Platte County’s run of postseason magic ends in Class 4 District 8 title game

There were hugs and tears and a second-place Class 4 District 8 plaque no one wanted to acknowledge.

Platte County’s players gathered together on the field at Excelsior Springs High School still processing the the agonizing unraveling of another promising postseason run. The Pirates’ magic ran out in the cruelest of circumstances, allowing 11 runs to Kearney in a disastrous bottom of the sixth inning of what became a 14-5 loss in the Class 4 District 8 title game Saturday afternoon.

Platte County advanced to the championship game for a third straight year but came up short of another playoff berth after finishing third in state each of the past two years.

“That is a perfect kind of explanation,” Platte County coach Callie Peoples said. “They don’t have anything to be ashamed of at all. I told them their at-bats looked the same the first inning as they did the last inning. They just fought through the end. They didn’t give up. One of the things we’ve talked about all season is wanting to be there and showing our heart, and they did that. That’s all I can ask for.”

Platte County (13-14) built leads of 4-1 and 5-2 in a rematch with Kearney, which won the regular season meeting between the two teams 7-6 and ultimately earned the top seed in the district bracket. However, the Pirates lost control after freshman starter Danica Salisbury allowed the first two runners to reach base in the sixth.

Salisbury pitched Platte County into the title game with a complete game victory two days earlier in a semifinal win over Smithville and ended up charged with five runs (four earned) in 5 innings. Peoples then went to junior Kallie Hitzelberger in relief, and she could only record one out before senior Mackenzie Shields entered and did the same.

In the end, Salisbury re-entered to record the final out, but not before allowing an inherited runner to score.

Kearney batted 16 in the inning and tied the score with a double off of Hitzelberger then added a run-scoring single, three-run double and an RBI double in quick succession to go up 10-5. The two doubles came against Shields, and the Bulldogs eventually tagged her and Salisbury for three straight two-out RBI singles to move to the verge of a run-rule victory, but the Pirates stranded a pair to extend the game for three more outs.

“I think one of the hardest decisions in my role is to decide when to make those (pitching) changes because they were starting to kind of get on Danni,” Peoples said.

This ended up the difficult end of a successful run for five Platte County seniors — Mackenzie Shields, first baseman TK Lawson, shortstop Demi Riechers, infielder Ava Carter and centerfielder Abby Reynolds. They were integral parts of back-to-back runs to the Class 4 semifinals and were seemingly ready to lead the playoff return despite an up-and-down season where the Pirates never fully hit their stride against a difficult schedule.

But having already avenged one loss from earlier in the season, Platte County looked to do it again against Kearney. Just as they did in the revenge victory over Smithville, the Pirates started fast and took a lead in the top of the first inning when junior right fielder Avery Webster drew a leadoff walk and scored on a throwing error from the first baseman on junior catcher Morgan Shields’ sacrifice bunt.

A leadoff walk for Riechers in the top of the second doubled the lead when she scored on a sacrifice bunt from Reynolds three batters later with runners on first and third.

“We talked about that as one of our keys to winning was to get on them early, and they did that,” Peoples said.

Salisbury gave up a single run in the bottom of the second but stranded two, and Platte County struck right back with a leadoff walk from Webster and the eighth home run of the season — and last of an all-state career — from Lawson. The shot to center field came with two outs and made it a 4-1 lead. The Pirates continued to lead with the teams exchanging runs in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth.

Salisbury reached on an error to start the fourth and scored on a single from Reynolds to make it 5-2.

Platte County then missed multiple chances to build a bigger lead. Morgan Shields reached on an error to start the fifth, and Kearney intentionally walked Lawson ahead of a bloops single to center from Riechers to load the bases with one out. The Pirates then grounded into back-to-back fielder’s choices, which failed to score a run.

After Kearney came up with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to close within 5-3, Reynolds led off the top of the sixth with a single but ended up stranded at second. That ended up being costly when Kearney came up with the big inning that ultimately decided the district title.

“I said you’re giving them life,” Peoples said. “Every inning you don’t get a run you’re giving them life. They’re a great hitting team, but they were hitting the ball from the beginning. We were just kind of containing it and then they busted it open that sixth inning. It’s tough.”

All five of Platte County’s seniors started the game and took unique paths to their roles on this team. Lawson started three years as a dominant power hitter in the middle of the lineup, while Reynolds started portions of her freshman and sophomore years — taking back over in the outfield in the 2020 playoffs due to a teammate quarantined with COVID-19 — before finishing her career as a mainstay in the lineup. Mackenzie Shields earned the majority of her time as a junior and senior and put up all-state numbers as a third baseman and relief pitcher in 2021. Carter carved out playing time in recent years and forced her way into the lineup this fall as an effective slap-hitting lefty who could play multiple positions. Riechers moved around the infield from second to third base to shortstop as a steady three-year starter playing where needed to optimize the lineup.

Yet, the future looks bright with Salisbury and Hitzelberger, the main starter in the 2021 third-place state run, back as top pitching options along with Webster and junior left fielder Anna Crowell, junior infielder Emma Reed and host of freshmen and sophomores already pushing for playing time.

“I’ll probably need more than a couple of weeks to get over these five (seniors),” Peoples said. “They’ve done some great things, and they’re all just really good people so it will be sad to see them go. Absolutely, there’s like six juniors right behind them and a lot of them have played since they were freshmen, too, so they’ve all got a lot of potential, a lot of talent and I know they’ll do great things, too.”

Platte County 9, Smithville 2

Three of the Pirates’ seniors came up big to bust the Class 4 District 8 semifinal open in the top of the seventh Thursday night in Excelsior Springs.

After Morgan Shields led off with a single, Mackenzie Shields followed with a triple down the line in right field to provide an insurance run and increase Platte County’s lead to 6-2. Lawson then came up and blistered a 1-2 pitch for a no-doubt two-run home run to center field, much to the delight of the Pirates’ dugout.

Two batters later, Riechers slapped a shot to center field that just managed to clear the fence for her second career home run — and first since a blowout state quarterfinal win over Nevada a year earlier. All three of the seniors with RBI hits in the seventh finished with two hits and combined to score five runs and drive in six.

“All five of the seniors this year have just wanted this team to be everything that it could be, and they’ve worked so hard for that,” Peoples said. “They’ve worked on team culture and taken this team by the horns and made it what they wanted it to be so it was great to see their hard work pay off in this situation and TK and Demi get to have those run and Mackenzie gets to score Morgan. They just showed up.”

Salisbury took the 9-2 lead and promptly retired Smithville in order to finish off a complete game victory. She struck out six and allowed only two hits but for walks in the most impressive performance thus far of her young career, helping the Pirates to avenge a 5-4 loss from early September.

Platte County offered her quick run support. Webster led off with a single, and the Pirates scored two with help from a pair of errors and a hit batter.

“I think just the way we came in at the very beginning, just up, kind of forced them to make those errors and get flustered,” Peoples said. “It was just kind of nice. I felt like every inning after that, I’m thinking, ‘Come on. We’ve got to get a couple more,’ because they’re a great ball team and I knew they were going to hit the ball.”

Salisbury kept the lead in place, issuing only a walk in her first three innings.

Platte County then lucked out in a sense during the fourth. Smithville’s K Robinette led off with a walk and stole second before being caught stealing third on a great throw from Morgan Shields to Riechers ranging over to cover from shortstop.

Smithville followed with a double — ruled to have stayed just inside third base for the first hit off of Salisbury with two outs, and Warriors pitcher Raelyn Tanner followed with a home run to right center field to tie the score at 2-2.

Platte County took the lead right back with a two-out rally in the top of the fifth.

Carter led off with a single but was stuck at second with two outs when Mackenzie Shields came up clutch for the first time in the game. She plated the go-ahead and eventual winning run with a single to right field and then came all the way around to score on Lawson’s double off the foul pole on the left-field fence — a determination of a fair ball that Smithville coaches and fans argued as the Pirates went ahead 4-2.

“I felt like (the calls) were all pretty fair,” Peoples said. “I felt like they were all the right calls.”

Riechers doubled and scored on Reed’s line drive single to right in the sixth to make it 5-2, and Salisbury worked around a pair of walks in the bottom of the inning. The biggest play came with two outs when Tanner lofted another deep fly to center field, and Reynolds ranged back to reach her glove above the fence and catch what might have otherwise been another game-tying home run.

Platte County 15, Winnetonka 0, 4 innings

The Pirates scored seven n the second and fourth innings to come away with a quick victory in the Class 4 District 8 opening round Tuesday in Excelsior Springs.

Salisbury struck out eight and walked one in a one-hit victory that required only 49 pitches. Mackenzie Shields led the offense, going 3-for-3 with a triple, five RBIs and two runs scored. Webster and Salisbury drove in two apiece.

Platte County led 1-0 after the first with Webster leading off with a single and scoring on Mackenzie Shields’ first hit — a single up the middle. The big blows came in the bottom of the second, starting with Reed (single), Reynolds (walk) and Carter (single) reaching with out one out to load the bases and turn the line up over.

Webster made it 3-0 with a two-run single, and after Morgan Shields walked to load the bases again, Mackenzie Shields delivered bases-clearing, three-run triple. She scored on Salisbury’s two-out single to make it 7-0, and freshman courtesy runner Evie Thrasher scored on a wild pitch.

Platte County put the 10-run rule in play in the fourth then finished it off even earlier.

Webster walked, Morgan Shields reached on an error and Mackenzie Shields hit an RBI single. Morgan Shields scored on a throwing error on the same play to make it 10-0, and Lawson followed with an RBI double.

Winnetonka ended up not recording an out, and Platte County closed out the game with a string of hits from Salisbury (RBI single), Riechers (single), Reed (RBI double) and Riechers (two-run single).