Almost any memorable postseason run includes a player finding the perfect time to play a rare starring role.
Platte County senior Kelly Bullano swings at a pitch against Smithville in the Class 4 District 8 championship game Monday at Smithville High School in Smithville.
Platte County senior center fielder Kelly Bullano delivered twice on offense and twice more on defense in the biggest moments of a 5-3 victory over Smithville in Monday’s Class 4 District 8 championship game at Smithville High School. The top-seeded Pirates played as the home team while on the road and trailed early, only for Bullano to hit a pair of pivotal home runs key to securing a previously elusive playoff berth.
Bullano entered with just four home runs in her career — three as a sophomore and one this season. She finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs, and her two-run shot capped a four-run fourth that turned a one-run deficit into a three-run lead.
Platte County (23-7) advances to face Belton (19-12) in a Class 4 quarterfinal at 2 p.m. Saturday at Platte County High School. This marks the third matchup between the Suburban Conference White Division members this season with the winner guaranteeing a top-four finish and a state trophy.
Smithville (20-14) nearly played spoiler in front of an estimated 500 fans packed around the school’s new home facility.
Platte County players celebrate after a win against Smithville in the Class 4 District 8 championship game Monday at Smithville High School in Smithville.
Platte County reached the district final for a seventh straight year, having lost to Kearney in that round each of the past four postseasons. The Warriors immediately jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first that held until the bottom of the third when Bullano led off with a solo home run.
Smithville sophomore starter Nora Schoening then retired the next three batters to preserve a 2-1 lead for the time being.
In the bottom of the fourth, Platte County senior starting pitcher Reagan Ball hit a one-out solo home run — her fifth of the season — to tie the score. The rest of the Pirates’ runs came as part of a two-out rally that began with a double from sophomore Eva Bane, a surging hitter down the stretch.
Platte County junior right fielder Brynna Peterson scored Bane with a bloop single to right field, and Bullano followed with an opposite-field home run to put the Pirates up 5-2.
Ball ended up pitching all seven innings, while scattering seven hits, three walks and a hit batter. She struck out six, including one to escape the top of the sixth after allowing just one unearned run on a passed ball with the potential go-ahead run at the plate.
Platte County senior Reagan Ball delivers a pitch against Smithville in the Class 4 District 8 championship game Monday at Smithville High School in Smithville.
Platte County produced all of the offense with the potent top third of the lineup that played such a key role in the second 20-win season of the past three years. Smithville kept junior second baseman Kinleigh Howren and senior left fielder Lillian Talbot off the bases, while senior star shortstop Bryli Seifert had a single and a walk.
Ball, Bane and Bullano collected two hits apiece, including all four of Platte County’s eight that went for extra bases.
Ball allowed a leadoff walk in the top of the first and three singles leading to Smithville’s first two runs. However, she prevented further damage after the Warriors held a runner at third on the last of this hits and then hit into an inning-ending double play.
Smithville also wasted a one-out double in the third and hit into another double play in the fourth. The Warriors put at least one runner on base in five of seven innings but ultimately went down in order in the top of the seventh starting with Bullano ranging deep to track down a fly ball deep to center. She earlier slid to catch a line drive to center field after a leadoff walk for Smithville in the fifth.
The game ended on a lineout to Seifert at shortstop.
Platte County senior center fielder Kelly Bullano catches a fly ball near the warning track in the seventh inning against Smithville in the Class 4 District 8 championship game Monday at Smithville High School in Smithville.
Seifert, Ball, Bullano and Talbot — Platte County’s four seniors — then composed themselves after the initial celebration and collected the district championship plaque that ended up just out of reach the past four seasons. The Pirates have gone 3-2 in two playoff trips under coach Callie Peoples — placing third in Class 4 in both 2020 and 2021. The post-COVID 19 pandemic restrictions canceled the 2020 third-place game meaning the season ended after a 10-2 loss to Webb City in the semifinals.
Platte County and Belton split the regular season series. Belton won a wild nine-inning matchup September 17 in Belton that capped a three-game losing streak for Platte County, which dominated the return game October 5 in a 12-2 five-inning run-rule-shortened victory.
The winner of the third matchup advances to play either Helias (23-6) or Willard (28-7-3) in a Class 4 semifinal next Thursday at Killian Softball Complex in Springfield.
