Platte County went 2-2 in the Carthage Invitational this past weekend — the Pirates’ final tournament ahead of the postseason this past weekend in Carthage, Mo. The Pirates opened with a 2-1 loss to Carl Junction, came back to beat Pleasant Hope (10-0) and Joplin (5-0) before closing with a 4-3 loss to Belton, which then hosted Platte County in the regular season finale scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 6. The result was not available at The Citizen’s deadline.
Mallory Stoner threw a five-inning shutout against Pleasant Hope, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out four. Platte County scored three in the first on doubles from Anna Townsend and Brittany Whitt. The Pirates added three in the fourth and four in the fifth on Tori Farr’s RBI double, Alexis Ray’s sacrifice fly and Stoner’s two run-run single.
Ray finished with three RBIs on two hits, while scoring a pair of runs. Stoner also drove in three, and Farr also scored twice.
Stoner threw a second shutout against Joplin, striking out five, and Lou Menninger provided the big hits. She tripled in the fourth inning, doubled in the sixth and also drove in the first run in the bottom of the first. The Pirates took a 2-0 lead with a sacrifice fly from Menninger and an RBI single from Stoner.
Menninger scored after her final two at-bats on RBIs. Farr scored her with an RBI single in the fourth, and Hopper scored Farr with another single to make it 4-0.
Against Belton, Platte County scored twice in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t come up with a tying run. Lauren Magee’s two-run home run trimmed Belton’s lead to one and gave Platte County its first runs since the bottom of the second when Townsend scored Menninger (2-for-3).
Linley Weicken took the loss, allowing two runs in both the top of the second and top of the fifth.
Platte County dropped to 15-11 on the season and will be the No. 3 seed in the Class 3 District 15 tournament at Platte County High School. The Pirates were slated to play O’Hara (1-17) in the first round on Wednesday, Oct. 7 with the winner advancing to play No. 2 Richmond (18-6) at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8.
The championship is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Platte County 10, Kearney 7
Despite some late drama, the Pirates scored a needed win Tuesday, Sept. 29 in Kearney, Mo.
Platte County improved to 7-2 in Suburban Conference Blue Division play with a pair of wins in league last week. The victory at Kearney helped the Pirates keep alive a glimmer of hope but Kearney’s 8-1 win against Belton on Monday, Oct. 5 wrapped up the title for the Bulldogs.
In the rematch with Kearney, Platte County scored five runs in the first inning, and Menninger added a home run in the sixth inning to help reverse the result of the previous meeting. Stoner, the Pirates’ standout senior, ended up allowing seven runs — five on three home runs in the bottom of the seventh that drew Kearney within 10-7.
Platte County led 7-1 after the second inning and 8-1 after the third.
Menninger ended up with four RBIs, while Townsend hit a three-run home run in the first. Stoner struck out three, walked two and allowed seven hits in the win.
Platte County 12, Raytown South 9
The Pirates ran their winning streak to three ahead of the Carthage Invitational, scoring early and holding on late Wednesday, Sept. 30 in a rescheduled game at Platte County High School.
Platte County and Raytown South combined for 22 hits — just three for extra bases. In the bottom of the first, the Pirates took a 6-0 lead with help from two errors, Farr’s RBI single and Hopper’s two-run single. The lead reached 10-0 after three, but Raytown South scored six in the top of the fifth to avoid a run-rule loss.
Weicken ended up allowing nine runs in seven innings, striking out four and walking none.
Townsend hit an RBI double in the sixth, part of a two-run frame that extended the lead to 12-6. The Cardinals plated three more against Weicken in the seventh before she closed out the victory.
Townsend drove in three total, while Lindsey Bogart also had a double and scored twice.