Weather again shortens Platte County’s trip to Nebraska for tournament play

Inclement weather shortened Platte County’s trip to the Monarch Invitational in Papillion, Nebraska, for a second straight year. The Pirates lost a pair of pool games on Friday before rain canceled the remainder of games on Saturday.

Platte County went 0-2 with losses to Millard North (9-0) and and Paillion-LaVista (8-5) to cap what expected to be an even busier week.

The best news for Platte County came in the opener against Millard North with freshman Allie Riggs playing her first full game since suffering a shoulder injury more than a week earlier. She singled in her first at-bat, one of just three hits for the Pirates in a five-inning loss.

Millard North led 2-0 after the top of the third but put up seven runs in the fifth to pull away.

Platte County sophomore Danica Salisbury started but ended up tagged with five unearned runs in the loss. She struck out two, while giving up eight hits and two walks. The Pirates tried to give her an early lead after back-to-back one-out singles senior catcher Morgan Shields and senior center fielder Anna Crowell, a hot hitter move up to No. 3 in the lineup thanks to her early surge.

However, both runners ended up stranded, and Riggs didn’t advance past first after her two-out single in the second.

Millard North scored two with three straight hits in the top of the third, and Platte County senior outfielder Avery Webster led off the Pirates’ half of the third with a walk. A sacrifice bunt moved her to second base, but she also ended up left on base with the deficit remaining at 2-0.

Both of Platte County’s errors came with two outs in what ended up a fourth-inning unraveling.

The second game went back-and-forth with Platte County leading 2-0 and forging ties at 3-3 and 5-5 before Papillion-LaVista South scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to earn the win. Webster went 2-for-3 with a double, while Shields, sophomore left fielder Evie Thrasher and senior infielder Emma Reed had a double each.

In the top of the first, Webster led off with a triple to right field, and on the next pitch, Shields doubled her home.

Platte County missed out on a chance for a bigger inning after a popout for the first out, and Papillion-LaVista South cut Shields down at home on a single from Salisbury. However, the Pirates did go in front 2-0 with freshman Bryli Seifert singling home Salisbury with two outs.

Seifert started on the mound and gave up three runs in the first, exiting with just one out due to ongoing arm soreness. Salisbury took over with a runner at second and ended the threat to keep Platte County within 3-2. The Pirates then immediately tied the score with a pair of two-out hits — Thrasher’s double and an RBI single from Webster.

Platte County would not lead again.

Papillion-LaVista came up with a two-out, two run single in the bottom of the second and held the 5-3 lead until the top of the fourth. Platte County senior right fielder Kallie Hitzelberger started a two-run rally with a leadoff single, and Reed followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position. The Pirates closed within 5-4 on a sacrifice fly from Riggs then tied it on an RBI single from Thrasher, who as the potential go-ahead run ended up stranded at second base.

Salisbury and Platte County sophomore Marlee Snyder-Richardson, who played second base after subbing in for Seifert, walked with one out in the fifth but did not score. Papillion-LaVista South then strung together three hits to take the lead in the bottom of the frame, going ahead 8-5 when a third run scored on a wild pitch.

The time limit hit with the at-bat still going on.

Platte County goes into another busy week with 9-6 record but has lost 3 of 4. The Pirates have four straight nonconference games upcoming with just three weeks left in the regular season.

Platte County 9, Belton 3

Platte County secured a Suburban Conference White Division victory Thursday night in Belton to bounce back from the first league loss of the season two days earlier.

Belton led 2-0 early, but Platte County pulled away with five runs in the top of the fourth. Hitzelberger led off with a double and came home on a one-out single from Thrasher to push the lead back out to 4-2. A two-out error plated the next run and kept the inning alive. Three straight hits followed, including an RBI single from Crowell and Seifert’s two-run double.

Seifert finished 2-for-3, while Hitzelberger scored three runs.

Belton answered with a single run in the bottom of the fourth off of Salisbury, who allowed only two earned runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out five in seven innings of work. Platte County added the final run in the fifth on Webster’s two-out RBI triple with Hitzelberger coming home after a leadoff walk put her on base.

Webster drove in two from her leadoff spot.

Belton took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run but immediately gave up three in the top of the second. Seifert reached on a dropped third strike, and Platte County loaded the bases with singles from Reed and Hitzelberger. Webster drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit in half, and the next two runners came home on a passed ball.

Riggs played the field only in the game before returning to the lineup the next day in Nebraska.

With the win, Platte County improved to 3-1 in conference play but likely needs a win over Grain Valley in early October to have a shot at splitting the White Division title.

Grain Valley 8, Platte County 0

The Pirates lost a key White Division matchup Tuesday in Grain Valley, producing no runs on six hits while committing three costly errors.

Grain Valley scored three in the second and then broke the game open with with four in the fifth. Salisbury ended up charged with eight runs on eight hits but only five were earned. She struck out three and walked one in six innings of work.

Seifert went 2-for-2 with a double — the only extra-base hit for Platte County. She became the first player to reach second base for the Pirates when she doubled to lead off the second but ended up stranded at third base. They ended up leaving the bases loaded, and Grain Valley took advantage in the bottom of the frame with a two-run triple and the runner scoring on an error during the same play to go in front 3-0.

Platte County also had two runners on in the third (singles from Crowell and Seifert) and the fifth (hit by pitch for Seifert and single for Reed) but left runners in scoring position both times. Grain Valley’s four-run sixth included a wild pitch on a third strike and an error from the Pirates.

The loss ended a four-game winning streak.

Platte County 16, Raytown 1, 4 innings

The Pirates scored at least three runs in all four innings Monday at Platte County High School and ended the game on the 15-run rule in the bottom of the fourth on Reed’s RBI single.

Webster and Shields started the inning with walks, and Crowell singled both home and came around to score on an error. Seifert tripled with one out and scored on the next pitch, thanks to Reed’s single to center field. She finished 3-for-4 with a double, while Shields (2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored) and Webster (2-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored) also had triples.

Platte County drew seven walks and had nine singles out of 13 hits.

With freshman Reagan Ball receiving a chance to start the White Division matchup, Platte County struck immediately for three runs after Webster led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch. In the second, Shields tripled to left to score Webster after she singled, and Crowell drove in Shields with a groundout to third base. The Pirates ended up totaling six in the frame with Reed and Seifert adding RBI singles to help build a 9-0 lead.

Ball pitched all four innings and allowed only two hits and two walks but gave up a single unearned run in the third after a two-out error. She struck out five.

In the third, Platte County added three more on RBI hits from Seifert (single), Reed (double) and Snyder-Richardson (single). The Pirates rested Riggs after for the first of three straight games after suffering a shoulder injury in the game prior against William Chrisman, while Salisbury also received a day off to give Snyder-Richardson a look at first base.