Platte County’s new-look lineup powers up in strong start to season

Platte County’s almost completely reconfigured lineup showed off a surge of power in what ended up a strong debut in the Greater Kansas City Invitational over the weekend. After splitting two pool games Friday, Platte County placed third in the Silver Bracket, going 3-2 overall and finishing 10th out of 24 teams.

Even the losses were extremely tight and came down to being on the wrong end of rules specific to the early-season event.

Platte County returned only junior pitcher Dani Salisbury and sophomore shortstop Bryli Seifert from last year’s starters, and both played a big role in the winning start to this season. However, the Pirates also worked in a group of previous contributors, first-year members of the varsity lineup and a talented freshman in the season-opening event that always presents challenges.

In the opener, Platte County used sophomore Reagan Ball on the mound in what ended up a 15-0, three-inning rout of Oak Park in Pool G. She allowed only one hit with five strikeouts, retiring the final seven hitters she faced after allowing a two-out single in the first, while the Pirates’ offense piled up eight runs in the first and seven more in the bottom of the third to end the proceedings early.

The power hitting started with a two-run home run from senior Haley Schank, a fourth-year senior who earned a spot in the starting lineup for the first time (right field). Kelly Bullano, a sophomore center fielder who missed last season due to a torn ACL, went 2-for-2 with a walk, while driving in two and scoring twice with a double and a triple.

Bullano hit second in the lineup behind freshman third baseman Kinleigh Howren, who scored three times and went 2-for-2 with a double.

Platte County also drew five walks to aid the offensive outburst despite going down in order in the second. Howren started the game with a double scored two batters later on Seifert’s single to center. Ball added an RBI single to increase the lead to 5-0 before Oak Park recorded an out.

Two batters later, Schank homered, and Howren’s two-out single helped produce the eighth run after Bullano tripled to deep center.

Platte County’s third inning started with a one-out error and a hit by pitch, and Bullano doubled in a run to extend the lead to 9-0. Ball, who went 2-for-3, added an RBI single, and the Pirates scored the final two runs on Oak Park errors.

With just three teams in each pool, Platte County’s second game Friday determined the champion, and Mid-Buchanan won 5-2 in eight innings, requiring the final three to be played under international tiebreaker rules after the time limit ran out. The sixth, seventh and eighth innings all started with a runner at second base.

Platte County also put at least one runner on base in each of the first five innings but needed back to back singles from junior Gwen Duncan, one of three players vying for time at catcher, and Howren to tie the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth. However, the Pirates traded Howren at first leading to extra innings.

Mid-Buchanan immediately took a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth, but Platte County tied it up with help from an error to extend the game. Neither team scored in the seventh with the Pirates leaving two on base with a chance for the walkoff.

A three-run inning for Mid-Buchanan in the eighth proved the difference and finished Salisbury’s line at eight innings with five runs — only four earned — with seven strikeouts and three walks. The Dragons had seven hits total, including three doubles.

Platte County left 10 runners on base total. Seifert finished 2-for 4 with a triple for the Pirates, while Howren also collected two singles and a walk.

On Saturday, Platte County immediately came back in the first round of silver bracket play with an 8-2 win over Holden in six innings. Salisbury and Bullano both hit home runs and combined for six RBIs, while Holden committed two costly errors that led to five unearned runs.

Platte County led 2-0 after the top of the second after scoring a pair on passed balls. Salisbury led off the fourth with a solo home run, and the Pirates took advantage of walks for Schank, senior Kennedy Carrel and Howren when Bullano hit a two-out, two-run single.

Holden closed within 5-2, scoring single runs in the fourth and fifth off of Ball. However, Bullano added a three-run home run to to center field with two outs on an inning extended with a walk for sophomore catcher Lila Sedlacek and an error right ahead of her. Ball finished with two strikeouts in six innings but didn’t walk a batter.

Platte County dropped into the third-place game of the Silver Bracket after Kearney scored four in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-5 lead with the time limit running out in the process. The two-time defending Class 4 District 8 champion with wins over the Pirates each time walked off the win on a three-run home run. Each of the first four batters reached base and scored against Salisbury, who ended up shared with all seven runs — six earned.

Kearney led 3-0 going to the top of the fifth when Platte County collected four of its five total hits and scored five times to take a 5-3 lead. Ball singled and Schank doubled to start the rally, and two batters later, junior second baseman Marlee Snyder-Richardson hit the first home run of her career to tie the score. Howren followed with a walk, and Seifert hit the first home run of the followup to her all-state freshman campaign with two outs to give the Pirates a lead that ultimately didn’t hold up.

Platte County then closed out the tournament with a win over another rival in a second straight matchup likely important to the eventual Class 4 District 8 seeding.

Schank homered again to lead a 12-0 win over Smithville in five innings with Ball earning a third win after allowing just one hit and striking out two in three innings. The Pirates used sophomore Lillian Talbot in the final two innings, and she also struck out two and allowed just one hit.

Platte County scored in all four innings and didn’t have to bat in the fifth thanks to the run rule.

The offense started fast with Bullano reaching on an error and Seifert walking to set up Schank’s three-run home run/ The Pirates led 4-0 after the first with Smithville committing two of five errors in the frame. Seifert added an RBI triple and scored in a two-run second, Duncan singled home Snyder-Richardson in the four-run and Salisbury provided a run-scoring single in the fourth.

Platte County immediately rematches with Smithville in Tuesday’s scheduled home matchup before hosting Truman in a Suburban Conference White Division matchup Thursday.