Considering all the unknowns entering the season, Platte County ended up in a desired position: one win away from the state playoffs. The Pirates were just unable to take the next step.

Platte County senior Haley Schank swings at a pitch against Kearney in the Class 4 District 8 championship game Monday at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City.
For the third straight season, Kearney defeated Platte County in the Class 4 District 8 championship game, this time a 7-0 shutout Monday afternoon at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City. The Pirates finished the season at 20-8 with only two starters back from last year due to graduation and other unexpected factors and three seniors on the roster — an impressively quick rebuild that ended with as much disappointment for the present as optimism for the future.
Kearney junior pitcher Katelynn Landewee threw a four-hit shutout with nine strikeouts in the third meeting between the two rivals this season.
The two teams split the first two matchups.
Platte County won the previous game just 11 days earlier on sophomore left fielder Lillian Talbot’s go-ahead double in the top of the seventh. The Pirates scored twice in the inning for a dramatic 4-3 comeback.
Landewee recorded the final out and faced only two batters.
Platte County couldn’t recreate the offense with Kearney’s ace on the mound. The top-seeded Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first in the district title game on a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly.

Platte County junior catcher Gwen Duncan hits a ball against Kearney in the Class 4 District 8 championship game Monday at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City.
Landewee didn’t allow a runner until Platte County sophomore all-state shortstop Bryli Seifert doubled with two outs in the fourth. She ended up stranded at second, and Kearney extended the lead to 3-0 in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run home run.
Platte County could not produce a run off sophomore pitcher Reagan Ball’s leadoff walk in the fifth and stranded two runners in the sixth after Seifert, who finished 2-for-3 at the plate, singled with two outs and two more in the seventh after Ball and sophomore centerfielder Kelly Bullano both singled for the final two hits. The Pirates were down 7-0 going to the final inning.
Ball ended up charged with seven runs in six innings on eight hits while striking out two.
Kearney scored four in the bottom of the sixth to essentially put the game out of reach and advanced to play Belton (23-9) in a Class 4 quarterfinal Saturday afternoon. Platte County came up short of going back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
Seifert and junior Dani Salisbury were Platte County’s only returning starters from the 2023 district finalist. However, Salisbury moved mostly to first base with Ball taking over as the No. 1 pitching option in a somewhat unexpected change in identity. The Pirates also went into the season with competition for time at catcher with junior Gwen Duncan eventually winning the starting job and turning in a solid season at the plate.

Platte County sophomore Reagan Ball delivers a pitch against Kearney in the Class 4 District 8 championship game Monday at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City.
Platte County also relied on a retooled outfield that included Talbot and Bullano, who missed her freshman season with a knee injury, and senior Haley Schank. All three became a big part of the offense for Platte County, along with freshman third baseman and leadoff hitter Kinleigh Howren, while versatile junior Marlee Snyder-Richardson went from reserve to steady presence at second base.
Eventually, Platte County’s offense averaged more than nine runs per game with Howren, Talbot and Seifert hitting in front of Schank — a first-year starter who led the Pirates with five home runs in addition to seven doubles, 26 RBIs and 23 runs scored.
Schank, Maddy Nickell and Kennedy Carrel were freshmen the last time Platte County made the playoffs but stuck through previous seasons to play a key role in steadying this year’s roster through the offseason tumult. The Pirates forged a successful identity and won 12 of 14 games at one point before an unexpected and disappointing loss to Fort Osage in Suburban Conference White Division play.
Platte County showed resilience by immediately coming back to beat Class 5 No. 1-ranked and league champion Grain Valley 8-7 in nine innings while overcoming five different deficits. The Pirates went into the postseason off of a loss to Liberty North but ended up in a district title game for the sixth straight season, a stretch that includes Class 4 third-place finishes in 2020 and 2021.
Platte County 8, Smithville 5

Platte County sophomore shortstop Bryli Seifert hits a ball against Kearney in the Class 4 District 8 championship game Monday at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City.
The Pirates ended up 2-1 on the season in three matchups with Smithville this season after the Class 4 District 8 semifinal victory Friday afternoon at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City.
Bullano’s three-run home run in the bottom of the second started the scoring, and Platte County led 8-0 after a five-run third that included that included just one hit, an RBI single from Howren to cap the lengthy rally. Ball struck out six and ended up charged with all five runs — only four earned — in seven innings.
Smithville closed within 8-2 on a two-run home run in the fourth and then scored twice more in the sixth with help from an error. A two-out RBI single in the seventh closed the gap to 8-5, but the third-seeded Warriors never had the tying run at the plate.
Howren finished 2-for-4 with a double, while Duncan and Bullano also finished with two hits apiece. Bullano drove in five runs, plating two more on a fielder’s choice in the five-run third.
Ball and Snyder-Richardson walked two times each.

Platte County freshman third baseman Kinleigh Howren stretches to field a ball against Kearney in the Class 4 District 8 championship game Monday at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City.
Platte County won the first meeting with Smithville 12-0 in the season-opening Greater KC Tournament then lost a matchup just three days later 7-1. The two teams had not played since early September before matching up as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the district tournament.
Platte County 19, Lincoln Prep 0, 3 innings
The second-seeded Pirates needed just nine hits to produce the impressive run total in a first-round victory last Wednesday at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City.
Seifert and Talbot both homered, while Schank added a double and a triple as Platte County scored 10 in the bottom of the first and nine more in the bottom of the second. Salisbury pitched three perfect innings with seven strikeouts.
Howren opened the game with double and took two bases on an error to immediately put Platte County up 1-0. The first seven batters reached with Schank tripling home Seifert and Ball following with an RBI single to make it 4-0. Bullano added an RBI double, and Talbot hit a solo home run in her second at-bat of the inning.
In the second, Howren hit a two-run single to extend the lead to 13-0, and two batters later, Seifert hit a three-run home run that put the three-inning run rule into play.