Platte County rallies, back salvages important win over Smithville

When the lead disappeared, Platte County fought to stay tied under difficult circumstances and then came away with another dramatic win Monday at Platte County High School.

Smithville overcame a two-run deficit but walked away with a 3-2 loss. The Warriors stranded the potential go-ahead run at third base in the top of the sixth, but an error allowed the game-winning run to score in the bottom half.

Platte County (11-8) started what ended up a difficult and trying week with an important result for Class 5 District 8 seeding.

Smithville tried to ride senior starter Barett Iverson, who ended up throwing five-plus innings with two strikeouts while allowing three runs. However, the one unearned after scattering seven hits and a walk ended up the undoing.

Platte County senior shortstop Brennan McLaughlin and senior designated hitter Ian Gold opened the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back singles. That brought in junior Anthony Lakin as a reliever, but the Warriors immediately committed two errors on a groundball that plated McLaughlin and put runners at first and third.

Lakin then struck out the next three hitters to keep Smithville’s deficit at 3-2.

Platte County senior Zach Brown, who pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, worked around a two-out single in the seventh to lock down the win. He struck out three but did end up charged with both runs allowed to Smithville’s offense, which finished with nine hits that included a pair of doubles.

McLaughlin supplied Platte County with a fast start in support of junior starter Brock Dye (three innings, three stikeouts, no runs). Beckett Hall, the Pirates’ emerging sophomore infielder, led off the bottom of the first with a single, and an after a sacrifice bunt, McLaughlin doubled him home.

However, Platte County’s 1-0 lead held until the fifth when junior catcher Tate Archer singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from senior second baseman Owen Bane. Ben Burnich, a sophomore center fielder, singled to left field, but Archer had to hold up at third base.

Platte County went up two runs on Hall’s sacrifice fly to centerfield.

Brown had since come on in relief of senior Trent Belcher, who threw 2/3 of an inning and walked one in the fourth. Smithville strung together three straight hits against Brown with sophomore Greyson Sobba’s double pulling the Warriors within 2-1.

Smithville (3-11) tied the score without another hit, but Brown induced a groundout to first base to keep Platte County from going behind. After the Pirates regained the lead, he induced two quick outs and ended the game with a pop out to the catcher.

Platte County and Smithville owned the top two seeds in last year’s Class 5 District 8 tournament but did not meet up. St. Pius X upset Smithville in the semifinals, and Platte County went on to earn the playoff berth and carried the momentum into the program’s second state title in the past four seasons.

Columbia Baseball Tournament

Platte County went 1-3 in four games all played against high-level Class 6 Missouri teams over three days Thursday to Saturday in Columbia. The Pirates played Missouri Baseball Coaches Association (MBCA) state-ranked Eureka (14-5, No. 10), Rock Bridge (15-5, No. 3) and Nixa (15-5, t-5).

The win came against Rock Bridge. New rankings from the MBCA are expected tomorrow with Platte County having been at No. 2 in Class 5 two weeks ago.

Eureka 8, Platte County 0

In Thursday’s opener, Hall collected the Pirates’ only hit with a leadoff double in the top of the first but ended up erased on a double play lineup.

Platte County also drew four walks but didn’t generate enough offense to overcome two four-run innings from Eureka, which took a 4-0 lead in the third and then doubled that in the bottom of the fifth. The Wildcats chased junior all-state pitcher Evan Magnuson after 2 1/3 innings, and he ended up allowing three runs — two earned — while striking out one.

Christian Sipes, a junior, threw two innings and allowed four runs, while Belcher finished the final 1 2/3 innings and gave up just one on one hit.

Platte County 13, Rock Bridge 7

In the first of two games on Friday, the Pirates came up with 10 runs in the top of the third to overcome an initial deficit and then used three more pitchers to hold on for the win.

Platte County sent 15 batters to the plate in the third and benefitted from a pair of errors. McLaughlin hit a double to score two runs — one with an RBI and one when the throw tried to cut him down at second. Lucas Dillingham, a senior who started at designated hitter, added one of this two doubles to score a run, and junior left fielder Matt Cisco and Archer also contributed RBI singles.

Cisco finished 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored, and he collected two RBIs, as did Archer and McLaughlin.

Rock Bridge drew five walks off of McLaughlin, who started and went four innings. He struck out four and allowed four runs. Brown threw 1 2/3 innings of relief, scattering four hits and striking out three with one unearned run allowed. Dillingham threw the final 1 1/3 innings, striking out two and allowing two runs.

Platte County trailed 1-0 after the bottom of the first and saw the lead trimmed to 10-4 in the bottom of the third. Cisco’s sacrifice fly in the fourth pulled one back, and his leadoff double plus a walk for McLaughlin were manufactured into two insurance runs in the top of the seventh.

Nixa 13, Platte County 0, 5 innings

In a unique rematch, the Eagles scored multiple runs in four of five innings to win Friday’s game.

Platte County defeated Nixa 5-0 when the two teams met earlier this year in the Rogers Baseball Festival but didn’t have a hit this time around. The lone runner to reach against senior starter Andrew Larsen came via an error. He struck out eight in five no-hit innings.

Platte County cycled through Dye, Bane, junior Brandon Reynolds and junior Bode Nolte on the mound. Bane turned in the strongest showing, striking out one and walking one in 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Eureka 6, Platte County 3

In the second meeting between the two teams, Eureka overcame a three-run deficit and went ahead for good with five in the bottom of the fourth.

Platte County sophomore third baseman Nolan Sipes went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles but didn’t factor into the scoring. Instead, the Pirates scored three times with two outs in the top of the third with a rally starting on Burnich’s single.

McLaughlin followed with a walk, and senior first baseman Andrew Edsall scored both with a double to right field. Archer, who continued a strong weekend, drove him home with a single.

Platte County ended up missing out on notable opportunities. Hall led off the game with a double, and Sipes did the same in the top of the fourth right after Eureka cut the deficit to 3-1. The Pirates had one runner on base in the fifth, sixth and seventh but did not score again.

Magnuson worked around a pair of singles in the first and a triple and a walk in the second but ended up tagged with an unearned run in the third after an error. He finished with 3 1/3 innings and charged with three runs, two earned, after striking out three.

Belcher gave up three runs without recording an out in the fourth. Dillingham took over mid-batter with one out in the fifth and faced just two hitter, and Brown threw the final 2 2/3 scoreless with three strikeouts, while allowing four more hits.

Eureka ended up with 12 hits total but just two went for extra bases.