Park Hill South second baseman Cason Lett throws the ball to Michael Good while falling to the ground to get Platte County junior Ryan Bronson out in the Panthers 4-3 come-from-behind home win on March 20.
PARKVILLE – Taking an early 3-0 lead and looking to snap a three-game losing skid at the time, the Platte County baseball team (2-5) let that lead slip away and Park Hill South (5-3) came out on top, 4-3, on March 20.
Dating back to 2018, Park Hill South has now won five consecutive games against Platte County, but the most recent matchup had a less than ideal start for the home team. Quinton Chindamo was on the mound all game for the Panthers – striking out five batters and only allowing three hits – but had some mistakes early on.
Dayton Doll was the leadoff batter in the contest and reached first base on an error and scored on a wild pitch after Bronson Ryan was walked. Brennan McLaughlin made it to first on a fielder’s choice and added to the lead off an error later in the inning.
Chindamo walked and hit the first two batters in the second inning, putting Liam Blacklock in scoring position. Doll doubled to left field with two outs to send Blacklock home and put the road team ahead 3-0.
The Park Hill South defense responded with two straight clean innings, before having back-to-back errors followed by a walk to load the bases with two outs in the top of the fourth inning. Ryan grounded out to Michael Good and the Pirates failed to add to the lead.
Park Hill South used that as momentum when heading back into the dugout, adding four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to go ahead. Carson Bjorn reached on an error and Aidan Bui was walked.
Trenton Parker singled on a line drive to left field with two outs, sending Bjorn across home plate and Bui advanced to third base. Platte County had another error when Brock Harmon hit a grounder to second base, and Bui scored.
Starting pitcher McLaughlin was relieved by Owen Rawlings who walked and hit the ensuing two batters, resulting in the final run of the game. Good grounded out to Rawlings to close out the inning, and Park Hill South led 4-3.
Platte County had some chances in the top of the sixth and seventh innings but failed to score another run. Wes Chiddix came in to pitch in the sixth inning for the Pirates, striking out one batter.
Doll ended with two of the Pirates’ three hits, being the only one with an RBI. The Panthers had four players with one hit – Christian Denig, Giovannia Fatino, Good and Parker.
That was Platte County’s first game outside of the Metro Leadoff Tournament where it won the first game and lost the next three. In those four games, the Pirates had 35 hits and 10 errors.
Platte County saw its fifth straight loss come against Kearney (5-2) by a score of 3-1 on March 22. The Pirates earned their second win of the season when Brian Chandler had a walk-off 2-RBI single to topple Smithville (2-5) by one run on March 25.
Park Hill South opened the season with back-to-back tight wins: an 11-inning, 6-3 victory over St. Pius X (3-3) and a 7-6 victory over Shawnee Mission Northwest (1-1). The Panthers had back-to-back losses to Smith-Cotton (3-24 and Blue Springs South (2-4) ahead of the Pirates’ game.
A pair of South Dakota teams – Harrisburg and O’Gorman – came to town to play Park Hill South on March 22 and 23. The Panthers split those games before coming out with a 3-2 win over Grain Valley (4-4) on March 25.
Park Hill South will be back at it when it hosts Lee’s Summit North (3-3) on March 27. Platte County will head to Stillwater, OK, on March 28 to take on some out-of-state competition.