The Lady Pirates were overlooked ahead of the 2021 season, but the Platte County softball team has proved its doubters wrong as it is returning to the Class 4 State Semifinals for the second consecutive season.
Platte County continues to make a deep postseason run after losing a talented group of seniors in 2020 when the Pirates fell to Webb City in the state semifinals. The Pirates have responded by winning the Class 4 District 8 Tournament and taking down Nevada, 10-0, in the state quarterfinals on Oct. 21.
With the Pirates only having three seniors, Platte County has relied on five sophomore and six juniors during this year’s state run. Sophomore Kallie Hitzelberger was on the mound in the semifinal road victory against Nevada (20-11).
The sophomore stepped up and struck out nine Tiger batters en route to a road shut out as the Pirates advance to their third state appearance since 2014. The Platte County offense erupted for five runs in the bottom of the first inning and in the bottom of the fourth inning to become one of the final four teams standing in Class 4.
The Pirates first four batters in the contest singled to score a pair of runs before Mackenzie Shields stepped up to the plate. The junior made contact with the pitch, and the ball soared over the fence for a 3-run home run.
The Platte County softball team defeated Nevada 10-0 in the Class 4 State Quarterfinals on Oct. 21, as the Lady Pirates have moved on to the Class 4 State Semifinals for the second straight season.
Shields helped spark the Pirate’s offense once again in the fifth inning when the junior had an RBI double on a line drive to center field. Koree Church singled on a ground ball to advance Shields across home plate and Demi Riechers responded with a 2-run homer.
The 10-run deficit was too much for Nevada to overcome as the Tigers only had one hit on the night and were eliminated by the Pirates without scoring a single run. Shields ended the Class 4 Quarterfinals with 3 hits and 4 RBIs, while Allison Gill, Church and Riechers all finished with 1 hit and 2 RBIs.
The Pirates offense has been electric all fall as they have averaged 10.6 runs a game with nine different players having at least one home run. Platte County has had 27 total home runs on the season and have only allowed 4.2 runs a game to its opponents.
The Pirates will head to Killian Softball Complex in Springfield, MO, to take on Washington (30-5) on Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. If Platte County wins, it will move onto the championship game on Oct. 29 at 12:45 p.m. between the winner of Incarnate World Academy (17-11) and Rolla (30-8).
If the Pirates fall to Washington, they will play in the third-place game on Oct. 28 at 6:15 p.m.
Platte County has come out on top its last seven contests, Washington will enter the state matchup with 17 consecutive victories as the Blue Jays haven’t lost a game since Sept. 18.