Sprouse stumps West Burlington, VBC moves on

BURLINGTON - The Van Buren County baseball team was starting a freshman on the mound and playing what was basically a true road game in their substate opener against West Burlington on Saturday, but the Warriors clamped down on the Falcons to beat them 5-2, avenging an 8-7 loss in the season opener and ending West Burlington's season in the process.

Ninth-grade hurler Taylor Sprouse confused the Falcons all night, giving up just two earned runs on six hits and two walks in a complete-game win. He threw 90 pitches over seven frames and struck three West Burlington batters out.

'I just came out there to try to throw strikes,” Sprouse told The Hawkeye's Matt Levins after the game. 'My defense helped me out. I tried to do the best I could. I did it for the seniors tonight.”

The Warriors scored one run each in the first and third innings and two in the fourth to take a 4-0 advantage. West Burlington scored two in the fifth, but Van Buren put up one insurance run in their half of the fifth and the Falcon offense never struck again.

Ryan Wolf led the offense, going 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs. Jonah Heckenberg was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Jackson Manning finished 1-for-2.

The win advances VBC to Tuesday night's substate quarterfinal, where they'll take on Central Lee, a team who shut the Warriors out 6-0 to spoil their home opener.

'When we lost to West Burlington at the first of the year, we thought maybe we'd like to get another shot at them,” said Warrior head coach Chad Scott. 'The same thing about Central Lee, and that's going to happen on Tuesday.”