West Platte junior third baseman Vaida Vasques field a ball during the Park Hill South Tournament.
West Platte’s softball team is off to a 5-9 start to the season in a schedule packed with tough competition.
The Blue Jays opened the season with a challenging slate of games, which included three tournament appearances against teams from higher classifications.
The season began with a return to the Rockwood Invitational in Chesterfield on Aug. 28-29.
West Platte opened the season with an 8-1 defeat to Rockwood Summer, a 2-1 defeat Kelly, a 5-1 defeat to Silex and a 7-4 defeat to Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau).
West Platte opened conference play with a statement run-rule victory over Mid-Buchanan, defeating the Dragons 10-0 at Benner Park on Sept. 10. The Blue Jays jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first two innings, later using a two-run fourth inning and a three-run sixth to cruise past the Dragons.
Freshman pitcher Shiloh Doran was dominant as she threw her first complete-game shutout in high school, striking out four batters with no walks in six innings on 75 pitches. Doran also went 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs, including the game-ending RBI as West Platte reached its 10-run victory in the sixth inning. Senior center fielder Brook Allison led the offense with a four-RBI night, including a sacrifice fly, a two-RBI single and a groundout.
The Blue Jays had a promising tournament showing on Sept. 12 at the Benton Tournament, advancing to the championship after defeating Benton 11-0 in five innings and handing North Platte its first loss this season with a 12-2 win in five innings. Junior third baseman Vaida Vasques led the way with four RBIs from a pair of extra-base hits in the tournament’s opening matchups, using an RBI triple against Benton before a bases-clearing double against North Platte.
Ultimately, West Platte fell just short of the tournament title, losing 5-4 to Richmond in the championship game. Richmond took a 3-0 lead before the Blue Jays responded with a one-run fourth and three-run fifth to take a 4-2 lead, only for Richmond to load the bases with no outs and score the walk-off winner with one out in the fifth.
West Platte’s bats were in tip-top shape for their 15-5 victory on home turf over Jefferson with South Nodaway on Sept. 15. Vasques was joined by senior second baseman Ella Davis with four-RBI performances while Doran pitched four scoreless frames before Allison finished it off.
The Blue Jays suffered their first conference defeat of the season with a 14-12 defeat to Lathrop on Sept. 17. Trailing 12-6, West Platte used a four-run sixth inning to make it 12-10, but couldn’t hold off Lathrop’s offense.
West Platte returned to the Park Hill South Tournament Sept. 18-19, posting a 1-3 record with defeats to Fort Osage (4-1), Harrisburg (8-2) and Park Hill South (6-2). The Blue Jays’ victory came with a 3-0 shutout over St. Joseph Central, using a three-run fifth inning to score the only runs of the contest.
Freshman pitcher Shiloh Doran has made an immediate impact for West Platte this season from the circle and at the plate.
Allison drove in two runs against Central, bringing her season tally to a team-leading 14 runs batted in. Doran pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and a walk on 81 pitches with seven strikeouts.
West Platte has also gotten recent production from sophomore shortstop Maddie Cline, who missed the opening weekend. Cline is batting .424 on the season with 14 hits, the most on the team.
Following home clashes with Cameron (Sept. 21) and St. Pius X (Sept. 23), West Platte will visit East Buchanan (Sept. 24) before another challenging tournament at the September Slam. West Platte has matchups slated against Fort Osage, Owasso (Oklahoma), Rock Bridge and Liberty in the tournament Sept. 25-26.