The Platte County softball team is looking to build some momentum going into the final stretch of the regular season.
“We’re trying to get on a roll and get things going right before districts,” head coach Callie Peoples said. “Trying to clean some things up and build some confidence so everybody can have a good mindset going into districts.”
The Pirates have faced some ups and downs over the season for various reasons. Among the tests has been the demanding competition, which has forced the Pirates to a challenging win-loss record of 15-7.
Platte County has also had trouble finding a rhythm due to rainouts over more recent weeks. In the Pirates’ most recent defeat on Sept. 29, which was their first game in a week, they gave up four runs in the first inning before settling down and playing well the final six innings.
“If you take away that first inning, we win that ballgame,” Peoples said of her team’s 4-3 defeat to Belton. “We had really good at-bats and played really good defense for six innings.”
After a difficult start, Platte County got one run back in the second inning before Bryli Seifert hit a two-run single that got the Pirates within a run in the third inning. With a runner in scoring position and nobody out, a fielder’s choice got the lead runner before a groundout and a strikeout ended the inning.
The Pirates advanced the tying run into scoring position again in the sixth and seventh innings but were unable to get that run home. Platte County addressed those issues in their 7-5 victory against Fort Osage on Oct. 2 with a three-run first inning before scoring the go-ahead run in the sixth.
The biggest hurdle for the Pirates to overcome in districts will be Kearney, which has defeated Platte County in the district championship each of the past three years. If all goes to plan, Platte County will likely get another shot at the Bulldogs this postseason, a game in which the Pirates hope to be ready for.
“They are a great ball team,” People said of Kearney. “We’re going to have to play well, we’re going to have to be ready to go when the game starts and play every pitch of every inning. We can’t get ourselves down with one bad inning.
“A lot of it is a mental game, too,” Peoples said. “Knowing that they are good enough and knowing that they can beat them. They just have to play their game and not try to play Kearney’s game.”
Platte County will conclude its regular season with a four-game homestand with matchups against William Chrisman (Oct. 7), Grain Valley (Oct. 8), Kearney (Oct. 9) and North Platte (Oct. 13) before the Class 4 District 8 tournament begins on Oct. 15.