New-look lineup excels in 2 dual wins, 3rd-place finish at home tournament

The random draws did no favors for the home team in the Platte County Invitational on Wednesday.

However, Platte County made the most of singles backside opportunities and finished third in the final team standings behind Park Hill and Park Hill South. The Pirates’ rebuilt lineup with one just one returner from last season’s fourth-place state team passed the first big test with a finalist in 3 of 9 flights.

In the morning session, Platte County junior Jacoby Keith started slow but eventually rolled to the No. 5 singles championship. He also paired with senior Gabe Miller to win the No. 3 doubles flight, while juniors Wyatt Beeson and Owen Behne were second at No. 2. The key for the Pirates ended up being fifth-place finishes for Behne (No. 3), Beeson (No. 4) and Miller (No. 6) in singles with all finishing 2-1 after opening-round losses.

“We bring in an incredibly talented group of teams, so the fact that we got third place and won some individual flights was a very good sign of where we are at at this point in the season,” Platte County coach Zach Keith said.

Only the No. 1 singles bracket received seeding, and junior Mitchel McBratney went in at No. 7. However, he finished sixth after beating Kearney’s Cameron Daniel in the consolation semifinals.

McBratney moved up from No. 6 in last year’s lineup as the most experienced player on Platte County’s roster.

Singles matches consisted of one set played to six and no advantage used in games going to deuce. Jacoby Keith won 6-4 in the opening round but only lost four games total in the next two on the way to his No. 5 title. McBratney, sophomore No. 2 Jackson Kluck, Behne and Miller all lost to eventual finalists in the first round.

McBratney and Miller both dropped matches to the individual champions in their brackets.

In doubles, McBratney and Kluck eventually finished seventh at No. 1 after losing to the winners from Central (St. Joseph). Doubles matches were one set played to four except for the championship and third-place match.

Platte County 8, Willard 1

Four members of this year’s lineup made varsity debuts Tuesday at Platte County High School.

Willard made the annual trip to the Platte County Invitational early to play a dual the day before the tournament. McBratney and Kluck earned a critical 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles, and the Pirates swept singles, including a 9-8 (7-5) tiebreaker victory for Behne at No. 3.

“I was really impressed by how well the guys played against Willard on Tuesday,” Zach Keith said. “I knew there would be a fair amount of nerves given the fact that we had five guys playing in their first legitimate varsity match, but they really never let anything happen too fast while they were playing nervous. Once they settled in, they all played really well. That match was much closer than the final score looks on paper.”

Willard’s Alijah Small and Anthony Hernandez won 9-7 at No. 2 doubles for the only blemish in the opening dual.

Jacoby Keith and Miller were 8-2 winners for Platte County at No. 3. In singles, Behne and Miller (9-7 at No. 6) prevailed in both close matches to impact the decisive margin of victory.

Platte County 9, Truman 0

The Pirates started Suburban Conference White Division play with a dominant shutout Thursday at Platte County High School.

Minus Kluck, Platte County didn’t miss a beat, losing just two games total in the three doubles matches. McBratney and Behne recorded an 8-0 shutout of at No. 1, while Beeson and Jacoby Keith (No. 2) and Miller and fellow senior Jack Hokanson (No. 3) were both 8-1 winners.

In singles, Miller (No. 5) and Hokanson (No. 6) won 8-0, while McBratney and Behne dropped just on game each in the top two spots. Beeson and Jacoby Keith were 8-2 winners in the middle of the lineup.

Platte County now takes a week off before the Warrensburg Doubles Tournament this weekend.