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Time runs out on VBC
Warriors storm back in Class 2A state baseball quarterfinals, fall 1 run short
CARROLL — The Van Buren County baseball team had to dig its cleats in the dirt and claw back from an improbable deficit in Tuesday’s Class 2A state baseball quarterfinals. The fifth-seeded Warriors found themselves down six runs with the season on the line against No. 4 seed West Lyon.
With the large contingent of traveling VBC fans behind them, the Warriors fought all the way back to within one, but West Lyon hung on for a 6-5 win, sending the Wildcats on to the semifinals and ending the Warriors’ season.
The Wildcats built their lead over the first three innings, capitalizing on some rough play defensively by Van Buren County. West Lyon would put up one run in the first, three in the second and two in the third to grab an early 6-0 lead.
West Lyon’s early run came on five hits and two errors. Every single one of the Wildcats’ six runs came with two outs.
To pile on, Van Buren County ace Taylor Sprouse was chased from the game in the third inning. Dylan Richardson came into the game with one out and did let two inherited runs cross the plate on a double by West Lyon’s Evan Faber, but Richardson settled in and threw 1.2 innings of shut out ball from that point forward.
The Van Buren County offense saw the seeds of a big inning begin to sprout in the top of the third when the Warriors loaded the bases with nobody out, but a lineout double play off the bat of Anthony Duncan halted momentum, and West Lyon got out of the inning unscathed.
One frame later, now down 6-0, the Warriors loaded them up again. This time Van Buren County would capitalize.
The top of the fourth began with a leadoff walk drawn by Dominic Meierotto. Richardson followed with an RBI double to cut the lead to 6-1, and both Wyatt Mertens and Tyler Stoltz walked to fill the bags with Warriors.
Lucas Fett stepped up with the bases loaded and nobody out and hit into an RBI fielder’s choice, which sliced the West Lyon lead down to 6-2. A walk to Jackson Manning chased out West Lyon starter Korey McKenney, and the Warriors had reached the bullpen with the threat still in tact.
West Lyon went to Spencer Ver Meer in relief. Ver Meer came in with the bases loaded and one out, and immediately threw a wild pitch, allowing all runners to advance, including Mertens, who scored to make it 6-3.
Van Buren County scored twice more in the inning. Fett scored on a wild pitch soon after the first, and Sprouse knocked in one more run on an RBI groundout, but West Lyon was still clinging on to a 6-5 lead.
Defensively, the Warriors clutched up and shut the Wildcats out for the rest of the game. Richardson got into a little trouble in the fifth, but Fett came in to pitch and wiggled out of a jam that saw two West Lyon runners reach scoring position with nobody out.
On the offensive side, Van Buren County struggled. The Warriors had a small threat in the fifth, when Richardson reached on a two-out walk, but was stranded. In the sixth, Manning sent a deep shot to center field with two outs, but it wasn’t far enough to escape the Wildcat center fielder’s grasp.
Van Buren County’s best shot came in its final at-bat. After back-to-back flyouts to start the inning, Izaack Loeffler sent a fly ball down the right field line, and the ball popped out of the West Lyon right fielder’s glove for a two-base error that put the potential tying run on second base.
Meierotto stepped up with a chance to tie the game, and he nearly did so by sending a 1-2 pitch bouncing past the pitchers mound. The West Lyon shortstop, however, made a sliding play to stop the ball before it rolled into the outfield, and the throw to first just nipped a sprinting Meierotto for the final out of the game.
Van Buren County ended the day with five hits, two of which came off the bat of Manning, who went 2-for-3 with a double. Richardson finished the game 1-for-1 with a double and an RBI. Fett was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Sprouse went 0-for-3 with an RBI, and Meierotto finished 1-for-3. Courtesy runner Isaiah Meek scored once on the base paths.
Sprouse was tagged with the loss on the mound, giving up six runs (three earned) on four hits, four walks and a hit batter, while striking out three Wildcats. Richardson gave up just two hits and one walk, and Fett struck out four batters over two perfect innings.
West Lyon (25-2) moved on to play top-seeded Beckman Catholic (23-9), who had to come back to walk off Pella Christian in the quarterfinals. That game will be on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
Van Buren County ended its season at 26-4 overall and 11-2 in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference South Division. The 2023 season not only marked the first state tournament trip since 2016, but also the first 20 win season since the same year, and the best winning percentage since 2015.
The Warriors will lose seven seniors, all of which played a key role for the team. Tuesday’s loss marked the last high school game for Duncan, Sprouse, Mertens, Meierotto, Richardson, Manning and Sam Warth.
