Coming off the most successful season by virtually any measure, Platte County enters this season with more replacements than returning starters, but don’t expect a lack of confidence. The Pirates not only bring back senior No. 1 Gavin Nichols but also can start to talk about program tradition as a reason for optimism.
Platte County reached the team playoffs for the first time last spring and qualified five of six individuals for the Class 2 Missouri State Tennis Championships — Nichols in singles and junior Jack Bralley and graduated seniors Jack Forrest, Nathan Vanek and Jaron Cook as part of two District 8 finalist doubles team. The Pirates must also replace Mason McBratney, who played No. 5 singles most of his final season as a first-year starter.
“I know we had a lot of talent last year, but I think this group has just as much potential for different reasons,” Platte County veteran coach Zach Keith said. “We have guys who have worked really hard to be ready to step in and perform well at the varsity level against good competition. We also have guys who are very gritty on this team. Several of them remind me a lot of some of the ‘We Come to Fight’ guys we’ve had in the pre-tennis facility/all-away match era.”
While Nichols spent the past two-plus years at No. 1 and long ago laid claim to the distinction as the best Platte County player ever, Bralley likely makes a big jump from No. 4 as a sophomore into the No. 2 spot for Platte County, which went 15-4 in duals last season and won the Suburban Conference Division outright. The Pirates blitzed to the Class 2 District 8 team title with a 5-1 win over Grain Valley in the final.
Platte County’s run came to a disappointing conclusion with a loss to Helias in a Class 2 state quarterfinal, but the season continued thanks to the postseason format.
Nichols claimed a third straight Class 2 District 8 singles crown, while Forrest and Vanek topped teammates Bralley and Cook in the doubles championship match. The only singles state qualifier in program history, Nichols went on to claim sixth place finish at state to earn his second career top-eight medal, while Forrest and Vanek placed sixth in a memorable finish to their career as the first doubles medalists in program history.
In fact, both of Platte County’s doubles teams won a state match with Bralley and Cook going 1-2. The Pirates’ only other state doubles teams — Ethan Savage/Aaron Stout in 2010 and the brother tandem of Nathan and Austin Vanek in 2022 — both went 0-2.
A third-year starter, Bralley can join the younger Vanek and Nichols as the only multiple-time state qualifiers for Platte County and will be expected to help drive continued team success, as well.
“Gavin and Jack are known commodities, so we need both of them to perform at levels they are capable of,” Keith said. “Gavin has done what Gavin does. He’s improved significantly since last year, and he will be very tough to beat.”
How Keith fills the final four varsity spots — and possibly more if anyone goes singles only — remains to be seen.
Platte County brings up seniors Aaron Vaughan, Quentin Miller and Daniel Bunge; juniors Hayden Cook, Paul Havemeier and Will Kimlinger and sophomore Payton Vanek from a successful junior varsity squad, and freshman Mitchel McBratney brings youth experience and a chance to contribute right away. The Pirates will again count on newcomers — both Cook and McBratney were first-year starters last spring — to continue a streak currently at three straight years of reaching at least the district final.
The program started in 2009-10, and Keith has been around for every season. He called last year’s lineup the most talented ever for Platte County, which has become undoubtedly capable of developing wave after wave of talent.
“The rest of our team is very competitive with one another and will be consistently trying to prove where they fit in,” Keith said. “Although we lost some incredibly talented players to graduation, these guys who will make up the remainder of the roster are very good. I’m excited to see how we fare against quality competition, but I can say this with a lot of confidence, we have very high expectations this season.”
