A juggernaut of a first inning led to a 19-run victory for the Platte County baseball team (22-9) over East Kansas City (3-7) in the Class 5 District 8 Quarterfinals at Creekside Baseball Complex on May 16.
The opening inning started off sluggish for Platte County on defense – walking the first three batters and four overall, and East scored two runs – but the Pirates showed out on offense. A Dayne Wimberly double to left field ignited a 17-run first inning outing for Platte County.
Dayton Dollhad two hits in the Pirates 21-2 win over East Kansas City on May 16.
The Pirates went all the way through the lineup twice and some, with 22 trips at home plate, connecting with 10 hits in the inning. Eli Nelson had an RBI double to put the Pirates up 3-2 over the Bears, and they never looked back.
Platte County had nine runs before receiving its first out and Sawyer Allen nearly had an inside-the-park grand slam when he tripled with the bases loaded and decided to stop at third base instead of rounding to home plate. Wimberly had a home run in his third at-bat to send Dayton Doll across home plate to score the 17th run in the first inning, which lasted more than an hour of real time.
Brett Domann struck out all three Bear batters in the ensuing inning before the Pirates added four runs to the scoreboard. Platte County had five hits and three walks in the inning.
Three of the next four East batters were unable to make it to first base and the mercy rule kept the Pirates from one more trip on offense. Wimberly had four of the 15 hits and five of the 18 RBIs on the day.
Platte County has now won four consecutive games, along with nine of its last ten, to earn the top-seed in the postseason tournament. The Pirates were scheduled to take on Winnetonka (11-12) in the semifinals on May 17 with a chance to advance to the district championship, which is set to be played at 5 p.m. on May 19.