A six-run fifth inning vaulted West Platte past rival North Platte, 9-5, in a KCI Conference game on Tuesday, April 23 in Dearborn.
Up until that offensive outburst, the Bluejays held a 3-1 lead against the Panthers.
West Platte struck first by scoring a run in the second inning when an error allowed Trent Taylor to score and Luke Heili followed with an RBI single.
Heili singled with two outs in the third and later scored when Dublin Carnahan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. North Platte got a run on a double steal with Jesse Martin, who singled, swiping home and Andrew Hernandez taking third.
Free passes and four hits turned into the six-run inning for the Bluejays.
Quinn Eagan drove in the first run of the inning when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Heili followed with a bases-loaded walk for another run and then Phillip Pattison was also hit by a pitch, to force in the third run of the inning.
Gavin Davis singled to center to bring home a pair of runs and Jasper Basel’s RBI single made it 9-1.
The bottom of the fifth featured a trio of runs by North Platte, one coming on an error and Martin (double) and Caine Huffman (single) provided RBIs.
Dayne Carpenter provided an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh for North Platte.
Heili and Davis each had two hits for West Platte, which finished the game with 10 hits. The Bluejays drew eight walks and were hit by a pitch on seven occasions.
Carpenter, Martin and Huffman combined for six of the seven North Platte hits.
Wyatt Kleman threw 5 2/3 innings to earn the win, striking out nine and didn’t yield an earned run for West Platte. North Platte used five pitchers in the loss. Starter Jacob Oliver fanned five in 3 2/3 innings.
OTHER GAMES
North Platte 8, Plattsburg 5
Plattsburg 9, North Platte 7
Plattsburg and North Platte split a doubleheader on Monday, April 29, in a game moved to Dearborn.
The two were set to play a home-and-home on Monday and Tuesday, but with weather looming Tuesday, the schools played a doubleheader and each played as the home team.
In the opening game, North Platte broke a 3-3 all tie by scoring five runs in the sixth inning. Free passes set up the big inning for the Tigers, with walks to Joel Smyser and Truman Byergo and a hit by pitch to Dayne Carpenter loading the bases.
Jacob Oliver grounded out to get a run home and an error led to another run. Later in the inning, Andrew Hernandez drew a bases-loaded walk, before Kaleb Gibson hit a sacrifice fly to left field and Kaleb Pendlay capped the scoring with an RBI single.
Plattsburg, the home team in game 1, got a two-out, two-run single by Kaden Hodge to pull within 8-5. Oliver came in on relief and got the final out to get the save.
Huffman threw 6 1/3 innings and struck out five to earn the win. He and Oliver both had two hits.
In the second game, the home Panthers were locked in a 4-4 tie before the Tigers scored five unanswered runs between the third and sixth innings. The go-ahead run for Plattsburg came on a balk, while Brock Steggall followed with a two-run single. Down 9-4, the Panthers got three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Matrix Large drove in a run on a fielder’s choice and later stole home. Cameron Leupold added an RBI on a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Pendlay reached on an error but Plattsburg retired the next three in order to end the game.
Huffman, Pendlay and Smyser each had two hits, accounting for a bulk of North Platte’s nine hits.
West Platte 19, DeKalb 3
The Tigers actually took a 2-0 lead in the game, but the Bluejays had a pair of seven-run innings to rally for a non-conference win on Monday, April 29 in a game moved to Weston.
Luke Heili, Gavin Davis, Trevin Stringer and Noah Johnson all had two hits, while Stringer and Jasper Basel both drove in three runs. Heili, Wyatt Kleman, Hunter Hendricks and Phillip Pattison all had two RBIs.
Kleman had a two-run double in the first inning, while Pattison and Heili both got RBIs by getting hit by a pitch. Basel’s first RBI came on a bases-loaded walk.
Basel added RBI groundouts on bases loaded situations in the second and third innings. Pattison and Heili both were hit by pitches with the bases full in the seven-run fourth innings, while Stringer had a two-run double.
Heili earned the win, striking out four in 3 2/3 innings of work.
North Platte 4, North Nodaway 3
A three-run third inning gave the Panthers a lead they wouldn’t give up in a non-conference victory on Wednesday, April 24 in Hopkins .
The host Mustangs went up 2-0 in the second inning on Tyler Bix’s two-run single.
North Platte made North Nodaway pay for a pair of walks to open the third inning, with Andrew Hernandez and Blake Gibson getting on base. With one out, Jesse Martin smacked a three-run homerun to center field. Gibson added an RBI single in the fourth inning for an insurance run that became key at the end.
The Mustangs added a run in the sixth inning when Bix scored. North Platte pitcher Kaleb Pendlay hit a pair of batters in the bottom of the seventh with two outs to give the Mustangs a chance to tie it, but got a strikeout – his third of the inning – to end the game.
Joel Symser had two of North Platte’s six hits. Pendlay got the save, with Cameron Leuopold getting the win in relief.
West Platte 15, Plattsburg 4
The Bluejays scored runs in three of the four innings they batted and rolled to a KCI Conference victory on Thursday, April 25 at Benner Park in Weston.
Hunter Hendricks went 3-for-3 with 4 RBIs, while Jasper Basel added three hits and scored a team-high three runs in the five-inning victory over the Tigers.
The lopsided victory saw West Platte fall behind 3-0 in the first inning but answered with all 15 runs over the next three innings. Hendricks delivered a two-run double in the second to give West Platte a 4-3 lead. Noah Johnson (walk) and Luke Heili (single) also drove in runs.
Trevin Stringer hit a two-run homer and Hendricks’ RBI single boosted the lead to 7-3 after three innings.
Johnson (single), Hendricks (hit by pitch), Gavin Davis (hit by pitch), Dublin Carnahan (fielder’s choice), Basel (single) and Wyatt Kleman (double) provided the runs in the eight-run fourth inning.
Stinger struck out seven and gave up four runs in five innings to earn the victory.
UP NEXT
The final week-plus of the regular season will be busy for both North Platte and West Platte.
On Tuesday, April 30, the Bluejays played at Mid-Buchanan, but results were not available by press time. On Wednesday, May 1, West Platte hosts Lathrop before going to East Buchanan on Monday, May 6. On May 7, the Panthers play West Platte again, this time in Weston.
North Platte takes on Mid-Buchanan on Thursday, May 2, before traveling to Lathrop on Monday, May 6.