West Branch scores in 7th to outlast Mount Vernon, 10-9

SOLON - You walk 14 guys, commit five errors, blow a five-run lead, and you get to go to state. What a deal for the West Branch Bears.What a Class 2A substate baseball game West Branch had Tuesday night, scoring a run in the top of the seventh and hanging on by its fingernails for a 10-9 win over Mount Vernon.This one wasn't decided until about two hours and 45 minutes in, when Bo Bower struck out Trey Ryan looking with runners on first and second. West Branch (20-13) is the eighth seed at the state tournament, with a matchup with top-ranked Dyersville Beckman (35-7) Friday night at 6 at Principal Park in Des Moines.Not that these guys give a hoot about that underdog thing. It's West Branch's second state berth, the other coming in 2000.“We'll see what happens,” said West Branch coach B.J. Rios. "Everybody's beatable, as long as you're playing hot. And, hey, we're playing hot right now. That's all that matters.”West Branch scored four runs in the top of the first inning against Mount Vernon starting pitcher C.J. Eldred (son of former major leaguer Cal), including a three-run home run by .171-hitting cleanup man Cody Brandt. It was 5-0 Bears in the fourth when things fell completely apart.Mount Vernon (16-22) got back-to-back leadoff singles from Noah Dahlstrom and Spencer Drahos, and the dam burst. A couple of West Branch fielding errors and four walks led to five tying runs.The Mustangs plated four more runs in the fifth for a 9-6 lead. A lot of teams would have quit, but not West Branch.“We just had heart, I'd guess you'd say,” said Bo Bower, the winning pitcher, who went 4-for-4 with three RBIs. “We wanted to win so bad, we just kept fighting. We had that one inning ... that hurt. But we stuck with it. We came through at the end, which is awesome.”A two-run Bower single tied it at 9-9 in the sixth. Branden Shortt doubled to the gap against losing pitcher Cal Kragenbrink to lead off the seventh, was bunted to third and scored on a shallow fly to center, with MV catcher Connor Welch unable to corral a short-hopped throw to the plate from Jake Pisarik.West Branch finished with 18 hits, which offset Mount Vernon's walk count to an extent. The Mustangs stranded the bases loaded three times, which came back to haunt: in the second, third and sixth innings.“That was our problem all year,” said Mount Vernon Coach Jeremy Elliott. “We needed one hit to break the game open, and we couldn't get it.”

AT SOLON

West Branch 400 113 1 10 18 5

Mount Vernon 000 524 0 9 9 2 Brandon Shortt, Cody Brandt (4), Brandon Young (5), Bo Bower (6) and Max Kober. C.J. Eldred, Cal Kragenbrink (6) and Connor Welch. WP-Bower (4-3). LP-Kragenbrink (4-2).

Highlights: Brandon Shortt doubled leading off the WB seventh and scored on sacrifice fly by Ryan Kirkey. Bo Bower went 4-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs for the Bears (20-13). Cody Brandt had a three-run home run. Noah Dahlstrom and Spencer Drahos had two hits each for Mount Vernon (16-22), which drew 14 walks.