Platte County’s lengthy winning streak came to an end in disappointing fashion Thursday night but not before seeing more reasons for optimisms The Pirates opened the week with a slogging yet dominant five-inning win in Suburban Conference White Division play Monday at home then shut out Class 6 powerhouse Liberty North behind junior starter Brennan McLaughlin’s dominant showing on the mound.
Platte County junior Brennan McLaughlin delivers a pitch against Liberty North on Wednesday at Liberty North High School in Liberty.
Ranked No. 2 in the most recent Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association (MHSBCA) Class 6 poll, Staley remained unbeaten with a 12-2 victory in Kansas City after plating the winning run in the bottom of the fourth.
Platte County (8-2) entered on a seven-game winning streak and the No. 3 spot in the MHSBCA Class 5 rankings but saw all three pitchers used struggle. The Pirates entered off of the 5-0 shutout of Liberty North a night earlier in Liberty when McLaughlin struck out eight and scattered four hits a 79-pitch shutout.
Limited to just six hits, Platte County took a two-run lead in the second and then added three more in the third. McLaughlin worked around a pair of singles in the bottom of the first, and the Pirates’ quickly provided offensive support when junior centerfielder Rocco Marriott led off the top of the next Fram with a bunt single before senior right fielder Brock Fowler hit an RBI double to right-center field on a 3-0 pitch.
Fowler scored two batters later on senior leftfielder Bronson Ryan’s single.
Platte County junior centerfielder Rocco Marriott rounds second base against Liberty North on Wednesday at Liberty North High School in Liberty.
Three of Liberty North’s four hits, which were all singles, came in the first two innings. McLaughlin retired 15 straight batters starting with a double play to end the bottom of the second and stretching to a two-out single in the seventh. He came back to strike out the final batter.
Fowler went 2-for-3 and added a two-run single in the third to score McLaughlin and Marriott, who also finished with two hits.
Platte County senior second baseman Tyler Stambersky reached to lead off the top of the third after being hit by a pitch before stealing second and advancing to third on a flyout from senior shortstop Dayton Doll. McLaughlin and Marriott followed with back-to-back singles, the first scoring Stambersky and the second setting up Fowler’s second and third RBIs.
McLaughlin and Marriott completed a double steal to put two runners in scoring position.
Platte County 14, Ruskin 1, 5 innings
The Pirates scored in all four times at bat in Monday’s conference matchup at Platte County High School, fully taking advantage of seven walks and five Ruskin errors.
Platte County senior shortstop Dayton Doll throws to first base as senior second baseman Taylor Stambersky dives out of the way against Liberty North on Wednesday at Liberty North High School in Liberty.
Using just two pitchers, Platte County limited the Eagles to just two hits. The Pirates started senior Owen Rawlings, who exited after 2 2/3 innings after issuing two of his four walks and hitting a batter with a pitch in the top of the third. One of the walks forced in a run, and he exited with two outs and the bases still loaded, finishing with three strikeouts.
Platte County senior Wes Chiddix came on and immediately recorded the first of his seven strikeouts, which accounted for all of his outs in 2 1/3 innings of relief. He walked one and worked around a hit batter and a single in the fifth to finish the game.
With two tough tests looming, Platte County went deep into the roster on offense. Marriott finished with a pair of bunt hits, three RBIs and two runs scored, while Doll walked twice and scored twice before being subbed out along with Stambersky. The Pirates used senior Brady Davis (two runs scored) at second base and senior Liam Blacklock (1-for-2 with a run and an RBI) at shortstop in the final innings.
Platte County led 2-0 after the first after loading the bases with singles for Stambersky and McLaughlin around a walk for Doll. The Pirates added four in the second with Marriott’s RBI bunt single the only hit.
Platte County senior second baseman Taylor Stambersky takes a swing against Liberty North on Wednesday at Liberty North High School in Liberty.
A seven-run third included included RBI singles for Blacklock, junior Andrew Edsall, Marriott and senior Patrick McCool and put Platte County in position for the run-rule victory. The Pirates improved to 3-0 in conference play.
Staley 12, Platte County 2, 5 innings
The Pirates loaded the bases in the top of the first inning with no outs but failed to score in what ended up a game-changing sequence Thursday at Staley High School.
Staley immediately answered with four runs against Platte County junior Zach Brown, who started on the mound and ended up charged with seven runs on through walks and four hits in two innings. The Falcons hit a one-out triple to center and then added a double, walk and three run home run with two outs to take the initial 4-0 lead.
Platte County opened with a single from Stambersky and back-to-back walks for Doll and McLaughlin, but Staley senior starter Kyle Pearcy came back with a pair of strikeouts around a popout to escape the jam. The Pirates also put two on to start the top of the second with a single for Ryan and a fielder’s choice bunt from Blacklock that allowed him to reach while Ryan advanced to second.
Platte County junior Brooks Hall prepares to take a throw at first base against Liberty North on Wednesday at Liberty North High School in Liberty.
Ryan stole third and came home on a balk to cut Platte County deficit to 4-1, and after a walk for Stambersky, Doll drove in the Pirates’ only other run with a single. Pearcy struck out the next two batters to escape a bigger inning and ended up lasting four innings despite allowing six walks and three hits, all singles.
Platte County went to senior left-hander Poul Gratereaux-Baez and Edsall in relief of Brown, and Staley scored in every inning. Gratereaux-Baez lasted just 1/3 of an inning and walked one while allowing two hits. Edsall came on with two runners in scoring position and one out with the Falcons up 8-2.
Staley scored one on a passed ball, but Edsall ended up out of the inning after a flyout to right field with Fowler throwing him to cut down the tagging runner.
Edsall finished with one strikeout in 1 2/3 innings and issued four walks in Staley’s three-run fourth when he stranded the bases loaded to give Platte County a shot to extend the game. In the top of the fifth, the Pirates went down in order.
Only three players reached base twice for Platte County. Stambersky finished 1-for-1 with two walks in addition to Doll’s single and a walk, while Blacklock added a walk to his bunt that allowed him to reach base in the second.
