The softball team at West Platte is off to a strong start this season after a third-place finish at the Rockwood Summit Invitational in Chesterfield, Mo.
The Blue Jays have won four of their first six games this season, taking down a pair of Class 5 opponents during their showing at the Chesterfield Valley Athletic Complex on Sept. 5 and 6.
Sophie Grier’s performance earned her a spot on the all-tournament team after pitching 26.2 innings with an earned run average of 3.23 and 24 strikeouts while hitting .529 at the plate with seven RBIs and a home run.
The season began closer to home on Sept. 2 with an 11-0 road victory against St. Pius X, run-ruling the Warriors in five innings. Grier struck out 11 batters while the offense produced 11 runs on 15 hits with freshman shortstop Maddie Cline, senior second baseman Morgan VanNatta, senior center fielder Addison Hughes and junior third baseman Brook Allison all driving in multiple runs.
“It calms the nerves to get one out of the way,” head coach Holly Lintner said. “Got to see a lot of good things from our hitters. I love the way we’re hitting the ball and I’d love to keep that going.”
West Platte carried that momentum into their road trip to Chesterfield, which got off to a promising start with a 7-3 victory against Incarnate Word Academy before falling to Ft. Zumwalt West 10-0.
On the second day, West Platte started off well with an 8-3 win against Neelyville before dropping to Francis Howell 12-1. With a chance to finish third in the tournament, the Blue Jays capitalized on defensive errors to defeat Ft. Zumwalt North 9-2.
There is no doubt that this year’s trip to the Rockwood Summit met expectations after going 1-4 at the tournament last year.
An important theme in this year’s team is senior leadership. The team voted Grier and Hughes as captains for this year, both of whom have delivered.
“They’ve done a really good job of stepping up and performing in games,” Lintner said. “But also being a leader on the field at practice, being there for the girls and just being a good teammate all around. I really like to see that good captain leadership.”
West Platte’s next challenge will be a KCI Conference clash away to Lathrop on Sept. 11 before a tournament on Sept. 13 hosted by Benton.
“If we can play hard and hit like we just did, make sure our defense is clean, we can compete with about anybody,” Lintner said.