After an idle start to the spring season, the Platte County baseball team (10-6) has turned a sub-.500 record to a pair of four-game winning streaks.
Following four losses in its first six contests, Platte County rattled off eight victories in its next nine tries before its most recent game – a 7-11 road loss to Blue Springs South (11-3) on April 9. The Pirates have remained undefeated at their new home field, winning all six games by a total margin of 66 to 14.
Cam Lewis puts his fists up in the air after having a base hit in the Pirates 9-7 win over Smithville on April 8.
Coming off a 6-0 loss to Kearney (11-7) – the team that sent Platte County home in last season’s Class 5 District 8 Semifinals – on April 4, the Pirates shut out two of their next three opponents. Platte County hosted Raytown South (3-5) in a double-header when the home team outscored the Blue Division foe 23 to three over the course of both games on April 6, then defeated Liberty North (10-3) 3-0 on April 7.
In a highly anticipated matchup with Smithville (7-4), it took nine innings, but Platte County took down the Blue Division rival for the first time since 2019 when a late Nick Baker RBI single led to a 9-7 Pirate victory on April 8. After two scoreless innings, Baker connected with a pitch on a line drive to center field to send Devin Wassman across home plate to break the 7-7 tie in the top of the ninth inning.
The Warriors walked the next three Pirate batters and Platte County added another run before heading to defense with a chance to close out the game. Smithville loaded the bases with zero outs, but then Tyler Erikson struck out the next batter and the following two Warriors failed to reach first base.
Platte County started the contest on fire with five runs in the opening inning, but Smithville eventually tied the game at seven in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Pirates had 13 hits and seven RBIs and struck out eight Warrior batters.
Despite outhitting Blue Springs South six to four in the Pirates’ most recent contest, Platte County struggled to produce runs. The Jaguars scored two runs in three of the first four innings – and added one more in the fifth inning – until an RBI double from Eli Nelson in the top of the sixth inning gave the Pirates their sole run on the night.