Van Buren County gets West Lyon in 2A quarterfinal

CARROLL — It all comes down to this for Van Buren County baseball.

The Warriors (26-3) Class 2A state tournament run begins on Tuesday with a matchup against the Wildcats of West Lyon (24-2).

Van Buren County enters as the No. 5 seed, while West Lyon is the No. 4 seed.

The Warriors and Wildcats will clash on Tuesday, July 18 at 1:30 p.m. at Merchants Park in Carroll.

  Buy Photo

The Warriors have had a stellar run thus far.

VBC made quick work of their first two postseason opponents, winning in a pair of shutouts over Winfield-Mt. Union/Columbus 12-0 and then Mediapolis 10-0.

The Warriors followed with a substate final state tournament clinching victory over No. 2 Mid-Prairie, 6-4.

VBC used a three run seventh inning rally to get the better of the Golden Hawks and earn the state tournament berth.

As for West Lyon, the Wildcats were winners in a shutout victory over West Sioux, 8-0, in the quarterfinal round.

  Buy Photo

The Wildcats then defeated Unity Christian in the semifinal, 12-2, before edging Forest City in the substate final, 2-0, to earn a spot in the state tournament.

Van Buren County is led by senior Jackson Manning at the plate.

Manning is batting .517 to lead the Warriors. He has a team-high 50 runs and 45 hits as well as a team leading 60 runs batted in.

Junior Lucas Fett follows Manning with an average of .383. Fett has notched 45 runs this season with 36 hits and 20 RBIs.

Senior Taylor Sprouse holds an average of .366. Sprouse has 20 runs on the season with 37 hits and 38 RBIs.

Four other Warrior starters bat above .300 as well.

Tyler Stoltz (.358), Anthony Duncan (.328), T.J. Jirak (.318) and Izaak Loeffler (.301) all bat above .300 as well.

Leading the Warriors on the hill is Sprouse with a 6-1 record and a 2.01 ERA.

Sprouse is holding opponents to an average of .146. He has given up just 20 runs (14 earned) on 29 hits with 57 strikeouts.

Dylan Richardson has a 7-0 record with four starts on the mound. Richardson holds an ERA of 1.95, allowing 11 runs (nine earned) on 24 hits with 33 strikeouts. Richardson is holding opponents to an average of .173.

Manning, who is more often than not the Warrior’s closer has an 2-0 record with an ERA of 1.40. Manning has given up four runs (four earned) on eight hits with 26 strikeouts.

Lucas Fett holds a 4-1 record for the Warriors as well.

For the Wildcats, senior Spencer Ver Meer leads with an average of .412 in the box. Ver Meer has 21 hits with 22 RBIs.

Senior Ryer Crichton bats .368 with a team-high 35 runs and 28 hits. Crichton also has 24 RBIs.

Sophomore’s Gage Blauwet and Tate Hawf both bat .362. Blauwet has 25 runs, 17 hits and 13 RBIs on the season, while Hawf has 31 runs, 25 hits and 20 RBIs.

Carter Ver Meer (.328), Korey McKenney (.328), Jayden Ver Meer (.323) and Evan Faber (.302) all bat above .300 as well.

On the mound, Korey McKenney has a 6-0 record with a 1.32 ERA. He has allowed nine runs (eight earned) on 29 hits with a team-best 72 strikeouts.

Spencer Ver Meer has a 4-0 record with an ERA of 0.89. Ver Meer has given up 10 runs (four earned) on 14 hits with 32 strikeouts. He is holding opponents to an average of .128.

Evan Faber (2.10 ERA) and Tyler Kock (2.56 ERA) both have over four wins as well.

The winner of the quarterfinal will play the winner of Beckman Catholic and Pella Christian in the semifinal round on Thursday at 7 p.m.