The final push for a large group of seniors ended with frustration and disappointment last fall.
Now, almost an entirely new group will have the chance to form Platte County’s lineup and see what the next iteration for the program looks like. This won’t be a case of all youth taking over. Instead, the Pirates will mix in returning senior Ellie Fish with a sophomore No. 1 and a mix of upperclassmen.
“Even though we are very untested, this is a really scrappy group that will fight hard to pick up wins all over the lineup,” Platte County veteran coach Zach Keith said. “We play some strong competition early in the season that will help expedite the improvement process. I’m really excited to see how well these girls are playing by the time we get to conference and district matches.”
Platte County graduated six of the seven mainstays of a lineup in last fall’s 12-4 season that included an undefeated Suburban Conference Blue Division title — first for the program since 2017. However, the Pirates drew the No. 2 seed in a deep Class 2 District 8 field and dropped a semifinal dual with third-seeded St. Pius X 5-3.
The six seniors started way down the depth chart to just three wins as unproven sophomores in 2019 to 7-10 in 2020 to last year’s inspired finish.
Now, Keith turns the No. 1 spot over to sophomore Maggie McBratney, who incidentally takes over for older sister Molly McBratney after one of the best two-year runs in Platte County history for a singles player. The Pirates then expect juniors Addy Mayne and Olivia Holbrook to compete for the No. 2 spot with seniors Cosette Stephenson and Fish looking like the options at Nos. 4 and 5. Fish played No. 6 as a junior and also played on one of the doubles teams in the Class 2 District 8 individual tournament.
The No. 6 spot will likely remain up for grabs with seniors Madelyn McFall and Anna Lee and junior Emmalyn Burnett all in the mix.
“Given the inexperience of our team at this point, I don’t have a lot of definitive spots secured on our roster,” Keith said. “However, we have collectively been getting better and better throughout the early stages of the season by competing against one another in practice. We have some girls who will sneak up on people this season. Once we really begin focusing on match tactics — both singles and doubles —with the girls, I believe we’ll see several of them take their games to the next level.”
Outside of Fish, Platte County generally has no varsity experience in the rest of the lineup.
Molly McBratney played three years of varsity, the last two at No. 1, and in 2020, became the first state singles qualifier in program history. In addition, Maria Molinari, Sophie Curtis and Rayna Garcia also spent three years in the top six, while Taylor Mayne and Bri White became contributors to the last two successful seasons.
Last year, McBratney entered the Class 2 District 8 individual tournament as the defending singles champion but suffered an upset loss to Grain Valley eventual runnerup Emma Thiessen, who lost to teammate Kylee Bragaw in the championship match. Molinari reached the singles semifinals but lost Bragaw and finished third.
In doubles, Curtis and Mayne nearly made an unexpected run to the district final but lost the last two matches and placed fourth. Garcia and Fish lost in the quarterfinals.
The disappointing results left the team tournament as the only route to extend the season, but Platte County’s loss to Grain Valley in the regular season finale doomed the Pirates to the second seed. They then saw a 2-1 lead out of doubles and 3-1 advantage after a win for Fish at No. 6 singles against St. Pius X evaporate with four straight singles losses.
Having another winning season could be a challenge given the difficulty of the schedule, but Platte County wants to start developing the depth needed to become a consistent contender for state spots in the expanded postseason format that now includes three classes for the sport. The Pirates also continue to chase the first team state berth in program history.
“I’m really excited to see how our team responds to quality competition this season,” Keith said. “These girls are very inexperienced at the varsity level, but sometimes teams like that can really surprise you. I’m optimistic that this team has the kind of girls who will rise to the occasion and show significant growth throughout the season. If we do, we’ll be ready to rock and roll by the time we have to play important conference and district matches in the second half of the season.”
