Despite a loaded-up schedule, Platte County almost exclusively experienced success for the majority of the regular season. Now, the Pirates have a chance to react to adversity — and in a big spot.
Platte County senior Mason McBratney hits a forehand during a singles match in a dual with Park Hill South on Tuesday at Platte County High School.
Platte County’s eight-dual winning streak came to an end with back-to-back 6-3 losses to solid Class 3 programs this week — Tuesday at home vs. Park Hill South and Thursday on the road at undefeated Central (St. Joseph). The Pirates had been unbeaten since a 5-4 setback to Class 3 Blue Springs South in the season-opener all the way back on March 23.
The difficult stretch continues Monday with a road trip to Grain Valley. The winner should not only decided the Suburban Conference White Division championship but also the top seed for the fast-approaching Class 2 District 8 tournament. Platte County lost both matchups to the Eagles last year by a score of 5-4 — the second coming in the district championship dual. The Pirates have reached the final each of the past two seasons, and their performance Monday should show a lot about the chances to finally break through and earn the first playoff berth in program history later this season.
“We will see on Monday against Grain Valley how much of a positive impact these last two tough duals have on our team moving forward,” Platte County coach Zach Keith said.
Against Central, Platte County knew the opposition with junior River Flaska at the top of the Indians’ lineup. The Pirates went into singles down 2-1 but did receive a solid 8-5 victory from the No. 3 doubles team of sophomore Jack Bralley and senior Jaron Cook.
Platte County senior Nathan Vanek goes to hit a serve in a match against Park Hill South on Tuesday at Platte County High School.
Platte County found more success at the bottom of the singles lineup with seniors McBratney (8-2 at No. 5) and Cook (8-4 at No. 6) recording the only wins. Flaska defeated Pirates’ junior No. 1 Gavin Nichols 8-2 in what has become an ongoing rivalry between the two.
“Central is very good,” Keith said. “I felt like we played really well at No. 3 doubles and Nos. 5 and 6 singles, and that was a good opportunity for Jack, Mason and Jaron to get in some tough matches. I think our top four guys and top two doubles teams came into their matches with the right approach, but ran into some really good players.”
Park Hill South 6, Platte County 3
The Pirates again trailed 2-1 out of doubles and went on to win only two singles’ matches in Tuesday’s dual at Platte County High School.
Nichols and McBratney continued to pair at No. 2 doubles and came up with an 8-5 victory for Platte County. In singles, Nichols jumped to a 7-2 lead on Park Hill South’s Jack Arnold before experiencing some frustrations in what ended up an 8-4 victory. Incidentally, McBratney also recorded the Pirates’ other win at No. 5 — 8-6 over Noah Slaughter — in what ended up an unbeaten singles week for the first-year starter.
Platte County couldn’t quite swing the result with Cook losing in a tiebreaker at No. 6 but would have needed one more anyway even if he prevailed.
“I knew this would be a tough match because Park Hill South is really solid,” Keith said. “And they are a team that we don’t match up very will against this season. It was good for our guys to be tested against quality competition.”
Platte County 9, Oak Park 0
The Pirates started the week by running their winning streak to eight with a road sweep Monday in Kansas City.
Oak Park won just two games total in the three doubles matches with seniors Jack Forrest and Nathan Vanek (No. 1) and Nichols/McBratney (No. 2) both recording 8-0 sweeps. In singles, Nichols won 10-0 at No. 1, while Vanek (10-1 at No. 3), Bralley (10-2 at No. 4) and Forrest (10-3 at No. 2) were also runaway winners against a Northmen team in a bit of a rebuild.
“I felt like we played really good tennis, and the 9-0 result shows how well we played,” Keith said.
