Platte County put the strength of depth on display in Friday’s Branson Doubles Tournament. The challenge early in an unfortunately short season seems to be identifying the right combinations and consistency top to bottom in the lineup.
Three teams dominated the Branson tournament with Platte County finishing third behind the hosts and Ozark, who both put up 16 points. The format consisted of four round robin doubles flights, meaning eight players were used to stretch teams beyond the typical six used in most competitions. The Pirates scored 15 points, which were accrued based on total numbers of victories.
One more win for Platte County in any flight would have given the Pirates the team title based on having two of four flight champions — the No. 2 team of seniors Hayden Cook and Will Kimlinger (4-1) and the No. 3 team of senior Jake Diano and sophomore Mitchel McBratney (5-0).
“Ultimately, the trip to Branson was really good in terms of facing good competition, mostly unfamiliar competition, and getting to play in easily the most hostile environment that we see throughout the season,” Platte County coach Zach Keith said.
Due to weather, Platte County missed a tournament the previous week and entered having lost three of the previous four duals. The Pirates returned three starters from last year’s Class 2 state runnerup squad but have rebuilt the back of the lineup with Kimlinger, Diano and McBratney.
In addition to the individual titles, Platte County sophomores Jacoby Keith and Wyatt Beeson also went 4-1 and finished second at No. 4 doubles while making varsity debuts. Cook and Kimlinger won the tiebreaker at No. 2 to take the title and lost just one of eight matches together in a busy week that included duals with Truman, Liberty North and Branson.
Cook returns at No. 3 singles in the lineup and paired with senior Jack Bralley to finish eighth in doubles in last year’s Class 2 Missouri State Tennis Championships — just the second duo in program history to reach the state podium.
“A big bright spot for us was the play of Hayden Cook and Will Kimlinger with their only loss to a very good Ozark team,” Zach Keith said.
Diano and McBratney finished the week on a high note with the undefeated run through the No. 2 round robin. Up and down in the duals to start the week, they avenged a loss to a Branson doubles team in a dual the day before the tournament to claim the title.
Platte County seniors Paul Havemeier and Jack Bralley went 2-3 and finished fourth at No. 1 doubles, highlighting the challenge at the top of the Pirates linup, which lost four-time Class 2 District 8 singles champion Gavin Nichols from the No. 1 spot.
Branson 7, Platte County 2
Going down a day early for a dual with the hosts of Friday’s tournament, Platte County trailed 2-1 after doubles with McBratney the only singles winner Thursday in Branson.
Branson nearly swept the doubles, but Cook and Kimlinger held on for a 9-7 win at No. 2. McBratney scored an 8-3 victory at No. 6 singles, while Bralley lost in a tiebreaker at No. 2. Havemeier, who held the No. 6 spot in the lineup as a first-year junior not playing doubles, lost 8-5 at No. 1 as part of his ongoing role transition for Platte County (2-3).
This marked a rematch of last year’s Class 2 state semifinals, which Platte County won 5-1 before losing to MICDS in the championship dual. Branson ended up fourth. The two teams could meet again in the postseason as the current favorites, and the playoff bracket setup this year would have them meet in the quarterfinals.
Liberty North 7, Platte County 2
The Eagles swept singles to come back from an early deficit in Tuesday’s dual in Liberty.
Diano and McBratney played well to earn an 8-6 win at No. 3 doubles for Platte County, which held an early 2-1 lead with Cook and Kimlinger pulling away for an 8-2 victory at No. 2. Cook played the closest in his singles match for the Pirates at No. 3 but dropped an 8-6 matchup with Jones Hamann.
Platte County won the regular season matchup between the two teams 5-4 a year ago.
Platte County 7, Truman 2
Entering off an 8-1 loss to Park Hill South the week before in a rain-shortened week, the Pirates started 1-0 in Suburban Conference White Division play with a road win Monday in Independence.
Platte County swept doubles with Havemeier and Bralley dominant with an 8-1 winning margin at No. 1 while the teams of Cook and Kimlinger (No. 2) and Diano and McBratney (No. 3) worked hard for 9-7 victories. The Pirates then won four of six singles matches to close out their second victory in the first three duals.
McBratney rolled to an 8-0 sweep at No. 6, while Bralley (8-1 at No. 2) and Cook (8-2 at No. 3) were also dominant for Platte County. Kimlinger took the No. 4 match by a score of 8-5 to round out the winners.
