North Platte’s John Winkler struck out seven West Platte batters in the Panthers’ 7-6 win on April 6.
A pivotal error in the top of the seventh inning ended up costing the West Platte baseball team (4-4) the game against North Platte (3-4) on April 6.
Entering the seventh inning trailing 6-4, North Platte had its first two batters on base before receiving its first out. Chance Garber and Ryan York had back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game at 6-6.
Benjamin Jaycox hit a ground ball to West Platte shortstop Xavier Reynolds who had an error, allowing Jaycox to reach first base and sending Garber across home plate. West Platte closed out the inning with two more outs and had one last chance to bat, trailing 7-6.
Cohen Kite and Gunner Smith were both walked – as two Blue Jays were struck out in between them – and Reynolds stepped up to the plate with two batters on and two outs. With a 1-2 count, Reynolds struck out looking and North Platte ended a 5-game regular season losing skid to West Platte, dating back to 2018.
West Platte struck first – taking a 1-0 margin in the first inning off an RBI single by Jaxon Turner – before North Platte went ahead 2-1 in the top of the third inning thanks to back-to-back RBI singles by Kaden Mullendore and Colton Kirkham. The Panthers added two more runs in the ensuing inning off a Blue Jays’ error.
West Platte got back in the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when North Platte’s John Winkler struggled on the mound. Winkler walked six batters – four of which were walked in to put West Platte ahead 5-4 – but also struck out three batters in the inning, before Kaden Mullendore came in for the sixth inning.
West Platte put one more run on the board when Smith singled on a line drive to center field and Kane Cogan scored in the bottom of the fifth inning. North Platte had 10 hits on the day, led by Creek Johnson and Wesley Meadows with two hits each.
Winkler had seven strikeouts in three innings and Kaden Mullendore struck out five batters. Ezra Stigman was on the mound for five innings for the Blue Jays and struck out six batters.
This was the second straight loss for West Platte who was shut out for the first time this season against Christ Prep on April 4. Christ Prep scored three runs in the third and sixth innings as Cogan was the only West Platte batter who had a hit on the day.
Four Blue Jays were on the mound throughout the contest, combining for eight strikeouts and giving up 10 hits. Next up for West Platte is Plattsburg (7-6) – who finished in third place in the 2022 Class 2 State Tournament – on April 13.
As for North Platte, the victory over West Platte was its second triumph in its previous three games, with its sole loss coming to University Academy (5-2-1) on April 4. The Panthers scored two runs in the first inning and led until going behind 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
North Platte responded with four runs in the ensuing inning – thanks to a pair of doubles by Garber and Hunter Palmer – to retake a 6-3 lead, but University Academy scored four runs of its own, capped off with the game-winning run on a wild pitch. The Panthers will head to Osborn (2-2) on April 12.