The defending state champion Platte County Pirates played error-free baseball last week, using sound fielding, elite pitching and timely hitting to knock off two of the top 10 teams in the state en route to a second consecutive district championship.
It wasn’t always beautiful, but the Platte County baseball team struck vengeance on Kearney, defeating their Highway 92 rival 7-3 to win a second consecutive Class 5 District 8 championship on May 23. The district championship came after a 2-0 semifinal win over St. Pius X on May 21 and a 15-0 quarterfinal thumping of East on May 19.
The Pirates, ranked No. 5 in Class 5, entered districts as the No. 2 seed after a 1-0 regular-season defeat to No. 6-ranked Kearney as the Pirates’ Brennan McLaughlin lost out in a pitching duel with the Bulldogs’ Cale Davis. With both ineligible to pitch in the championship, Platte County’s depth came through when they needed it.
Zach Brown took the ball for Platte County and kept the game moving with ease early on. Brown was perfect through three innings while only throwing 22 pitches, eventually pitching into the seventh inning with three runs allowed, six hits and three strikeouts on 69 pitches.
“It feels absolutely incredible,” Brown said. “We won it last year. This year, we’ve got a new group of guys and it’s very special. I’m very blessed.”
Zach Brown showed his efficiency while impressing for Platte County in the district championship.
Brown has been Platte County’s most consistent strike-thrower. Against Kearney, Brown threw 44 strikes in 69 pitches to earn the biggest win of his career.
“Zach is a gutsy, gutsy, gutsy kid. He’s a gamer,” Platte County head coach John Sipes said. “He’s a clown until he gets on that mound, then he’s lights out. We can count on him for any spot in any order.”
On the offensive end, Platte County faced some early frustrations with five baserunners reaching without scoring in the first four innings. Runners got caught stealing in the first and fourth innings while a pair of bunt mishaps, popups and double plays abandoned other promising positions.
“Zach was dealing and we knew at some point we had to put something up,” Platte County sophomore third baseman Nolan Sipes said. “We were fighting for him because he wasn’t letting anything up.”
When it looked like those opportunities could come back to haunt the Pirates, they made sure to capitalize in the fifth inning. Andrew Edsall, who popped a bunt into a double play in the second inning, took the initiative with a leadoff double.
A pair of singles from Owen Bane and Benaiah Burnich loaded the bases with one out, from which Edsall capitalized on a wild pitch to give Platte County the 1-0 lead. While McLaughlin wasn’t able to contribute on the mound, he made his biggest offensive contribution with a two-RBI single to left.
Working with a 3-0 cushion, Brown lost some command to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth. He settled back in to record a pair of outs before walking in a run, but escaped with limited damage.
Kearney got another run in the sixth, but heads-up baseball helped Platte County limit the damage once more. With runners on second and third, Kearney hit a sacrifice fly to right field.
While the runner from third scored after tagging up, the runner from second prematurely advanced without tagging, allowing Platte County to complete an inning-ending double play with a 3-2 lead.
While the game drew closer going to the final frame, Platte County created more insurance with a four-run seventh inning. Burnich and Beckett Hall started it off with one-out base hits before Matt Cisco’s RBI single made it 4-2.
The Bulldogs elected to load the bases by intentionally walking McLaughlin, allowing Ian Gold to come through with a chopper that snuck past the left side for an RBI single. Nolan Sipes gave Platte County a five-run lead after slashing a two-RBI single on a groundball that snuck through the left.
“We’re doing it for our heart,” Nolan Sipes said. “We have everyone in our heart; we do it for each other. I really just made sure I’m doing it for the boys, just fighting through to get a piece on it.”
After letting Kearney pull a run back in the seventh, Brown was relieved by Trent Belcher. The senior struck out the first batter he saw, followed by a fielder’s choice, before Bane made a diving catch in right field to seal Platte County’s district championship with a 7-3 victory.
For Nolan Sipes, it was his second district title playing for his father. This one was extra special after playing a key role with the bat in his hand.
“Being able to watch it, getting in the environment, it’s always good,” Nolan Sipes said. “With Coach Sipes being my dad, I’ve always been here since I was little. I was ready for what district baseball was like.”
Nolan Sipes hit a two-RBI single in the seventh inning, helping Platte County to a second straight district title on May 23.
Leading up to Sipes’ big seventh-inning hit, he had moments earlier in the game that he would have preferred to have had back. Ultimately, he overcame those early frailties to come up clutch in the seventh.
“I didn’t have all the best moments,” said Nolan Sipes, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs against Kearney. “But those two hits were enough to bring it through.”
Sipes tied McLaughlin and Gold for Platte County’s most RBIs in the district tournament, with the trio each driving in four runs.
“It’s amazing, but frustrating at the same time,” John Sipes said. “You want him to do well, then there’s times when he gets himself out. To watch him have success in that big spot, it just makes my heart happy.”
Cisco and McLaughlin each recorded RBIs in Platte County’s semifinal victory against No. 10 state-ranked St. Pius X in a rematch of last year’s district championship game. McLaughlin finished the complete-game shutout, striking out nine batters on 81 pitches in seven innings.
Platte County opened the district tournament by gliding past East in the quarterfinals with 15 runs on 14 hits. The quartet of Cisco, Gold, Sipes and Edsall each recorded two RBIs to lead the run-rule victory in three innings while Lucas Dillingham was perfect on the mound, striking out eight of nine batters faced in 38 pitches.
Platte County celebrates its district championship win over Kearney on May 23.
“I want to highlight the defense,” Brown said. “I couldn’t be the pitcher that I am without the defense. They did amazing out there fielding the ball. I’m a pitch-to-contact guy, I don’t strike everybody out, but that’s the highlight: the defense.”
Through the 17 innings across three district games, Platte County never trailed while its defense remained error-free with just three runs allowed. After a brutal regular season and passing their first three postseason tests, the Pirates sit at 24-12 as they move to the Class 5 quarterfinals.
“It tells me the boys have used the season the way it was set up,” John Sipes said of the challenging schedule. “I challenge them with a bunch of tough teams early in the year, a bunch of 6A schools. I challenge them, so when this moment comes, they handle it. It tells me that it works, that they listen to the approach, the mentality and they took it on and embraced it.”
Platte County now prepares for a new challenge: a first-ever meeting with Class 5 newcomers Summit Christian, ranked No. 9 in the state. They have some offensive firepower, but Platte County believes they have the weapons to counter.
All games in the best-of-three quarterfinal series will be played at Platte County High School, beginning with Game 1 on Friday, May 29, at 5 p.m. Game 2 will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 30, with Game 3, if necessary, to follow.