North Platte closed the regular season with three straight losses — one in a district preview.
The string started with a 7-0 shutout loss at Lawson on Tuesday, Sept. 26 in Lawson, Mo. The same two teams are scheduled to meet in the same place in a Class 2 District 15 first round matchup on Wednesday, Oct. 4 with the winner advancing to play second-seeded Plattsburg.
North Platte (9-14) holds the No. 6 seed in the six-team bracket — the only team in the difficult field with a losing record.
With a 7-3 loss on Thursday, Sept. 28 to Hamilton, North Platte finished the season at 2-5 in KCI Conference play. Hamilton took the advantage with three runs in the first and four in the second against Panthers freshman starter Ryann Smith at Dean Park in Dearborn, Mo.
North Platte sophomore Jordyn Smith threw four innings of scoreless relief, and Alley Rickel, Gracie Roach and Jordyn Goetz drove in one run apiece to help the Panthers close within 7-3 after six innings. They had just three hits total with two for Rickel, including a double. Roach also had a double.
North Platte closed the regular season Monday, Oct. 2 with an 11-9 loss at Maryville in a nonconference game.
Lathrop 9, West Platte 0
The Bluejays finished the KCI season with a shutout loss to the league champions Thursday, Sept. 28 in Lathrop, Mo.
Lathrop scored in each of the first four innings and took advantage of four West Platte errors, leading to five unearned runs. The Bluejays had just three hits — all singles, two for senior shortstop Kaitlin Larison.
West Platte finished 0-7 in KCI play for a third straight season despite improved results. The Bluejays earned the No. 2 seed in Class 1 District 14 and opens play Thursday, Oct. 5 against either DeKalb or Winston in a semifinal scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. in DeKalb, Mo.
Mid-Buchanan 5, West Platte 2
The Bluejays rallied in the final inning for their runs but couldn’t come all the way back from an early five-run hole Tuesday, Sept. 26 in Faucett, Mo.
Down 5-0 going to the top of the seventh, West Platte’s first four runners reached base to put on pressure in the KCI matchup. Lea Moose led off with a solo home run, and Karah Dunham, Sydney Sweeden and Rachel Heili followed with singles.
Heili’s infield hit scored pinch-runner Lindsay Goodwin to make it 5-2.
With the tying run at the plate, West Platte went groundout, strikeout and groundout to finish the game. Mid-Buchanan scored all five of its runs in the bottom of the first — only two earned against Dunham, who struck out four and allowed seven hits and two walks in six innings.
In the first, Mid-Buchanan batted around with three hits and two walks, while also taking advantage of an error to score three on a two-out double.