It took half a decade to do it, but the Platte County baseball team (24-8) finally brought home another district title.
The Pirates survived a brief comeback bid by Smithville (23-10) as the two top teams in the Class 5 District 16 Tournament matched up in the championship at Creekside Baseball Complex on May 19. The 10-8 district championship victory is the first time Platte County has earned the feat since 2017.
The Pirates played a near perfect first inning, forcing the first three Warrior batters out and then poured out seven runs. Dayne Wimberly opened up the bottom of the first inning with a line drive double – followed by two of the next three Pirates being walked – and Nick Baker had a 2-RBI double to ignite the high-scoring inning.
Platte County’s Dayton Doll slides into third base in the opening inning of in the Pirates 10-8 win over Smithville in the Class 5 District 16 Championship Game on May 19.
After an RBI ground out by Jake Knudsen, Smithville helped the Pirates out with another walk and an error to put two more Platte County runs on the scoreboard. With two runners on base, Dayton Doll tripled to give the Pirates a 6-0 lead and eventually crossed home plate when Wimberly singled.
Platte County wasn’t quite as flawless on defense in the ensuing inning, walking four batters and having one dropped third strike to help Smithville chip at the deficit. The Warriors scored three runs in the inning, but the Pirates answered their Blue Division foes with a pair of runs to go up 9-3 entering the third inning.
Smithville didn’t go away, with a huge fourth inning that saw three hits and four runs to close the gap to two runs. Doll increased the Pirate lead to 10-7 with a line drive hit to right field, resulting in Baker crossing home plate.
Smithville added one run in the top of the sixth inning but left two runners on base when Tyler Erikson earned his first strikeout of the night to give the Warriors three outs. Platte County wasn’t able to add another run to the scoreboard and Smithville had one more chance at the plate, trailing 10-8.
The Warriors’ first two batters got out when Sawyer Allen and Devin Wassman caught a pair of pop flies. With two outs, the next Smithville batter was walked, but Wassman ended the postseason contest with a catch in center field for the last out of the game.
Platte County has advanced to the Class 5 State Quarterfinals where it will host Webb City (19-15) on May 28 at 2 p.m. If the Pirates win, they will make it to the Final Four which would begin on June 3.