Platte County emphatically beat Grain Valley on Monday to make a Suburban Conference White Division title essentially a formality but then locked up the crown in truly memorable fashion.
In Wednesday’s road game at Belton, Platte County junior Owen Rawlings and senior JP Wormington combined for a no-hitter in a 9-1 victory. Rawlings struck out a career-high seven but walked three, two in the fifth inning when Belton closed to within 6-1.
Platte County junior designated hitter Liam Blacklock went 1-for-3 with two walks and scored three times, while senior center fielder Devin Wassmann and sophomores Rocco Marriott and Brennan McLaughlin drove in two runs apiece.
Belton gave up five runs in the top of the first to put the Platte County pitchers in an optimal scenario.
Rawlings retired the first nine batters he faced then used a double play to erase a runner from a Platte County error in the top of the fourth then worked around a one-out walk. Wormington threw a perfect two innings in relief with two strikeouts to finish off the no-hitter.
Platte County scored in both the sixth and seventh innings to fully pull away.
In the sixth, McLaughlin drove in Wassmann after he reached on an error and stole seconds with two outs. Platte County junior outfielder Patrick McCool walked and scored on a passed ball in the seventh before junior second baseman Taylor Stambersky scored Blacklock with a sacrifice fly.
Platte County’s five-run first inning started with three walks plus a single from Stambersky. Brian Chandler, a senior first baseman, plated the first run with a bases-loaded walk, and Wassmann followed with a run-scoring fielder’s choice.
McLaughlin and Marriott followed with back-to-back RBI singles with Marriott’s scoring a pair. Wassmann came up with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth to extend the lead to 6-0.
Platte County has now won the White Division title in each of the two years since moving up from the Blue Division.
Platte County 11, Grain Valley 1
The Pirates finished off the season sweep of the White Division runnerup Monday after scoring seven runs total in the sixth and seventh to pull away.
Grain Valley committed four errors and managed just four hits against Platte County’s preferred top pitching trio, although used in a different order this time around. The Pirates gave the start to senior left-handed ace Brayden Carter and followed with senior lefty Isaiah Smith. The opening pair combined for 4 2/3 innings with six strikeouts.
McLaughlin came on and pitched the final 2 1/3 innings, working around one hit and one walk.
Platte County started using this combination of pitchers in recent weeks for the biggest games but had been starting Smith and finishing with Carter. The Pirates have lost only one of the games with all three used, preferably with the first two facing around nine batters.
In this case, all three faced exactly nine hitters over the course of seven innings.
Platte County had lost Smith’s last start when Class 6 state-ranked Liberty North mounted a seventh-inning comeback. The Pirates followed with a blowout of Raytown in White Division play, and they currently have a four-game winning streak active that has improved the overall record to 15-10.
Grain Valley fell behind 4-0 in the top of the second after Platte County drew a pair of walks and took advantage of two errors. The Pirates struck first on a sacrifice fly for senior catcher Tyler Stearns that brought Chandler home after he led off the inning with a walk.
That left two runners on and two outs, and an error, single from Blacklock and another error led to the next three runs.
Blacklock finished 2-for-3 with two walks, while Stambersky collected three hits, drove in three and scored twice. Platte County junior shortstop Dayton Doll had a double and a home run, his first of the season that capped a three-run seventh.
McCool collected an infield single and went to second on a throwing error and then scored a single from Stambersky. Doll homered to left on the next pitch.
Platte County’s four-run sixth started with three straight walks for Stearns, McCool and Blacklock. Stambersky followed with a two-run single, and Chandler (RBI single) and Wassmann (sacrifice fly extended the lead to 8-1.
Grain Valley’s lone run came in the third when Carter allowed a leadoff double, but Smith limited the damage with pair of groundouts. Carter and Smith struck out three apiece.
Platte County 6, Blue Springs South 1
The Pirates finished the week with an impressive win over another strong Class 6 opponent Friday in Blue Springs.
McLaughlin doubled and homered while driving in three, and Platte County again started strong with a four-run first inning. With two outs, Doll walked, and Chandler singled. Wassmann drove in one with a double, and McLaughlin followed with a three-run shot to left field on the first pitch he saw.
In the second, Platte County extended the lead to 5-0 with three straight singles from McCool, Blacklock and Stambersky, who drove in a pair. He added a two-out RBI single in the fourth to score junior courtesy runner Brady Davis, who subbed in for Stearns after his leadoff walk.
Carter, Smith and McLaughlin made the lead stand up.
After Carter walked one in the first, Smith threw the next 3 1/3 innings and struck out three while allowing just one run. McLaughlin threw the final 2 2/3 innings and worked around two hits and a walk.
Blue Springs South, unranked but receiving votes in the most recent Class 6 Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association poll, drew four walks. However, the Jaguars lone run to close within 6-1 came with a double and two-out single off Smith in the bottom of the fifth.
Platte County earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Class 5 District 8 tournament and will open play at Creekside Baseball Park against Van Horn. The Pirates close the regular season with four games this week before going after a second playoff appearance in three years to follow on the 2022 state championship season.
Since a slow start, Platte County has won 12 of the past 14 ahead of matchups this week with Raymore-Peculiar (Monday), North Kansas City (Wednesday), at Savannah (Thursday) and William Chrisman (Friday).
