When the North Platte baseball team (11-10) fought back to within one run of Mid-Buchanan (10-6) in the postseason matchup, the Dragons erupted for seven runs in the final three innings to end the Panthers’ best season in more than a decade.
North Platte entered the Class 2 District 15 Tournament as the No. 5 seed and was on the verge of taking down the No. 4 seeded Dragons at Perkins Park in Plattsburg on May 14. The Panthers took down the Dragons 8-6 on April 26, but the higher seed took an early lead in the postseason contest to come out with a 10-3 victory.
North Platte trailed 3-1 heading into the fifth inning when a pair of Dragon errors gave the Panthers hope. Riley Hyde and Landon Bartlett both reached first base on errors and a sacrifice fly by Kaden Mullendore sent Hyde across home plate.
Colton Kirkham grounded out for the third out with two runners left on base and the deficit was cut to 3-2. The Dragons added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning before bursting out five hits and six runs in the ensuing inning.
Jaxson Carpenter started the inning on the mound and was replaced by Bartlett, and by the time North Platte was up to bat again, it trailed 10-3. Wesley Meadows and Bartlett opened up the final inning with back-to-back singles and Kirkham was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out.
Chance Garber had an RBI single to begin to chip at the seven-run deficit, but a pair of pop flies from Creek Johnson and Ryan York resulted in the end of the greatest North Platte baseball team in recent memory. The Panthers only had four hits on the day – two of which were by Bartlett – and three players ended with one RBI: Bartlett, Mullendore and Garber.
North Platte senior Riley Hyde leads off second base in the Panthers 10-3 postseason loss to Mid-Buchanan on May 14.
North Platte hasn’t ended a season with double digit wins or a winning record in more than 15 years, but it accomplished both feats in 2022. The Panthers’ season started out sluggish like many years before, but they turned a corner after their first win of the year against University Academy Charter (13-12-1) on April 5.
North Platte turned a 0-5 start to six victories in its following seven tries, before closing out the regular season with five wins in the final seven games. Bartlett and Hyde were the only two seniors this spring, so the Panthers will look to use this season as a steppingstone for years to come.