Platte County’s Cameron Dean in the Pirates come-from-behind 9-5 victory over Smithville on March 27.
The Platte County baseball team (3-5) erased a 5-0 first inning deficit against Smithville (4-3) and earned its first win in the Show Me State in nine months on March 27.
The Pirates were off to a rocky 0-3 start before heading to Oklahoma to play four teams on March 24-25. Platte County split those games but was outscored 35-22 in the process.
After returning to Missouri with a matchup with rival Smithville, Platte County had a rough start, giving up five runs in the first inning. The Pirates didn’t panic or give up, slowly fighting their way back before winning by four runs, their first in-state victory since winning the state championship last June.
James Schwieder grounded out in the bottom of the second inning to send Dayne Wimberly home to score one Platte County run, but it was a defensive battle in the following three innings. Both squads left runners on in that time frame but was unable to add to the scoreboard.
Smithville made some mistakes in the top of the sixth inning and Platte County took full advantage. Two of the first three Pirate batters were walked – with Dylan Robertson singling between – loading the bases.
Cameron Dean reached first base on a Warrior error as Devin Wassman and Andrew Habel scored. Schwieder singled on the next at-bat, re-loading the bases, and Smithville had a balk and another additional error to send Jordan Hedrick and Dean across home plate, tying the game.
Smithville changed pitchers, but that didn’t stop Dylan Zimmerman from having an RBI single to put Platte County ahead for the first time on the night. Wimberly was the next Platte County batter and also had an RBI single and the score was 7-5 before Smithville closed the inning out with a double play.
Platte County forced three outs in four Smithville batters in the next inning and added two runs in the top of the seventh inning. The Warriors’ only runner that made it on was by a walk and the Pirates came away with the victory.
Robertson went three-for-four on the day and Schwieder had a team-high three RBIs. Brayden Carter struck out seven batters in five innings.
Platte County will host Staley (4-1) on March 31 for its home opener. Last season, the Pirates had an impressive 15-1 home record and will look to keep that going this spring.