Having lost back-to-back games first time this season, Platte County closed out a loaded week of games with two straight wins and then a game abandoned due to weather and ruled a no contest in a recently annual trip to the Monarch Invitational in Papillion, Nebraska. The Pirates led the last game, as well, but didn’t get the opportunity to complete their fourth game in two days.
Platte County junior Dani Salisbury stands in the box in a game against Fort Osage on Tuesday at Platte County High School.
The finale ended up a 9-0 win over Lincoln Southeast (Nebraska) on Saturday morning.
Platte County junior Dani Salisbury blasted a walkoff three-run home run to centerfield in the bottom of the fifth to invoke the tournament’s run-rule. She finished 1-for-1 with a pair of walks and also pitched five shutout innings with five strikeouts, while working around six hits, including a pair of doubles.
A five-run fifth included five straight hits with all five runners scoring.
Platte County sophomore Reagan Ball led off with a double and scored on junior second baseman Marlee Snyder-Richardson’s single to left field. Singles for junior catcher Gwen Duncan and sophomore centerfielder Kelly Bullano followed. Bullano’s scored the Pirates’ sixth run ahead of Salisbury’s third home run of the season.
After Salisbury retired Lincoln Southeast in order to start the game, Platte County immediately took a 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the first. The inning opened with a double from freshman third baseman Kinleigh Howren, and after sophomore shortstop Brylie Seifert singled with one out, Pirates senior rightfielder Haley Schank scored both runners with a single.
Platte County (12-5) eventually left the bases loaded but went ahead 4-0 in the fourth, which started with an error and a pair of walks to load the bases. Lillian Talbot, a sophomore left fielder, contributed an RBI single, while Seifert added a sacrifice fly.
Platte County sophomore shortstop Bryli Seifert takes a swing in a game against Fort Osage on Tuesday at Platte County High School.
Howren finished 2-for-2 with a walk, while Ball added a double for her only hit.
On Friday, Platte County scored six runs in the final three innings at the plate to pull away for a 7-1 win over Lincoln Northeast (Nebraska), which briefly tied the score in the top of the fourth with the lone run against Ball. The Pirates answered back with two in the bottom half on a two-out, two-run home run for Bullano. She came up after Duncan singled and immediately provided a 3-1 lead.
After Ball worked around two runners in the top of the fifth, she aided her own cause with a two-out run-scoring single to bring home Seifert, who doubled with one out.
Platte County plated three more in the sixth with Talbot doubling home two after an error extended the inning, and she came home on Seifert’s second double. She finished 4-for-4 with two RBIs, driving in Talbot in the bottom of the first to put the Pirates up 1-0. Talbot went 2-for-2 and scored both times after each of her doubles.
Ball went 6 2/3 innings before the game’s time limit and struck out two while navigating nine hits.
Platte County freshman third baseman Kinleigh Howren fields a ball against Fort Osage on Tuesday at Platte County High School.
The tournament started for Platte County with an 11-4 loss to Lincoln North Star, which scored in all five innings with 14 combined hits against Salisbury (two innings, two strikeouts) and Ball (three innings, two strikeouts). The Pirates trailed 6-0 before scoring twice in the bottom of the second after leaving the bases loaded in the first.
Snyder-Richardson started the second with a walk, and Bullano singled with one out to put two runners on for Platte County. Howren and Talbot then supplied back-to-back two-out RBI singles to close the gap. The Pirates added two more runs in the fourth on Schank’s two-run double with two outs. Both of those were unearned after an error kept the inning alive.
Platte County finished with just five hits, and Talbot went 2-for-2 and doubled in the first, as well.
Grain Valley 4, Platte County 0
The Pirates went into the weekend tournament off of a 4-0 loss to the No. 1-ranked team in Class 5 on Thursday in Grain Valley.
Platte County sophomore Kelly Bullano swings at a pitch against Fort Osage on Tuesday at Platte County High School.
After starting 7-0 in Suburban Conference White Division play, Platte County didn’t have a hit and saw a seven-game winning streak come to an end. Grain Valley committed a pair of errors that prevented a perfect game. Both were charged on the same play, a fielding and throwing error that allowed Duncan to reach with two outs in the top of the sixth.
Ball went six innings and allowed seven hits while striking out one.
Platte County 14, Fort Osage 1, 5 innings
The Pirates rode three big offensive innings to a run-rule victory in conference play Tuesday at Platte County High School.
Seifert went 2-for-4 with a double, home run, two runs scored and three RBIs, while Ball’s two hits were a double and a triple. Platte County’s top three hitters plus Bullano all scored two runs apiece. The Pirates overcame an early 1-0 deficit after Ball allowed her only run in the top of the first before finishing with four strikeouts, while allowing only four hits and no walks.
Howren started Platte County’s bottom of the first with a walk, and Talbot followed with a single before Seifert’s double tied the score at 1-1. Schank gave the Pirates the lead with a sacrifice fly, and Ball tripled in Seifert to make it 3-1.
Platte County sophomore Reagan Ball delivers a pitch against Fort Osage on Tuesday at Platte County High School.
Platte County made it a four-run inning when junior courtesy runner Emily Huel came home on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the second, Platte County scored four more. Bullano led off with a double and scored on an error, and Talbot added a sacrifice fly. Seifert’s two-run home run to center field extended the lead to 8-1. The Pirates’ final six runs all came in the fourth.
Talbot led off with a double, and Schank walked with one out, starting a stretch of six straight batters to reach.
Ball hit an RBI double, Schank scored on a wild pitch and Snyder-Richardson put Platte County up 11-1 with a single. A run scored on Salisbury’s sac bunt attempt, and Bullano singled to put two more on. A Fort Osage error, RBI single for Duncan and Howren’s sacrifice fly accounted for the Pirates’ final three runs.
Platte County 16, Raytown 1, 4 innings
The Pirates produced 15 hits and plated the winning run Snyder-Richardson’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fourth Monday at Platte County High School.
Platte County junior catcher Gwen Duncan receives a pitch against Fort Osage on Tuesday at Platte County High School.
Platte County senior catcher Maddie Nickell singled in front of her to set up the walkoff opportunity. The Pirates scored in all four innings and again overcame a one-run deficit after Raytown put up an unearned run off of an error in the top of the first against Salisbury, who allowed only one hit and struck out five in four strong innings.
Howren and Talbot both scored in the bottom of the first, and Platte County also left the bases loaded up 2-1. The Pirates then piled on runs with six straight hits to start the second. Bullano and Duncan started with back-to-back singles, and Howren’s RBI double came ahead of run-scoring singles for Talbot and Seifert to increase the advantage to 6-1.
Schank capped the surge with an RBI double to left field, and she came home on Ball’s RBI groundout.
Platte County added one more to go up 9-1 on a walk for Snyder-Richardson and singles for Salisbury and Bullano before Howren hit a two-run triple with two outs and scored on Talbot’s single. She came home on an error to make it 13-1, and the Pirates scored twice with two outs in the third but weren’t able to produce the 16th run until the fourth.
