Platte County Pirates prevail over Festus in tense baseball showdown for Class 5 title
Platte County High claimed its second state baseball championship Saturday night, prevailing 6-1 over Festus in a taut Missouri Class 5 title affair at the U.S. Ballpark in Ozark.
Both teams started slow in the game for the biggest trophy, but the Pirates scored their first run midway through and never really looked back.
Hitting from the seven-hole, senior Platte County catcher Jake Knudsen drove in the Pirates’ first run on an RBI single to left field in the top of the fourth. To that point, he’d driven in five of Platte County’s six total runs in the tournament.
That’s where things stood, 1-0 Pirates in the bottom of the fourth, when sophomore Devin Wassmann caught a Festus popup in center for the first out, then fired a laser to Knudsen behind the plate to prevent the tying run from scoring.
The Festus runner had tagged and then tested Wassmann’s arm. He was tagged out at home.
Senior southpaw pitcher Sawyer Allen, who has signed with Rockhurst University, started for Platte County. He struck out the side in the third but was relived in the bottom of the fourth by sophomore Brayden Carter after loading the bases.
Platte County added two insurance runs in the sixth courtesy of junior Jordan Hedrick’s pinch-hit single with two away.
The Pirates plated the remainder of their runs atop the seventh. The first scored on a sacrifice fly to left by junior Nick Baker. The other two crossed home when the Festus reliever fielded a comebacker that should’ve been an easy third out at first.
Instead, he tossed it off-target to third, the ball dribbled away, and two more Pirates scored.
Carter pitched scoreless relief until the bottom of the seventh, when Festus scored its only run. That prompted Platte County to send Allen back to the mound to close out the game, which he did.
The Pirates (27-8) advanced through the quarterfinals and semifinals with an 11-7 win over Webb City on Thursday and 5-3 victory against Ft. Zumwalt East on Friday.
Festus (27-9) had beaten Lutheran South 11-2 in the quarterfinals Thursday and Willard 4-3 in the Friday semifinals.
Earlier Saturday, WIllard beat Ft. Zumwalt East 7-3 in the game for third place.
FINAL RESULTS
CLASS 6:
Semifinals: Friday
Blue Springs South 2, Lindbergh 0
Liberty North 4, Francis Howell 3, 10 inn.
Saturday’s games
Consolation final: Francis Howell 11, Lindbergh 0
Championship: Liberty North 11, Blue Springs South 5
CLASS 5:
Semifinals: Friday
Festus 4, Willard 3, 8 inn.
Platte County 5, Ft. Zumwalt East 3
Saturday’s games
Consolation final: Willard 7, Ft. Zumwalt East 3
Championship: Platte County 6, Festus 1
CLASS 4:
Semifinals, Wednesday
Logan-Rogersville 11, Kennett 1
Southern Boone 6, Marshall 5
Thursday’s games
Consolation final: Kennett 13, Marshall 3
Championship: Southern Boone 8, Logan-Rogersville 3
CLASS 3:
Semifinals, Wednesday
Springfield Catholic 11, Valley Park 0
Father Tolton 6, Lawson 3
Thursday’s games
Lawson 10, Valley Park 3
Championship: Father Tolton 8, Springfield Catholic 4
CLASS 2:
Semifinals: Monday
Portageville 6, Gainesville 0
Russellville 3, Plattsburg 2
Tuesday’s games
Cons. final: Plattsburg 13, Gainesville 5
Championship: Russellville 5, Portageville 3
CLASS 1:
Semifinals: Monday
Oran 6, Northeast (Cairo) 3
St. Elizabeth 10, South Nodaway 10
Tuesday’s games
Cons. final: Northeast 9, South Nodaway 3
Championship: St. Elizabeth 9, Oran 2