Platte County senior Dayne Wimberly (#17) is greeted by his teammates at home plate after hitting a home run in the first inning of the Pirates’ 10-inning, 7-5 loss to Park Hill South on April 18.
The Park Hill South baseball team (15-11) took down two teams from the county, Park Hill (9-11) and Platte County (12-12), while losing four games in between.
Park Hill South took down Platte County 7-5 in 10 innings on April 18. The Pirates entered the day with three losses in a row and had a chance to end that losing skid but failed to do so.
Platte County took control early, scoring four runs in the first two innings – including a 2-run home run by Dayne Wimberly – but Park Hill South slowly chipped at the deficit. The Panthers scored two runs in the fourth and fifth innings, and the Pirates scored one in that time frame, to bring the game within a run.
In the top of the fourth inning, Braydon Wright had an RBI triple and Aaron Boutz had an RBI single, but the Pirates responded with a home run. On the first at-bat in the bottom of the fourth inning, Devin Wassman hit a ball over the fence to push the Platte County lead to 5-2.
Park Hill South got back on the board in the ensuing inning, loading the bases with two outs before scoring, thanks to a couple Platte County mistakes. After Tyler Eriksen walked in a run, the Pirates had an error on a dropped third strike and Brody Hufft crossed home plate.
The sixth inning went scoreless, and the Panthers had one last inning of regulation, entering with a 5-4 deficit. With Boutz on second base and two outs, Bryan Wilhoite stepped up to the plate and hit a line drive double, tying the game up.
Platte County closed out the inning then loaded the bases with only one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Brian Chandler hit a pop fly that was caught by Aidan Bui; then Aidan Norris struck out. At the end of regulation the game was knotted at five, so it went into extra innings.
The Panthers left two runners on and then forced three quick outs to head into the ninth inning. Once again, the inning was scoreless, and the game went into the 10th inning.
Collin Morris was walked on the first at-bat and after he was advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Hufft, Cason Lett hit the go-ahead – and game-winning – home run. Norris and Nick Baker both singled to start the bottom of the inning for the Pirates, but the Panthers forced three outs on the next two batters – which included a double play – to close out the contest and win 7-5.
Wilhoite, Lett and Boutz all had two hits for the Panthers, while Wimberly and Jordan Hedrick did the same for the Pirates. Dayton Doll struck out three Panthers in three innings and Evan Demint struck out five Pirates in six innings.
Following this matchup, Platte County rattled off four consecutive wins and Park Hill South fell short in its next four contests. After the 4-game winning streak, the Pirates headed to Liberty North (20-4) and lost 6-2 on April 24.
Coming off four losses where it was outscored 32 to 12, Park Hill South matched up with Park Hill on April 24. The Panthers mercy ruled the Trojans 15-3 in what was the most runs scored by either team in the series in more than a decade.
Park Hill went up 2-0 in the opening inning but the lead was short-lived as the home team responded with four runs. The Trojans had another run in the second inning but only had one more hit and were shut out the rest of the way, while the Panthers scored 11 runs in the second and third innings.
Lett, Boutz, Braydon Wright and Brock Harmon all had two hits for the Panthers while Brayden Resch had a team-high two hits for the Trojans. Park Hill has now been outscored 25-3 in its last two games, including a matchup with Lee’s Summit West (15-7) on April 21.
Park Hill will host Staley (14-7) on April 26 and Park Hill South will head to Pleasant Hill (13-4) on April 29. Platte County will hit the road and take on Raytown (3-11) on April 26.