Another season down, another state tennis appearance for Platte County junior Gavin Nichols.
Platte County junior Gavin Nichols ended his junior campaign with his third state appearance when he finished in sixth place in the Class 2 Tennis State Singles Championship this spring.
Nichols has now made it to state in each of the last three years, earning a medal twice. In the aftermath of the greatest Platte County boys’ tennis season in program history, the junior was one of three Pirates to earn an all-state medal.
Although the team fell short of a team berth after winning the first district championship in school history and falling in the Class 2 State Quarterfinals, Platte County had one singles and one doubles team make it to state. Seniors Jack Forrest and Nathan Vanek took sixth place in doubles, the same finish Nichols made in singles.
Senior Jaron Cook and sophomore Jack Bralley filled up the rest of the roster this spring, although that duo fell short of a state berth. Platte County ended the year with a 15-4 record, four more wins than the next most in program history.
Another individual sport that Platte County made some noise in was track and field. With two relay teams and four individuals who qualified to state, Andrew Johnson was the only one who came away with a medal.
Johnson ran in the 2-mile and had an impressive final lap – passing three runners in the last 400 meters – to take sixth place. The junior crossed the finish line in 9:25.46.
Reese Pickett qualified in all three jumping events, but the senior barely missed the podium in all three. She took 11th place in the triple jump, 10th place in the high jump and ninth place in the long jump.
In the other field events, TaKayla Lawson and Addyson Schlake both made it as throwers. Lawson finished in 13th place in the shot put and Schlake ended in 12th place in the discus.
Sophomore Brayden Carter spent a lot of time on the mound for Platte County this spring.
The Lady Pirates’ 4x800-meter relay team of Sisely Mitchell, Carmen Gentilia, Addison Ayers and Maddison Palmer ended in 13th place. Joshua Fraker, Aaron Cordova, Brayden Eschliman and Jackson Goodale made up the boys’ 4x400-meter relay team, but they couldn’t get out of preliminaries.
The Platte County baseball team was coming off its second ever state championship and it fell short from repeating. After losing some talented seniors, the Pirates had an up-and-down regular season, ending with 18 total wins and 19 total losses.
Starting off 1-5, Platte County turned its season around in late March when it won seven of its next eight. From that point on, the Pirates were inconsistent, going on a 4-game losing streak, 4-game winning streak, then lost eight of the next 11.
With two road games left against Class 6 opponents, Platte County took down North Kansas City and Park Hill to enter the postseason on a high note. Pembroke Hill was the first opponent for the Pirates as they came out with a 7-2 win to move on to the Class 5 District 8 Semifinals against Smithville.
Platte County won 9-5 in the regular season, but that was different in the postseason when Rocco Marriott’s steal at home with two outs in the final inning was the deciding factor. Marriott was called out on the play and the Pirates lost 5-4, ending their chance to make another deep run in the postseason.
Sloan Kassen was one of three Lady Pirate soccer seniors who overcame a 0-5 start and finished 11-12.
The Lady Pirates’ soccer team had a similar season as baseball did, starting off slow after impressing in 2022. Platte County averaged more than four goals a game while going 22-4 and 24-3 with district championship appearances in 2021 and 2022, but that didn’t translate in the beginning of 2023.
Not scoring a goal until the fourth game and not recording a win until the sixth game, this was a different team than in years past. Be that as it may, when Platte County finally bested an opponent, it got into a groove, winning four straight and seven of its next eight.
The Lady Pirates lost five of the final eight contests ahead of the postseason when they mercy rule defeated Kansas City’s East 8-0 in the first round of the Class 3 District 8 Tournament. Platte County was eliminated by Pembroke Hill, 1-0.
Parker Amos ended his Platte County career on a high note, earning all-state honors in golf. He tied for 34th place in the Class 4 State Tournament as the only qualifier from his school.