Platte County unable to complete sweep of games in rain-shortened week

Don’t expect any lingering satisfaction of staying competitive with top Class 6 competition.

Platte County expects to win, especially when holding a late lead, regardless of the opponent even while navigating a schedule with few reprieves. The Pirates were in the desired position Monday night against Liberty North only for mistakes uncharacteristic during a recent run of success to crop up at the wrong time.

Liberty North came away with a come-from-behind 8-6 victory in the matchup at Platte County High School after striking for four runs in the top of the seventh.

Now 2-2 in the four most recent games after a demolition of Raytown two nights later, Platte County (12-10) has played four of the five Kansas City area Class 6 teams currently ranked in the Missouri Baseball Coaches Association top 10 and has matchups coming against two others receiving votes. The Pirates have won only 2 of 5 total matchups with a win over No. 6 Blue Springs and a split of two matchups with No. 6 Lee’s Summit West plus losses to No. 7 Staley and Liberty North, which entered ranked No. 4.

Platte County fell behind 2-0 and allowed a tie at 3-3 but went into the top of the fifth against Liberty North with a three-run lead. The Eagles ended up spreading out nine hits and ultimately finding a way to best a three-man pitching plan that has led to a recent stretch that has seen the Pirates go from five games under .500 to to three games over at the highest points of the past two weeks.

In the top of the fifth, A double and a single — back-to-back with two outs — pulled Liberty North within 6-4, but Platte County senior ace Brayden Carter limited the damage but never found his groove in 1 2/3 innings that saw him struggle with control. The left-hander has become “the finisher” in a No. 1 pitching arrangement for the Pirates where senior Isaiah Smith starts and faces approximately nine batters before sophomore right-hander Brennan McLaughlin does the same.

Carter expected to finish the game against Liberty North, but after pitching out of a jam resulting from a walk and a hit batter in the top of the sixth, he couldn’t escape the seventh.

Carter hit two of the first three batters to start that frame and walked one in between. The Eagles tied the score with a double dumped into shallow left field and then took the lead at 7-6 on a passed ball just moments after Platte County senior catcher Tyler Stearns retrieved a wild pitch and threw to Carter to record an out at the plate. That batter walked, and the bases were loaded back up with a single and another walk. The Pirates then went to sophomore Brooks Hall, who recorded a strikeout but then forced in another run with a fourth hit batter in a span of two winnings.

Platte County escaped down 8-6 after senior left fielder Drew Boyer made a diving catch in left field to avoid a larger deficit. However, the Pirates went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, unable to bring the potential tying run to the plate.

Liberty North also plated two in the first inning against Smith, who allowed three hits and struck out two without a walk while ending up charged with a pair of unearned runs. An error led to the Eagles’ first runner, and a double plus a two-out single provided an early 2-0 advantage.

However, Platte County struck right back with a two-out rally. Taylor Stambersky, the Pirates’ junior second baseman, reached with a single, and junior shortstop Dayton Doll walked. However, those runners remained in place with two outs before senior centerfielder Devin Wassmann and McLaughlin hit back-to-back run scoring doubles. McLaughlin drove in two to put Liberty North behind 3-2.

Smith worked around another error and a double in the second, and McLaughlin entered for the third. He allowed a double and a single with one out that tied the score but induced an inning-ending double play.

The same part of Platte County’s lineup provided the next run.

Doll led off the bottom of the third with a single, and Wassmann walked with one out to set up McLaughlin’s second RBI double. However, the Eagles threw out Wassmann trying to score from first to keep the deficit at 4-3. The Pirates extended that to a three-run advantage in the fourth after Stearns led off with a single and junior right fielder Bronson Ryan tripled him home and scored on wild pitch just before junior designated hitter Liam Blacklock’s single.

Platte County finished with 10 total hits but only two singles after Blacklock reached with no one out in that inning. McLaughlin walked and moved into scoring position on a single from Boyer in the fifth, but a double play ended the rally and the threat.

McLaughlin struck out two and ended up only charged with one earned run.

Platte County committed all there off the game’s errors. Doll finished 1-for-3 with a walk and two of the runs scored, while McLaughlin went 2-for-3 with another of the Pirates’ four walks and drove in three.

Despite the loss, Platte County has still won nine of the last 11 overall in April, which included a seven-game winning streak. The Pirates saw a Thursday game against William Chrisman and a Friday road trip to Savannah postponed to May due to inclement weather and field conditions.

Platte County’s next games will be at Grain Valley (Monday) and Belton (Wednesday) in games pivotal to the chase for a second straight Suburban Conference White Division title before continuing the road swing at Blue Springs South on Friday.

Platte County 15, Raytown 0, 4 innings

The Pirates came up with a walkoff run-rule rebound victory Wednesday at Platte County High School to move to 5-0 in conference play.

Platte County junior Wes Chiddix provided a needed strong start to rest other members of the pitching staff, throwing a shortened no-hitter with one walk, two hit batters and three strikeouts. The Pirates scored multiple runs in each of the four innings and welcomed back junior right fielder Patrick McCool to the lineup as the leadoff hitter. He went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored in his first action since injuring his shoulder in the season-opening KC Metro Leadoff Classic.

Playing right field, McCool started a six-run first with a leadoff single on the third pitch he saw. Stambersky followed with a single, and the big hits included an RBI double for senior first baseman Brian Chandler, a two-run triple for McLaughlin and Boyer’s two-out single to score junior courtesy runner Brady Davis, who also saw action in the game at third base.

Chandler finished 3-for-3 and added a two-run double in the second to increase Platte County’s lead to 8-0.

Hall led off the bottom of the third with double, and scored on an RBI single from Boyer, who went 3-for-3 and drove in three. The Pirates went up 11-0 on back-to-back sacrifice flies from McCool and Stambersky.

After a clean third, Chiddix worked around a two-out walk in the fourth, and Raytown didn’t record an out in the bottom of the inning. Chandler and Davis singled around a walk for Wassmann to load the bases, and the next four batters each plated a run — a single for Hall, a walk for junior reserve catcher Dalton Carlson and singles for Boyer and McCool.