The blonde glow of the Pirates’ hair stood out under the lights at US Baseball Park when the Platte County baseball team held the Class 5 State Championship plaque above their heads in celebratory fashion on June 4.
With aspirations of a gold trophy, Platte County made the decision to match that color on the top of their flowing and various hairstyles. The decision was made after the Pirates clinched a spot as a final four team in the aftermath of the 11-7 quarterfinal win over Webb City on May 28.
“After our Webb City game, all of us seniors said that we are all going to dye our hair,” Platte County senior Sawyer Allen said. “So, the night before we left, we all dyed the hair and we came down here and won a state championship.”
The Platte County baseball team died their hair blonde for the Class 5 State Tournament when the Pirates won both games to become state champions on June 4.
The change of hair color did seem to be the recipe for success, with the Pirates winning both state games en route to being crowned as champions. Platte County took down Ft. Zumwalt East 5-3 in the semifinals and defeated Festus 6-1 in the championship.
“It started off as a joke and then we ended up all doing it,” Platte County senior Jake Knudsen said. “Eli (Nelson) and I did it first, then after that the team followed suit. It was a fun little thing.”
This wasn’t the first time the Pirates relied on transforming their manes to bring home some hardware. The 2008 Platte County softball team that won a 3A state title dyed their hair orange en route to the last championship the team has won.