Platte County recorded a second straight shutout of Belton to pull the Suburban Conference Blue Division sweep.
Behind another combined pitching performance, Platte County made two early runs stand up in an 8-0 win Monday, April 24 at Platte County High School. Platte County won the previous matchup 7-0 11 days earlier before playing in the Northland Tournament in between.
Jared Wilson (four innings) and Grant Carver (three innings) combined to allow only six hits and two walks while striking out four.
The offense again came from a revamped top of the lineup with senior Colton Horn still out with a shoulder injury. Kobe Cummings and Ryan Frazier — both outfielders — singled and walked to start the bottom of the first, and Cummings came home on a fielding error.
Platte County doubled the advantage in the second when Wilson grounded out to score senior second baseman Dillon Doll, who was hit by a pitch to start the inning and moved up on a sacrifice and a steal of third.
Doll doubled home Austin Gammill to start the scoring in a six-run fourth. Doll came around to score along with Wilson and Cummings on Frazier’s three-run single to right field.
Justin Mitchell capped the inning with a two-out, two-run home run — his third of the season. Platte County improved to 13-2 overall and 6-0 in Blue Division play.
Park Hill South 11, Raytown 6
The two teams traded big innings late with the Panthers prevailing thanks to five runs in the bottom of the sixth Monday, April 24 at Park Hill South High School in Riverside, Mo.
Park Hill South led 1-0 after the first thanks to Jake Kline’s leadoff triple and Malik Stevenson’s sacrifice fly. Kline then singled home a second run in the second, and Sam Beuerlein tripled and scored in the fourth to put the Panthers up 3-0.
The first big inning came in the bottom of the fifth.
Jack Beuerlein singled in Andrew Aswegan and then scored on Stephen Personelli’s triple. Personelli came home on an error to make it 6-0. Raytown countered with three in the sixth to slice the lead in half, but the Panthers took control for good in the bottom of the inning, sending 10 to the plate.
Six straight reached safely after Stevenson’s fielder’s choice resulted in the second out. Aswegan hit an RBI single, and Ryan Hagen followed with a run-scoring double. Two batters later, Personelli drove in two more to put the Panthers up 11-3.
Raytown scored three more in the top of the seventh but stranded two. Park Hill South improved to 8-12 overall and 2-4 in Suburban Conference Red Division play — both wins now over the Blue Jays.
Lee’s Summit 8, Park Hill 4
The Trojans dropped to 13-6 overall and 2-3 in Suburban Conference Gold Division play with a loss Monday, April 24 in Lee’s Summit, Mo. They have now lost three straight in league play, including two in a row to Lee’s Summit.
Tyler Watson singled and scored on Liam Henry’s single in the top of the first, and Park Hill led 1-0 until the bottom of the third when Lee’s Summit tied it. The Tigers then added two in the fourth, four in the fifth and one in the sixth to pull away.
Park Hill used three pitchers, and Henry — the left-handed ace — ended up charged with three runs in four innings of work.