 hits. He struck out 7 and did not walk a batter.
Western will take a 9-18 record into the district semifinals on Tuesday. They will meet West Lyon who got a first round bye and is hosting a double header. First pitch is set for 7pm. Sioux Center ends the year at 16-11.
