Platte County’s defense of the second state title in program history didn’t go as planned. Despite consistently showing flashes of potential, the Pirates mostly alternated streaks of successes and struggles and finished 18-19 overall after a loss to Smithville the Class 5 District 8 semifinals.
Now, Platte County again brings high expectations into this season but with only seniors Brayden Carter and Devin Wassmann plus junior Dayton Doll as contributors from the 2023 Class 5 state championship. Carter should again lead the pitching staff, while Wassmann — a Division I commit — goes into his fourth year as a starting outfielder.
Doll spent the past two years at second base and will again be a key piece of the middle of the infield.
Perhaps most importantly, Platte County hopes a core group of six seniors can combine with intriguing but mostly unproven youth to make another postseason push. The Pirates went just 1-1 in districts last year and now have to replace a key group of 13 seniors, including catcher Cam Dean, outfielders Dayne Wimberly and Dylan Zimmerman, utility player James Scwieder, first baseman Dylan Robertson, third baseman Jordy Hedrick and pitchers Aidan Norris, Tyler Erickson, Hunter Canole and Ethan Veach.
“We have a great group of seniors this year, who are playing for each other and not themselves,” Platte County coach John Sipes said. “They are helping coach up the younger kids and showing them how it’s done at the varsity level.”
The biggest key to rebounding from 2023 likely comes from the development of consistent pitching behind Carter, who emerged late in his sophomore season and threw critical innings mostly in relief during the playoff run of wins over Webb City, Fort Zumwalt East and Festus. He transitioned into the starting ace a year ago, continuing to excel through locating his fastball and keeping hitters off balance with frequent use of an extremely effective curveball.
However, Norris, Erickson, Canole and Zimmerman were the top options behind him and leave a lot of available innings for this year’s staff.
Platte County also must embrace deal with uncertainty at catcher after Jake Knudsen and Dean shared duties in the state championship season. Last year, injuries forced Dean to handle almost every inning across the 37 games before graduating and signing to continue his career at Missouri Western.
Tyler Stearns had been an option as a backup and now enters his senior season as the leading candidate to take the starting role. However, Sipes also expects junior Dalton Carlson — a transfer new to the program — to push for time and also potentially contribute at designated hitter when not behind the plate.
Much more experience returns in the infield.
In addition to Doll as a candidate at both second base and shortstop, Platte County sophomore Brennan McLaughlin took over starting shortstop duties for the second half of last season and earned the opportunity with impressive numbers at the plate. Brian Chandler, another season, received time as a designated hitter and third baseman and now looks to fill the gap at first base after Robertson and Schwieder were in the spot last year.
That leaves junior Taylor Stambersky as the likely fourth with plenty of options. McLaughlin could play some third base in addition to shortstop with Stambersky more likely to be the full-time second baseman.
In the outfield, Wassmann played most of his first two seasons in right field but has since taken over in center. He likely returns there and a spot in the top part of the lineup along with Doll and McLaughlin. The Pirates must replace solid offensive production from Wimberly — last year’s leadoff hitter — plus the overall presence and versatile contributions from Zimmerman.
Platte County expects junior Patrick McCool (left field) and sophomore Rocco Marriott (right field) to have the first shot in the corners.
There were will be more playing time available with Doll, McLaughlin and Marriott all likely to spend some time on the mound. Marriott in particular received an extended look as both a starter and reliever and brings a 6-foot-4 frame and plus arm to the staff.
In addition, Platte County seniors Isaiah Smith and Drew Boyer — a pair of lefties — could carve out bigger relief roles after spot duty a year ago.
Sipes definitively went deep down the roster to try and find consistency, ultimately relying on Carter as the only consistent starter, Canole as the top reliever and Erickson mostly in a closer role. Many games featured short sample sizes of three or more pitchers after the 2021 and 2022 seasons allowed the Pirates to hone in a small group of trusted arms down the stretch.
Platte County has won at least 18 games in each of the three seasons since the cancellation of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — 18-9 in a shorter 2021 and 27-8 on the way to the 2022 Class 5 title. The Pirates will have sights set on bettering the 18 mark this year, even with a daunting schedule that includes a lot of the Kansas City metro’s top teams plus out-of-state and out-of-area challenges.
“I think that we have the tools and skills to compete with anyone this year,” Sipes said. “The expectation is to go out and play the game as hard as we can and leave nothing to chance. We believe that if we can do this, we will be back to where everyone wants to end their season.”
