The West Platte baseball team (9-9) has earned the third seed in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament, despite going through a rough patch – losing four of its last five games – before taking down Penney (2-15) 12-2 on May 9.
West Platte will open the postseason against Bishop LeBlond (8-11) at 12 p.m. on May 14 at Plattsburg. The Blue Jays defeated the Eagles 12-2 early in the season on March 29.
Entering the matchup with Lawson (16-3) on May 6, West Platte had three consecutive losses against the KCI foe dating back to 2019. The Cardinals didn’t allow that streak to be snapped as the Blue Jays fell short, 7-2.
West Platte only had five hits on the night, three of which happened in the top of the sixth inning, and Lawson took a 2-0 lead in the third inning. The Cardinals added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning before the Blue Jays finally ended the drought.
West Platte’s Ezra Stigman was the only Blue Jay to reach a base in the final inning of the 7-2 loss to Lawson on May 6.
Tanner Rowe opened up the sixth inning with a line drive double to left field, immediately followed by a Mason Montez single to right field. After Xavier Reynolds struck out, Dublin Carnahan singled on a hard ground ball to right field, which allowed Rowe and Montez to score.
West Platte’s next two batters were unable to reach first base and the Blue Jays entered the seventh inning trailing 5-2. Lawson added two more runs to put the game out of reach as a Cardinal error when Ezra Stigman hit a fly ball was the only time West Platte reached a base in the final inning. The Blue Jays went through four pitchers in the day, led by Stigman who had three strikeouts.
West Platte bounced back against Penney, tallying 12 hits and taking advantage of the Hornets six errors on the day. Logan Lawson and Stigman combined for nine strikeouts on the day, while four Blue Jays ended with two hits each.