The Platte County volleyball team celebrates after sweeping St. Theresa’s Academy in the Class 4 State Quarterfinals to clinch a berth to state for the second time since 2020 last fall.
Among the eight sports in the action-packed fall season, the Platte County volleyball team had the most success, while other squads had their moments to shine.
When the volleyball season concluded, the Lady Pirates ended in third place in all of Class 4 for the second time since 2020. Having won 22 or more matches every season since 2017, the Lady Pirates made it to back to the Final Four last fall.
Winning eight of the nine true road matches on the season, Platte County won 11 in a row after starting off 3-2. The Lady Pirates played in two out-of-state tournaments – one in Kansas and one in Nebraska – going 4-3 against those opponents, winning 18 of their 24 regular season matches against Missouri schools, 15 of which were sweeps.
Platte County clinched the No. 1 seed in the Class 4 District 8 Tournament, sweeping its first two opponents before beating Kearney in four sets. The Lady Pirates were rewarded for winning the district championship, getting to host the state quarterfinals when they swept St. Michael the Archangel.
Karsyn Stehlik (#10) and Madison Hoyt (#13) were two of the Platte County volleyball seniors that led the team to a third-place finish in the Class 4 State Tournament.
In the Class 4 Final Four, Platte County was tasked with taking on the reigning champions, Westminster Christian Academy, and lost in four sets. Westminster Christian Academy went on to win another state title.
The Lady Pirates had to play the third-place match in the same day, after a long delay due to other state matches lasting longer than expected, and they defeated Webb City 3-2, ending the year on a high note. Having taken third place in 2020, this year’s senior class was a part of the only two teams in program history to accomplish said feat.
The year started off shaky for Platte County with multiple teams having less success early on than it’s been accustomed to. The boys’ soccer, football and softball teams all came out of the gate sluggish, but that didn’t last all fall.
On the soccer field, the Pirates were coming off a 20-4 campaign and started 2022 by splitting the opening eight games and having as many losses as the season prior before the midway point. Three of those four losses were by one goal – including a double overtime loss to Liberty North who went on to win a district title in Class 4 – with the other loss being by a 3-1 margin in the season opener to Blue Springs South in the Park Hill Classic.
Junior cross-country runner Andrew Johnson was all-state with an eighth place finish with a time of 16:03.3 in his final 5K of the year.
After the shaky start, Platte County rattled off 11 consecutive victories to close out regular season play, outscoring opponents 39-11 in that stretch. The Pirates earned the No. 2 seed in the Class 3 District 8 Tournament and matched up with Guadalupe Centers Charter – who beat them in the 2022 district championship – in the first round.
The higher seed prevailed by a score of 4-2 and moved on to play Pembroke Hill, who was a No. 6 seed, in the semifinals. That postseason matchup went to overtime tied 1-1 and after a controversial call, the Raiders were rewarded a PK and converted on it, eliminating the Pirates and ending their season with a heartbreaking loss and a 16-5 record.
On the gridiron, Platte County didn’t look like itself in the opening half of the season, losing four of its first five games. From 2014-2021, the Pirates never won less than eight games and never lost more than four games, but that changed in 2022.
Averaging 26.7 points and allowing 24.5 points throughout the fall, the Pirates were on the wrong side of a pair of one-possession games to open the year before taking down North Kansas City for the fourth straight time since 2020 to get a tally in the win column in Week 3. An early season injury to all-state wide receiver Carter Salzman weakened Platte County’s offense, forcing the Pirates to put defensive end Chandavian Bradley out wide throughout the year, limiting his time on defense.
Demi Riechers was one of the six talented softball seniors that helped the Lady Pirates take third place at state in 2020 and 2021 before falling in a district title game in 2022.
After losses to Grain Valley and Oak Park, Platte County won three of the last four games – with the sole loss coming to Park Hill South who ended up being the Class 6 District 8 Runners-Up – and advanced to the Class 5 District 8 Semifinals following a 54-23 postseason win over William Chrisman. The Pirates’ season ended at 5-6 following a 33-22 loss to Oak Park on a night that was heavily affected by a downpour of rain.
The Platte County softball team entered the year with back-to-back third place finishes in the Class 4 State Tournament and elected to put some bigger schools on the schedule in 2022 to help prepare for the postseason. For the first time in more than 15 years, the Lady Pirates finished under .500, having 13 wins and 14 losses.
The first half of the fall was back-and-forth, with Platte County sitting at 6-7 before heading to Nebraska for a tournament that got cut short due to inclement weather, splitting a pair of contests. After losing two of the next three, the Lady Pirates won three in a row and then lost three in a row to end the regular season 11-13.
Platte County junior Gavin Nichols (#11) celebrates with teammates Connor Currence (#16) and Mark Wiesehan (#17) after scoring the sole goal in the Pirates 2-1 overtime loss to Pembroke Hill in districts last fall.
Being the No. 3 seed in the Class 4 District 8 Tournament, Platte County blanked Winnetonka 15-0 and then upset second-seeded Smithville 9-2 to advance to yet another district title game. The Lady Pirates matched up with top-seeded Kearney and led 5-3 through four innings but allowed 11 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and couldn’t recover.
Platte County had success in cross-country, having 14 total runners qualify. Sisely Mitchell was an all-state runner for the girls, taking 12th place with a time of 19:27.2.
Carmen Gentilia missed out on the top-25 by around 20 seconds, earning 30th place in 20:15.6. Marissa Orellana, Alex Beeman, Annabel Beeman and Joanna Reil were within 12 places of each other with times in 23 minutes and Julia Greco was another state qualifier.
Andrew Johnson made a name for himself in his junior campaign, capping off the impressive season as an all-state runner. He took eighth place at state after crossing the finish line in 16:03.3.
There were seven Pirates who made it to state with Kade Meinke and Kage Audas running sub-18-minute times. Tanner Jenks, Donavin Ness and Blake Herron ran under 19 minutes and Tanner Johnson ended his running career with a time of 19:09.2.
Dylan Zimmerman was the Platte County quarterback in 2022 when the Pirates finished with a record of 5-6 and a district semifinals exit.
The Platte County girls’ tennis team was on the verge of bringing home the first district title in program history, but fell short to St. Pius X, 5-2. The Lady Pirates clinched the top-seed in the Class 2 District 8 Tournament after posting a 9-6 regular season record – including five wins to close out regular season play – before beating Kearney 6-1 and being eliminated by the No. 2 seed.
Platte County senior golfer Bailey Silcott not only wrapped up her high school career as a 3-time state qualifier, but also become the first all-state player in program history. It took until her final putt in hole 18 of the Class 3 State Golf Championship, but Silcott clinched 15th place with 175 strokes.
With only the top-15 finishers earning all-state honors, Ella Green and Lilly Ricketts missed out on such a feat. Green was in a 3-way tie for 30th place with 186 strokes and Ricketts tied for 62nd place with 202 strokes.
There were 32 swimming teams that made it to state, including Platte County. The Pirates finished in 13th place out of 32 teams.