Platte County scored nine runs over the final three innings it batted to pick up a 13-5 victory over Winnetonka on Monday, May 6 at Platte County High School.
Tied at 4-4 after the top of the fourth, the Pirates broke the tie with four runs in the bottom half of the inning and didn’t look back to claim a Suburban Conference Blue Division win.
Chase James opened with a single and after stealing second base, he scored on Dalton Riechers’ two-out bloop single. Riechers came around to score on Ethan Esdohr’s RBI triple. Colby Sneed (single) and Glen Gammill (double) followed to knock in runs to make it 8-4.
Esdohr had the lone RBI in the two-run fifth inning and Rhett Spell hit a two-run single in the sixth. Riechers added his third RBI of the game in the bottom of the sixth.
Sawyer Allen got the win, while Christian Grissell threw three innings for the save for the Pirates.
NUGENT PHOTOGRAPHY/Special to the Citizen
Platte County’s Ethan Esdohr watches his hit during a Suburban Conference Blue Division game against Winnetonka on Monday, May 6 at Platte County High School.
Park Hill South 7, St. Joseph Central 4
A five-run fourth inning lifted the Panthers to a Suburban Conference Red Division game on Monday, May 6 in Riverside.
Alex Rodriguez (single), Jackson Dixon (single) and Ryan Owens (fielder’s choice) made it 3-0. Dylan Owens capped the scoring with a two-run single.
The final two runs for the Panthers came on wild pitches.
Zane Leiker threw two scoreless inning in relief to earn the win for Park Hill South, which went with a ‘bullpen day’ strategy with no one going more than two innings.
Blue Springs 3, Park Hill 1
The Wildcats spoiled senior night for the Trojans, winning a Suburban Conference Gold Division game on Monday, May 6 in Kansas City.
The lone run for the Trojans came in the second inning, which tied the game at 1-1. Trent Trammel and Max Pitts walked, which set up Mac Cross’ RBI single, though an out at home kept the game tied.
Andrew Garry hit a solo home run in the fifth for Blue Springs to break the tie.
Park Hill (14-12) brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but Ethan Broker struck out the side. He finished with nine strikeouts — but also walked nine — in the complete-game effort.
Park Hill 13, Maryville 2
Excelsior Springs 11, Park Hill 6
The Trojans split a pair of games hosted at Excelsior Springs on Saturday, May 4.
Facing Maryville, the Trojans scored six runs in the first, added five more in the fourth inning and ended the game on the mercy rule in five innings.
Ayden Mertz had an RBI single in the first and fourth innings, while Mac Cross had a two-run single for the big hit in the first inning. Carter Jensen hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning for Park Hill.
Mertz struck out 13 in 4 2/3 innings to earn the win. He gave up two runs but neither were earned.
Blake Morrow, Mertz and Trent Trammel all had two hits.
In the opening game on Saturday, the host Tigers went up 6-0 early and never looked back.
Park Hill’s Chandler Ashby went four innings on the mound and struck out seven, giving up only one earned run. Of the 11 runs scored by Excelsior Springs, only one was earned as Park Hill had six errors.
Half of the runs for Park Hill came in the seventh inning.
Jensen, Max Pitts and Ryan Kiser had two hits each for Park Hill.
Camdenton 4, Park Hill South 3
Park Hill South 5, St. Elizabeth 0
The Panthers scored three runs early but lost on a walkoff against the host Lakers in a pair of games on Saturday, May 4 in Camdenton.
Two walks and a single set up Cade Meek’s two-run double and Max Pawela’s RBI groundout in the second inning. Up 3-1 at that point, the Park Hill South lead didn’t last long. Singles by Ethan Folks and Luke Lockert tied the game in the fourth. Camdenton then won it on a bases-loaded single by Preston Crabtree in the bottom of the seventh.
Facing St. Elizabeth, ranked No. 3 in Class 1, Park Hill South scored all of its runs between the fifth and sixth innings.
Dylan Hufft had a two-run single, while Mike Jones (double) and Alex Rodriguez (single) also drove in runs in the four-run fifth. Michael Allen’s sac fly the next inning brought home Matt Suchanick, who led off with a single. He was 2-for-3, while Hufft finished 2-for-4.
Ethan Farrow struck out five and gave up four hits in the shutout for Park Hill South.
Platte County 8, Grandview 3
The Pirates won a Suburban Conference Blue Division game on Friday, May 3 in a game moved from Grandview to Platte City due to weather.
Down 1-0, Platte County scored five runs in the fourth inning, thanks to a two-out rally. Nolan Saale singled and scored on Rhett Spell’s RBI double. A balk brought Spell home, before Ethan Esdohr delivered a two-run double. The Pittsburg State signee later scored on a passed ball.
Saale added two-run single and Spell had an RBI single in the sixth for the Pirates.
Saale, Spell and Glen Gammill all had two hits.
Landon Fulk got the win in relief for Platte County.
Lawrence, Kan. 4, Park Hill 0
Three Park Hill pitchers gave up only two hits, but the Trojans lost on Friday, May 3 in Lawrence, Kan.
Of the four runs given up by the Trojans, only one run was earned. Starter Will Stevens gave up three runs — one earned — in four innings. The future Wichita State pitcher fanned six and walked four and gave up one hit.
The RBI for the Lions came on a double by Carlos Vasquez in the fifth and Caleb Mondi in the second inning.
Park Hill had two runners on base in the fourth and fifth innings, but was blanked by a trio of Lawrence hurlers.
Truman 5, Park Hill South 4
Braeden Schramm hit a walk-off single to lift the Patriots to a victory on Friday, May 3 in Independence.
Kyle Barnett opened the bottom of the ninth with a single and then two walks followed — the latter intentional — to load the bases for Schramm. He hit the first pitch he saw into center field to end the Suburban Conference Red Division game.
Both teams scored two runs in the fifth inning that led to a 4-4 tie after seven innings. Jackson Dixon had a bases-loaded walk and Will Fricker’s sac fly gave the Panthers a 4-2 lead. The Patriots came back to tie it on Barnett’s RBI single and Josh Patrick’s sac fly.
Schramm accounted for three of the RBI for Truman, hitting a two-run home run in the third.
Dylan Owens was 5-for-5 — all singles — for Park Hill South.
Grain Valley 1, Platte County 0
The Pirates were no-hit by Jake Misioronski in a Suburban Conference Blue Division game held at Raytown High School after weather issues in Grain Valley on Thursday, May 2.
The lone run in the game came in the second inning. Cole Keller had a one-out single and scored on Seth Dankenbring’s RBI single, who was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
Platte County had four base runners, three on walks and one by a hit pitch. Colby Sneed was on base twice for the Pirates.
Ethan Esdohr was the tough-luck loser, giving up four hits and striking out six in six innings.
Lee’s Summit West 5, Park Hill 2
The Trojans had twice as many hits as the Titans, but lost a Suburban Conference Gold Division game on Friday, April 26 in Lee’s Summit.
The Titans, ranked No. 6 in Class 5, jumped ahead 3-0 after three innings before Park Hill scored a run in the top of the fourth inning.
Joe Daneff opened with a single and scored on Carter Jensen’s RBI double, but he was left stranded.
After leaving two on base in the fifth, Park Hill got its final run in the seventh inning.
Walks to Max Pitts and Blake Morrow and a single by Jake Evans loaded the bases with one out. Drew Townsend grounded out to bring in a run. Lee’s Summit West got a fly ball to end the game, stranding the tying run at second base.
Evans went 3-for-3 to collect half of the Trojans’ hits.
Up Next
All three schools will play in the Class 5 District 16 tournament, which starts Saturday at Staley High School.
Platte County earned the No. 5 seed and plays St. Joseph Central, the defending district champion, in the opening around at 11 a.m. on May 11. The second game has Oak Park against No. 3-seeded Park Hill South at 1 p.m.
The winner of that game faces No. 2 Park Hill at 6 p.m. on Monday, May 13. Top-seeded Staley faces the Central/Platte County winner at 4 p.m. earlier that day.
The championship game is slated for 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14.
Of the six teams in the tournament, five have a winning record and Staley is ranked No. 2 in the Missouri State High School Baseball Coaches Association rankings.