ST. JOSEPH — The last time Park Hill had this much success on the softball field, most of the key players on this year’s team were newborns or not born yet.
The Trojans secured the Class 4 District 16 title on Friday, Oct. 18 at Missouri Western’s Spring Sports Complex by beating Platte County 6-0.
The victory is the first district title for Park Hill since 2001, when the Trojans took fourth place in then Class 4A. The playoff berth is third ever in school history, the first coming in 2000.
“That was the year I was born, that is pretty crazy,” Park Hill senior catcher Kali Day said when learning of the district title was the first since 2001.
Added Park Hill coach Jackie Qualls, “I don’t think I was even teaching in 2001.”
Park Hill has posted only winning records in three of the past 11 years and as recently as 2016, the Trojans had only one win.
To return to the playoffs, the Trojans took an early lead against Platte County (15-9) and then added late insurance runs to secure the win.
Park Hill (16-6) scored two runs in the first inning.
Kennedy Townsend led off with a single and an error allowed Chloe Strickland to reach safely.
The Park Hill players pose for a photo after winning the Class 4 District 16 championship on Friday, Oct. 18 against Platte County.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Day singled to bring home Townsend and Samantha Bertoncino had an RBI fielder’s choice to score Strickland.
Platte County’s Gracie Erickson singled in the top of the fourth and moved to second base with two outs, the furthest any Pirate made during the game.
“I really do feel like we were looking for an opening to get a few runs on the board,” Platte County coach Callie Peoples said. “We had runners in scoring position a few times and just fell a little short. (Kaylyn) Jones did a great job keeping us off-balance with her rise and outside pitches. Emma (Koeneke) did a great job on the mound producing outs for our team. Park Hill has a great “attack” mindset when they are at the plate and are all tough outs.”
Park Hill stranded runners on the corners in the bottom of the fourth and left another in scoring position in the fifth inning.
The Trojans finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs.
Grace Woods singled to open the inning and her courtesy runner, Mya Lewis, moved up on a sac bunt. A passed ball and a wild pitch allowed her to score an insurance run.
Miranda LaMunyon walked with two outs and Townsend doubled to bring in a run, making it 4-0.
Strickland followed with a single to score Townsend, before Shelby Sanders provided a double to make it 6-0.
TODD NUGENT/Nugent Photography
Park Hill’s Shelby Sanders swings at a pitch during the Class 4 District 16 championship game on Friday, Oct. 18 in St. Joseph.
“The girls did a great job and hung tough, only had that two-run lead until the sixth inning,” Qualls said. “Getting that one insurance run and then the girls took over with two outs and that meant a lot. We had several (girls) in slumps and they seemed to get well at the right time. Not a bad time to get well heading into the playoffs. That is a pretty good thing.”
Park Hill pitcher Kaylyn Jones retired the last 11 in a row to secure her second straight shutout in district play.
It marked the first back-to-back shutout for Park Hill since 2013 when the Trojans posted 13-0 and 1-0 wins on Sept. 21.
Koeneke struck out two and gave up nine hits in the loss.
The win meant a lot for Qualls, who took over the program when this year’s three seniors were freshmen. The past two years, the teams had only one senior that started so the Trojans took some lumps.
“This is definitely a good accomplishment and a good milestone for the program,” Day said. “I love this group of girls and we have worked together. It feels good to win something like this. We had to keep the positivity up and get better every year and keep progressing. It paid off in the end.”
The loss meant the end of the playing career for three Platte County players: Erickson, Madi Shields and Paige Rocha, who has committed to Wichita State.
The Pirates won the Suburban Conference Blue Division championship and had winning streaks of five, four and three games this year.
The Trojans will play at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 23 against Liberty in a Class 4 playoff game. The Blue Jays picked up a 20-13 win against Liberty North, the No. 1 seed in District 15, to win a third straight district title.
The teams last played in 2015 when they were foes in the Suburban Red Division. Liberty is 7-2 against Park Hill since 2010, including winning twice in 2015 by a combined score of 36-0.
Platte County 1, Staley 0
The Pirates scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to secure a win over the defending district champion on Thursday, Oct. 17.
The contest was a pitcher’s duel between Platte County’s Emma Koeneke and Staley’s Hailey Herman.
The two gave up a combined six hits in the contest. Koeneke struck out three and gave up four hits and needed only 67 pitches to get through seven innings.
Staley loaded the bases in the first inning but one runner was thrown out at home for the second out and a strikeout ended the threat.
The Falcons had two runners on in the second inning but were left stranded.
Staley got a lead off triple from Herman in the fourth but another out at home kept the score at 0-0.
Paige Rocha had the only two hits for Platte County. The first was a two-out single in the third inning.
The Wichita State pledge then doubled to open the sixth inning. She moved to third base on a sac bunt by Madison Carter.
Gracie Erickson followed with a sac fly for the game-winning run.
Park Hill 3, St. Joseph Central 0
The Trojans won the opening game of the district tournament on Thursday, Oct. 17.
Kaylyn Jones struck out 10 and gave up four hits in her shutout.
The offense scored twice in the second inning and added another run in the third inning.
An error opened the second inning before a single and hit batter loaded the bases.
A passed ball brought home a pair of runs on the same play.
Kali Day hit a home run in the third inning for the final run of the contest.
“That was huge and was a big momentum shifter,” Park Hill coach Jackie Qualls said to the St. Joseph News-Press. “I felt like that really deflated the air out of them for a little bit. If we were able to capitalize and get some more runs out of that, then I think we could have put them away a lot faster.”
The Indians brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the sixth but came up empty.
Nia Muniz had two of the Trojans’ four hits in the victory.
Other Games
Park Hill 13, Lee’s Summit West 7
The Trojans closed out the most successful season in Suburban Conference Gold Division play with a victory on Tuesday, Oct. 15 in Lee’s Summit.
The Trojans finished with a 5-5 mark, the most since moving up to the largest division in the Greater Kansas City Conference. Last year, the Trojans picked up their first-ever Gold Division win.
Park Hill trailed 7-3 after four innings but scored five runs in the fifth inning to take the lead for good.
The Trojans loaded the bases before the next three batters accounted for a run. Samantha Bertoncino and Grace Woods had RBI singles and Nia Muniz had an RBI fielder’s choice that scored two thanks to an error.
Miranda LaMunyon had a sac fly to break the tie, giving the Trojans an 8-7 lead.
Woods added an RBI single for the second straight inning in the sixth, this one driving in two runs. Muniz followed with an RBI double. Muniz added another RBI in the final inning on a bases-loaded walk.
Woods went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs, while Muniz drove in three on two hits.
The teams combined for half as many errors (10) as runs in the contest. Shelby Sanders gave up seven runs, but none were earned, for Park Hill.