SAINT JOSEPH – North Platte wanted to trade its baseball cap for a crown, but fate stepped in and forced the Panthers into a goodbye.
North Platte sophomore Dylan Armstrong scored the Panthers only run in the 2-1 Class 2 State Sectionals loss to Maysville at Missouri Western State University on May 20.
A historical season that saw the program’s first conference title in 23 years and first district title in 28 years ended in a tough, 2-1 loss in the Class 2 State Sectionals at Missouri Western State University on May 20. The Panthers were slightly short-handed – missing two starters: freshman Kaysen Iske and junior Ben Jaycox – and were unable to survive and advance past Maysville (18-5).
One day, this North Platte baseball team (19-4) will be remembered when people point to their pictures. They will hear about how the crowd went wild when they held up the district championship trophy and held it up for their town.
There were many accomplishments this season by North Platte, led by a loaded senior class of seven. Colton Kirkham, Jaxson Carpenter, Chance Garber and John Winkler helped the football team reach the state championship game last fall and were two wins shy of a Final Four appearance on the baseball field this spring.
Starters Creek Johnson and Ryan York, along with reserve Nicholas Stewart, fill out the senior class. These seven led the Panthers to 46 wins and 21 losses the last three seasons after the program posted a 47-97 overall record from 2014-21.
North Platte beat Maysville 8-0 early in the regular season, having 10 more hits than in the postseason meeting. Coy Sobotka, the Wolverines’ ace, threw a no-hitter and had eight strikeouts in sectionals.
The Panthers scored their sole run in the first inning, taking advantage of Dylan Armstrong being walked in the first at-bat. With one out on the board, Kirkham connected on a hit to center field – which was caught – as Armstrong tagged up and ran home.
Kirkham was on the mound for North Platte and had a stellar pitching performance in what ended up being a defensive heavy contest. He threw nine strikeouts and only gave up three hits, two of which happened in the third inning when Maysville scored both its runs.
The Panthers had an error before back-to-back singles to score the Wolverines’ only runs of the night. In the fourth inning, Carpenter reached first base on an error and Garber was walked to put North Platte in position to tie or take the lead but the Panthers couldn’t capitalize.
The Panthers’ last real chance to score happened in the sixth inning when Kirkham and Garber were walked with two outs. Winkler ended up grounding out to second base.
Although the postseason ended shy of a state trip, North Platte crushed it in districts. The Panthers outscored LeBlond (6-16) and Polo (11-9) 33-8 in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament, which includes a 15-0 landslide in the first district championship win since 1995.
What this senior class was able to do this spring was nothing shy of impressive, entering high school at the end of a decade but the start of an age. Hunter Palmer, Iske and Jaycox are the returning starters who will look to build off this season next year.