The Platte County Lady Pirates’ softball team is headed to the state quarterfinals after beating Smithville on their home field for the Class 4 District 7 championship on Friday, Oct. 16.
Platte County will take on Grain Valley on Thursday, Oct. 22. Head coach Callie Peoples told the Platte County Citizen her team will be ready.
“We know Grain Valley has a solid pitching, defensive, and offensive staff and we are going to have to prepare this week and play well on Thursday to beat them,” Peoples said.
Emma Koeneke got the start for the Lady Pirates in both games and went all seven innings versus Smithville giving up only two runs on two hits while striking out 13 batters. Smithville tagged Koeneke in the second inning for two runs before being shut out the rest of the way.
Peoples said Koeneke’s confidence is high heading into the quarterfinals. Koeneke battled through some velocity issues in the middle of the season; but is in top form now. Peoples said the way she battles also gives confidence to the defense behind her.
She has the ability to do exactly what she needs to do to get our team out of some tough situations and helps us avoid a lot of those tough situations in the first place.
The Lady Pirates answered Smithville’s two runs with a run of their own in the bottom half of the second inning.
First baseman Takayla Lawson gave the Lady Pirates the lead in the bottom of the third inning with a three-run homer.
Lawson was 2 for 3 from the plate with three RBI and a run scored. Avery Webster and Magee Halle also had hits.
The No. 1 seeded Lady Pirates had a bye the opening round of the tournament but took on No. 6 seeded Excelsior Springs in the semifinals on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The Lady Pirates shut out Excelsior 8-0 behind a strong performance by Koeneke who gave up only two hits and struck out nine batters.
Both hits Koeneke gave up came in the top of the fourth inning. The leadoff hitter got a knock when the ball glanced off of Koeneke’s glove and went into center field. First baseman Takayala Lawson just missed completing a double play after catching a pop-up on the next hitter. The third batter in the inning put the ball between the first and second basemen to give Excelsior two on with only one out. Koeneke got the next hitter to pop out and the next hitter to strike out swinging to end the threat.
The big blow in the game came in the second inning when leadoff hitter Magee Halle sent a no doubt shot over the left field fence for a three-run homer to give Platte County a 4-0 lead. Grace Heater walked twice and drove in two runs with a hit. Avery Webster, Jules Knudsen, and Lawson each had a RBI.
Peoples said Halle and Lawson have both delivered big hits during the season and both are just carrying that over to the post season.
“Halle and TK have done an awesome job producing some of those big hits at big times this whole season,” Peoples said. “We have really stressed eliminating leaving batters on base and they have gotten the job done to score those runs.”
Peoples said those home runs have a lot less impact if runners are not getting on base ahead of her sluggers.
“Not only are the big hits important for wins but getting on base is just as important,” Peoples said. Avery Webster, Maddie Carter, and Demi Riechers have done a great job finding a way to get on base to put Halle and TK in the position to score those runs.