Park Hill South took a lesson this past weekend in what the season might look like without star pitcher Olivia Kinsey.
With the University of Oregon-bound right-hander out due to injury, the Panthers continued to show off strong hitting in an eighth-place showing at the Winnetonka Tournament. They went 2-3 overall in five games with Gracie Dieleman and Jessie Hagen picking up most of the innings.
Kinsey, a Class 4 all-state performer in 2015, could be out for the season.
After opening with a 6-0 loss to Oak Grove on Friday, Park Hill South came back to beat rival Park Hill 10-2 in six innings. Hagen threw a complete game and allowed only five hits and two unearned runs in the fourth, which drew the Trojans within 4-2.
Park Hill South answered back with two in the top of the fifth on RBI singles for Emma Beuerlein and Kate Kobayashi. Hagen, who had an RBI double in the first, led off the sixth with a single to start a four-run inning with Kristin Clevenger hitting a two-run single and Beuerlein adding a two-run single two batters later.
Jessie Binckley scored Park Hill’s runs with a two-run double in the fourth after an error extended the inning.
Park Hill South closed pool play with a 10-3 win against William Chrisman. Georgia Clark hit a three-run home run in the first inning after the Bears went up 1-0 in the top of the frame, and the Panthers were ahead 7-1 after two innings.
Dieleman earned the win.
Park Hill South lost its final two games — 21-5 to defending state champion Staley and 8-7 vs. Raytown. Against Staley, the Panthers used three pitchers and allowed two or more runs in each of the five innings with the Falcons hitting five home runs.
Hagen hit a three-run home run for Park Hill South in the second, cutting Staley’s lead to 8-4.
Raytown plated three in the bottom of the seventh for a walkoff win, having trailed from the start in the seventh-place game. Carolyn Stock’s home run put Park Hill South up 7-4 in the top of the fifth before the Blue Jays grabbed one back in the bottom of the frame.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, five straight batters reached against Hagen to score the three winning runs.
Park Hill ended up 0-5 in the tournament despite hitting three home runs. In addition to the pool play loss to Park Hill South, the Trojans also dropped matchups with William Chrisman (20-12) and Oak Grove (4-0). Chrisman scored 11 unearned runs against three pitchers, plating at least three runs in four of five innings.
In the bottom of the first, Park Hill took a 7-3 lead with seven unearned runs. Carli Ramsey hit a two-run single to highlight the outburst. The advantage went to 8-3 in the second before Chrisman answered with six runs in the third.
The score was tied 10-10 entering the fifth when the Bears batted 15 in a 10-run inning.
In the bracket games, Oak Park scored five in the eighth to take 9-4 win in extra innings. Katie Wood hit a two-run home run in the first inning to give Park Hill a 2-0 lead, and Alexa Lashbrook’s solo shot in the fourth put the Trojans up 4-3.
Park Hill lost again to William Chrisman 12-5 despite a three-run home run from Peyton Morehouse.
Liberty North 10, Park Hill South 1
The Panthers dropped to 8-7 overall and 2-2 in Suburban Conference Red Division play. They were scheduled to play Tuesday, Sept. 13, but the result was not available at The Citizen’s deadline.
Liberty North took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first Monday, Sept. 12 at Park Hill South High School in Riverside, Mo. and added five unearned runs late to pull away. Park Hill South drew within 2-1 with a run in the fourth after Clark led off with a single and came around to score on Beuerlein’s RBI.
Park Hill South 6, Liberty 0
Dieleman allowed six hits but no walks while striking out five in a shutout Tuesday, Sept. 6 in Independence, Mo.
Truman left just two runners in scoring position and didn’t put anyone on third base against Dieleman. Park Hill South didn’t break the shutout until the top of the fourth, and the Panthers scored a pair in three of the final four innings.
Carolyn Stock’s RBI triple scored Meggen Keller after her leadoff double in the fourth. Stock scored on a squeeze bunt from Taylor Johnson. The Panthers’ lead increased to 4-0 with two unearned in the sixth on Clevenger’s two-RBI, pinch-hit triple.
Clark added an RBI double in a two-run seventh, and Dieleman worked around a one-out double in the bottom of the seventh. All five of Truman’s hits were singles.
Park Hill 14, North Kansas City 13
The Trojans pounded out 16 hits in a wild nonconference matchup Tuesday, Sept. 6 in North Kansas City, Mo.
After taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, Park Hill at one point looked on the verge of a 10-run victory, scoring in every inning except the seventh. Instead, North Kansas City put up three runs in the fourth, two in the fifth, four in the sixth and three in the seventh to nearly complete an improbable comeback.
Binckley pitched the final 1 2/3 innings in relief of Josie Heckman for Park Hill, and North Kansas City never put the potential tying run on base. Each team committed eight errors.
Park Hill totaled nine unearned runs with singles from Morehouse (first) and MJ LaMunyon (fourth) and a double for Wood the only RBI hits for the Trojans while piling up a 9-1 lead. Binckley tripled and scored in the fifth to put the Trojans lead at 10-4 before the Hornets’ comeback started in earnest.
Lashbrook doubled and scored on an error, and Kaelyn Day plated one with an RBI single followed with LaMunyon’s two-run single. Park Hill was up 14-6 going to the bottom of the inning but gave up seven unanswered before Binckley retired the final batter with a groundout to shortstop.
Following the win, a scheduled Thursday, Sept. 8 game was pushed back to October due to weather, and Park Hill then lost 9-0 to Lee’s Summit on Monday, Sept. 12, dropping the Trojans to 0-2 in Suburban Conference Gold Division play.
Overall, Park Hill stood at 3-10 entering this week, showing signs of development after a four-win campaign in 2015. The Trojans were scheduled for a Gold Division game on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at Blue Springs South, weather permitting.
Belton 9, Platte County 4
The Pirates lost a four-run lead in a Suburban Conference Blue Division loss Monday, Sept. 12 in Belton, Mo.
Paige Rocha, a freshman third baseman, led off the game with a home run, and Platte County (5-4, 2-2) added three more in the top of the third with Stephanie Carroll’s double starting the inning. Janessa Barmann, Tori Farr and Anna Townsend all hit RBI singles in a row.
Gracie Erickson, a freshman pitcher, returned from a hand injury suffered early in the season and took the loss, allowing two runs in the third, three in the fifth and four in the sixth.
Platte County 13, Raytown South 3, 6 innings
A six-run fifth inning helped the Pirates pull away for a walkoff win Tuesday, Sept. 6 in a Blue Division matchup at Platte County High School.
Lauren Magee hit a two-run double to start the rally, and Rocha capped it with a two-run triple. Platte County went ahead 10-3 at that point after the Cardinals had trimmed an early deficit to 4-3 in the top of the frame.
Magee finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two driven in, while Farr went 4-for-4 with four singles, scoring twice and driving in another. Her RBI came in a three-run third that put Platte County up 4-1, and the Pirates put up three in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early.