With the season hanging in the balance and silence sweeping across the Platte County High School tennis courts, all eyes locked on Platte County’s No. 5 singles player Jake Diano on Monday, May 13.
One match remained. Only Branson’s Pierson Dean stood between Platte County and the dream of a second straight trip to Springfield for a State Tournament Final Four appearance.
In the opening round of the quarterfinals, Platte County won one of three doubles matchups as seniors Hayden Cook and Will Kimlinger earned an 8-3 doubles victory. Diano was part of a team that dropped a crucial doubles point in a tiebreaker, meaning Platte County would need four wins in six singles matches to keep their season alive.
“Everyone was thinking, ‘well, that’s it,’” Diano said. “The whole plan was to win two out of three doubles and three singles. After that happened, we were all kind of down.”
Platte County senior Jake Diano against Branson on May 13 in the MSHSAA State Quarterfinal on May 13 at Platte County High School.
One by one, the singles victories came. Sophomore Mitchel McBratney and Cook cruised to wins. Kimlinger outlasted his opponent in a super tiebreaker, pulling Platte County within one match of clinching. The tension grew unbearable as it eventually came down to Diano and Dean on Court 3.
Diano — a steady but quiet competitor — cruised to a 6-2 first-set victory but dropped his second set in the tiebreaker, forcing a third-set super tiebreaker. Branson’s No. 5 quickly raced out to a 5-1 lead.
“When it’s really tense, I always try to get them to focus on the footwork,” Platte County head coach Zach Keith said. “Typically, when you’re nervous, it affects your upper body.
“Try to remind him of the simple things: move your feet, then your knees. At that point, there’s no complex strategy that he’s going to utilize. He’s nervous, the other guy’s nervous.”
Diano wasn’t done. With grit and resilience. With unshakable calmness. He clawed back, point by point, step by step, to level the score 6-6.
Then Branson’s Dean went soaring forward, taking a 9-6 lead. On the brink of elimination, Diano battled through long rallies, refusing to give in. He saved all three match points and to tie it up 9-9 as they went back and forth.
A rollercoaster of cheers and held breaths. Finally, with Diano jumping in front 13-12, the moment was finally his.
With the crowd leaning over every bounce of the ball, Branson cracked with a double fault into the net, sealing a dramatic quarterfinal victory for Platte County. The Pirates had done it — in the most dramatic fashion imaginable.
“Pure joy,” Diano said. “Pure dopamine. That was nuts. I’ve never screamed that loud in my life in front of a crowd. It was adrenaline-rushing; it was amazing.”
Diano rose victorious 14-12 in the third-set tiebreaker, giving Platte County the 5-4 victory to put them back in the State Final Four, sparking an eruption from Diano, who turned around to celebrate with his teammates as they carried him off the court.
“We needed a lot of things to go right today,” Keith said. “The guys just played great all day long. The matches we lost, we played really well. The matches we won came down to the wire. We were playing really good tennis when we needed to.”
The road for Diano to get into the position to extend his own career was far from easy. The senior started at the bottom of the totem pole in his first year and worked his way into the varsity team for the first time this year.
“It means everything,” Diano said. “It shows how hard I’ve worked. The player I was two years ago, starting bottom of the C team, to go from bottom of the team to JV No. 5 to Varsity No. 5 is just incredible. I’m just so glad my hard work paid off. It’s so rewarding.”
Platte County had lost to Branson 7-2 just a month earlier, but had been playing its best tennis late in the season. Even though the match didn’t follow the original script, the Pirates’ belief in one another ultimately proved decisive.
Platte County will make the journey to Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield this week to play in the Class 2 Final Four. Their semifinal clash against MICDS on Thursday, May 22, will be a rematch of last year’s championship, which MICDS won 5-1.
Keith is excited for his team to have another shot, especially for his five seniors. Kimlinger considered not playing his senior season, and Cook opted not to graduate early so he could return to the court. After the duo swept their doubles and singles matches, those decisions felt especially more justified.
For Keith and Platte County, who were on the opposite side of this result in 2022 against Grain Valley in the district championship, this win will stand among the most memorable — not just for the outcome, but for the way it unfolded.
“I told them, ‘it doesn’t always work out that way, but you sure remember it when it does,’” Keith said.
Platte County senior Will Kimlinger against Branson on May 13.