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Pirate basketball team off to rough 0-2 start 12/14/2001
The Platte County High School boys basketball team has fallen to 0-2 early in the 2001-2002 season. In their first game, the Pirates played a close game with Richmond, and even had a halftime lead. But in the fourth quarter in particular the Pirates got into foul trouble and had several starters foul out. All of the foul shots Richmond were given were enough for them to pull ahead and win the game 69-58. More on this story

Sherman honored as outstanding player 12/14/2001
Platte County football player was recently recognized for his outstanding efforts on the football field by Kansas City metropolitan coaches. Senior running back, Zach Sherman was honored with the presentation of the Frank Fontana Memorial Award on Dec. 4 at Olathe North High School. The Fontana Award is presented to the Most Outstanding Football Player of the Small School Category (classes 1A-3A) in the Kansas City metro area. More on this story

Swim team 5th at Center 12/14/2001
The Platte County Pirate swimming team opened its 2000-2001 season by finishing fifth at the Center Invitational. The Pirates were able to accumulate 136 points, but that was not enough to win the meet. Raytown won the meet with 347 points, Raytown South was second with 269, then Bishop Miege with 174, and O’Hara narrowly edged the Pirates, as they were able to put up 142 points. The Pirates beat Rockhurst, who had 109, Ray-Pec had 82, and Center concluded the teams at the meet with 4 points. More on this story

Wrestling team hit with injuries, illness 12/14/2001
In recent matches, more and more Pirate wrestlers have been stricken with injury and sickness, hampering their performance as a team. Injuries kept seniors Zach Sherman and Brett Rolofson and junior Brock Wittmeyer out of several of the last few matches. Rolofson and Wittmeyer both look to be inactive for extended periods of time. More on this story

Many Pirates chosen to all-conference squad 12/6/2001
After winning their second consecutive Missouri Class 3A state championship, nearly all of the Platte County Pirate starters received Midland Empire Conference All-Conference status in football. More on this Story

Grapplers lay the wood at Park Hill 12/6/2001
Platte County's wrestling team looked to continue in its winning ways for yet another season as it opened up their 2000-2001 season at the Park Hill Duals. The Pirates worked to obtain a win at the event as the team begins shooting for its third straight Missouri Class 1A-2A state championship. More on this Story

Basketball teams beaten in season openers 12/6/2001
Both the Pirates boys’ basketball team and the Lady Pirates girls’ basketball team are off to rough starts so far during this still young basketball season. The boys basketball team fell to Richmond 69-58 to open its season. Despite leading for most of the game, the Pirates fell behind late in the ball game and could never catch up. Leading scorers included starters senior Mitch Black, juniors Bobby Neill and Kyle Richter, and freshman Zo Riley. More on this Story

A closer look at Pirate playoff victories; Wins over Chillicothe and Odessa are reviewed 11/15/2001
For the third consecutive season, the Platte County football team has advanced to the Missouri Class 3A state semifinals. Two seasons ago, the Pirates fell to Aurora, which was the last time Platte County lost a game, last season the Pirates defeated O’Hara to advance to the state championship, and this season the Pirates have defeated Chillicothe and Odessa to advance to the semifinal round. More on this Story

Loss at district ends volleyball season
The Platte County Lady Pirate volleyball team’s season came to an end Oct. 25 with a tough loss in the district semifinals. Platte County fell to the number one seeded St. Teresa’s squad. The Lady Pirates soundly defeated Smithville in the first round of district play on Oct. 23, by scores of 15-6, 15-1. “Smithville had trouble with our serves and never really mounted an attack,” said head coach Kathy Hatfield. “We played well as a team.” More on this Story

Cross country team first at district competition
The Platte County boys’ cross country team continued to improve on its so far stellar season by taking first place in districts, which was held at Richmond. Platte County defeated Pembroke Hill, Lawson, St. Pius, Richmond and Maryville. The first place finish by Platte County qualified the entire boys’ team for state. Senior Eli Klimek had yet another first place finish, and set a new course, district, and site record by finishing in 16:31. More on this Story

Cross country runners qualify for district
Platte County hosted the Midland Empire Conference cross country championships, at Riverview Park in Platte City, Oct. 16, to determine who would go on to race at districts. Four out of seven of the varsity boys’ members finished in the top five at the championships. Out of the boys, five qualified for districts. Senior Eli Klimek led the entire race and finished first in 16:32. Klimek finished more than a minute before senior Shane Praiswater of Platte County, who came in second in 17:49. Sophomore Brandon McCammon of the Pirates’ team finished fourth overall in 17:53. The next person to finish was sophomore Zach Ryun of Platte County, who... More on this Story

District soccer schedule listed
The Platte County Pirate soccer team received its schedule for upcoming district action. The Pirates were given the number one seed overall. They had a better record than St. Pius, Lutheran, Englewood Christian, and Lincoln. Platte County received a first round bye, and will play against the winner of the fourth seeded Englewood Christian and the fifth seeded Lincoln game. If the Pirates are victorious over Englewood or Lincoln, they will then challenge the victor of the number two-seeded St. Pius and the third seeded Lutheran game. More on this Story

Savannah is first district victim for unbeaten PC
Platte County stomped conference rival Savannah 48-7, in both teams' first football game of district action. The game started with Platte County receiving the opening kickoff for the first time this season. The Pirates then proceeded to march down the field past Savannah’s defense for 63 yards on 8 plays. Then senior quarterback Robbie Campbell held onto the ball and rushed into the end zone from two yards out, with 9:05 remaining in the first quarter, giving Platte County the early lead. Junior Nick Jaros converted the extra point giving the Pirates a 7-0... More on this Story

Lady Pirates receive all-league in MEC softball
After suffering from a season plagued by rained out ball games, a 10-9 record, the Platte County Lady Pirate softball team still had multiple players that were awarded All-Midland Empire Conference Awards. Senior Samantha Ward received First Team All-Conference honors for her roll as pitcher throughout the past season. The only other Lady Pirate to receive First Team All-Conference recognition was sophomore Hillary Tanck for utility infielder. More on this Story

Lady Pirates capture MEC volleyball title
Entering their match against conference rival Savannah, Platte County needed a victory to become Midland Empire Conference Champions. The only MEC loss Platte County had suffered was to Lafayette and if they beat Savannah they would not have to share the title but would have sole possession of it. “We weren’t about to share the title,” said head coach Kathy Hatfield. “We’re glad we had opportunity to win it outright.” More on this Story

Soccer team having best season to date
The Platte County soccer team is currently having its best season since the program was established.

They had won all but three of their games as they headed up to Maryville to take on their conference rival Maryville Spoofhounds.

Maryville and Platte County played a tight, low scoring game that could have gone either team's way, if either team made a mistake.

Maryville was able to get on the scoreboard first and looked as though they would

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Eli Klimek runs to victory again
Senior Eli Klimek completed his seventh straight first place finish for the Platte County boys’ cross country team. His most recent first place finish came during very windy and rainy weather at the Jesse James Festival Grounds in the Kearney Invitational.

Klimek finished the race in first, medalling with a time of 16:15.

Seniors Shane Praiswater and Ryan Schroeder and, sophomores Zach Ryun and Brandon McCammon all medalled in the race, for the Pirates.

Praiswater came in 13th in 17:40. Ryun finished 27th in 18:10. McCammon crossed More on this Story

Softball team suffers close losses at district
The Platte County Lady Pirate softball team concluded its 2001 season on Oct. 6 at districts, which were held in Kearney.

The Lady Pirate softball team ended play with a couple of quick losses in the double elimination district tournament.

Platte County’s first loss of the tournament came to a strong conference rival Smithville team. The Lady Pirates fell by a final score of 11-2.

Their second game of the tournament was much closer, but the Lady Pirates still fell. The second loss was to Kearney, who was hosting the tournament and had a home field
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Volleyball team has long week of action
The Lady Pirate volleyball team began what would be a long week of game-play, starting with a tough loss to a visiting St. Mary’s team.

Platte County lost both of the matches against St. Mary’s. In game one, the Lady Pirates lost 15-8 despite some long rallies. In game two, Platte County played them much closer and even had the lead for a while near the conclusion of the game, but the Lady Pirates still fell 16-14.

“We were off on our hits and for the match had 19 bad spikes, some of which were blocked by St. Mary’s,” said head coach Kathy Hatfield. “We definitely played less than.
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Sherman now state's 2nd all-time leading rusher
The Platte County Pirate football team improved its record to 7-0 on the season after defeating their conference rival Smithville Warriors 53-7 Friday night.

Smithville had been undefeated in their last 20 Homecoming games, but the top-ranked Pirates ended this streak. Entering the game, Pirate halfback Zach Sherman needed just 109 yards to become the second all-time leading rusher in Missouri.

The Pirates started the game off with a deep kickoff to give the Warriors poor field position to start off the game. The Platte County defense held Smithville and forced them.
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Runners finish strong at Excelsior Invitational
The Platte County cross country team went into the invitational at Excelsior Springs with high hopes. They had to compete against many larger and stronger schools. The boys team competed against Lee's Summit, Kearney, St. Joe Central, Excelsior Springs, Lawson, Liberty, William Chrisman, Fort Osage, Lafayette, Marshall, and Chillicothe. The Pirates took fifth overall and finished third in the small class results..
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Park Hill South no match for Pirate softball squad
In one of their final home games of the season, the Platte County girls’ softball team defeated Park Hill South 10-0. Both teams played through a defensive struggle until the Pirates came up to bat in the third inning. Senior Jamie Horst started the action out for the Pirates in the third inning by hitting an inside the park home run over the right fielder. .
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Lutheran dominated by Pirate soccer team
Going into their game against Lutheran High School of Kansas City, Platte County had only suffered three loses all season. All three of those loses came back in September in the Northland Tournament against North Kansas City, Winnetonka, and Oak Park. The Pirates have won all of their regular season games and are undefeated at home, and continued this home game winning streak against Lutheran by stifling them with an 8-0 victory. The Pirates quickly jumped on the board with first half goals that came from senior Dusty Hylton, sophomore Zach Praiswater who had two first half goals, sophomore Will Sanders, and senior Kevin Skarbek.
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Volleyball team competes at Grandview Tournament
The Lady Pirate volleyball team participated in the Grandview Tournament and won two games, had one split, and lost two games. Platte County got off to a slow start in their first match of the tournament against Ruskin. Despite their slow start, the Lady Pirates were still victorious over Ruskin 15-6, 15-9. Senior Erin McPherson led the team in points and spikes with eight apiece. Senior Megan Nichols had seven points and six spikes. Senior setter Jessica McCammon had eight points and ten assists..
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Pirate victory train keeps on rolling
The Platte County Pirates movee to 6-0 on the season after they defeated the Lafayette Fighting Irish 45-7. This victory came on Homecoming night and gave Platte County its 20th consecutive win, dating back to the beginning of last season. Lafayette began the game by receiving the opening kickoff. The Pirate defense had a strong defensive hold despite giving up two pass completions early in the drive. The Fighting Irish were forced to punt it away.
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Hornets 'D' not up to test
The number six-ranked Chillicothe proved not to be the threat that they were originally thought to be, as number one ranked Platte County continued to show superiority. Chillicothe had a wealth of fans that made the long journey down to watch what they hoped would be a major upset. They were very vocal supporting their Hornets as they scrambled on to the field, but it was not to be their night, as Platte County smacked the Hornets 28-0. The game started on a patriotic note. As the Pirate Pride Band began to play the National Anthem, a military C-130 Hercules cargo jet passed over the field, seemingly out of the setting sun. Once the band had finished and the jet had vanished from sight, hundreds of red, white, and blue balloons were released into the sky in honor of the victims and rescue workers that were involved in the tragedies on the East Coast.
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Sideline Scribble
Notes, observations, thoughts, opinions, and various other drivel from a nosy guy with a notepad on the sideline of the Pirates vs. Chillicothe football game Friday night. By the way, the top-ranked and unbeaten Pirates upended the visiting sixth-ranked Hornets 28-0.

•It took about 10 minutes of game time for the Pirates to ruin Chillicothe's proud mark of not having been scored upon this season. Running back Zach Sherman found the promised land on a four-yard run over the left side with 2:03 to go in the first quarter.

•The Hornets' effort to mount an early drive looked like it was going to take off until blitzing Pirate linebacker Sean O'Connor came up with quarterback sacks on two consecutive plays. When he got to the sideline, O'Connor was praised by defensive coordinator Greg Jaros, who said: "Let me tell ya, he's (Chillicothe's left-handed quarterback) turning his back on the line of scrimmage. He doesn't see you coming."
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Pirate softball team gets win on Senior Night
In a season that has been plagued by games that have been rained out, any victory that the Lady Pirate softball team can get is a good one. Platte County hosted Midland Empire Conference rival Maryville on Sept. 24. This would be the senior night game, and everyone wanted to clinch a big victory over Maryville. This game did not start out with very much offensive action. The pitching and defense for both teams played strongly keeping a shutout for much of the game.
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Soccer team improvs its mark to 8-3
The Platte County soccer team continues to add more wins to its already winning season. The Pirates battled Englewood Christian on Sept. 24. Platte County was able to mount a lopsided 6-1 victory over Englewood. The goals in this game were divided among upper and under- classmen for Platte County. Senior Adam Siems of the Pirates had two goals in that game against Englewood. Senior Dusty Hylton also added to the final score with a goal of his own for Platte County. Senior Kevin Skarbek put up another goal for the Pirates. Sophomore Zach Praiswater added the fifth goal for Platte County. The final person that scored in the game for the Pirates was freshman Ian Malburg.
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R-3 golf team third in MEC
Platte County's girls golf team captured third place in the eight-team MEC Conference meet on Monday at Shiloh Springs Golf Course. Chillicothe won the meet with a score of 396, Savannah took second at 415, and the Pirates were third at 422.
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Cross country runners run into tough competition
Various injuries and problems have provided dilemmas for the Platte County cross country team. This meet at Savannah was no different. The boys’ team was without seniors Eli Klimek and Ryan Locascio and the girls did not have senior Erin Hardesty. Despite not having several key members, both teams finished fairly well. Senior Shane Praiswater and sophomores Zach Ryun and Brandon McCammon all medalled for the boys’ team, at the meet. Praiswater finished in sixth place in 17:30. Ryun finished 18th with a time of 18:09. McCammon finished shortly behind Ryun in 19th place with a time of 18:10. Senior Ryan Schroeder finished 38th for the Pirates in 19:04. Junior Mark Dudley was 46th with a time of 19:23. Senior Bill Flynt finished in 61st place in 20:05. Junior Josh Brunkhorst crossed the line right behind Flynt in 62nd place with a time of 20:09.
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Pirate volleyball team unbeaten in MEC action
The Lady Pirates went into Smithville after defeating their last five volleyball opponents. Platte County added to this winning streak as the varsity, junior varsity, and freshman teams all posted victories over Smithville. The varsity won in two straight matches. They won 15-5, and then 15-0. In game one, the Lady Pirates received the serve first, but quickly let Smithville mount a 5-0 lead.
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Chip Sherman talks about complaining fans
When Nick McCabe of Sports Radio 810 WHB asked if I would be interested in writing this article I thought, “what in the world am I going to write about?” After talking to a few friends (football coaches) I decided to write about an issue that we all face at one time or another in our coaching career, dealing with parents and fans in the stands. Let me first point out that I am very proud of my profession as a teacher/coach. It is a wonderful fraternity of people that are over-worked, under-paid, and greatly under-appreciated for the time and effort we put into our profession. We have to deal with so many different aspects of a player’s life...his home life, social life, school and work, just to name a few. It makes matters even worse when a player hears negativity at home from one or both of his parents about a coach, his play selection, who is playing or not playing and a variety of other topics.
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Top ranked Pirates smash Benton; prepare for fourth-ranked Chillicothe
Platte County's Pirates traveled north on I-29 to St. Joseph-Benton to begin Midland Empire Conference play last Friday night, and came home 47-7 winners, keeping their record unblemished. Benton has given the Pirates a challenge in the last four years. The seniors on the Platte County team fell to the Benton Cardinals the last time the two teams met in St. Joseph back in 1998. Since Benton is one of only a handful of teams that has beaten Platte County in recent years, the Pirates considered this game to be very significant to retain their conference supremacy. This game also held significance for Platte County because it kicked off their conference schedule. The Cardinals received the opening kickoff. Benton found early success in passing the ball on the Pirate defense. But free safety sophomore Ryan Weedin cut the Cardinals momentum by stripping the ball away from the Benton wide receiver.
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Pirate soccer team improves record to 6-3
The Platte County Pirate soccer team rose to 6-3 on the season after defeating Cameron. This was the first time that Platte County and the Cameron Dragons had ever competed against each other. Both teams are in the Midland Empire Conference, and were fighting to get the win. This is the inaugural season for Cameron so neither team knew what to expect of the other. Platte County was able to easily overpower the Dragons by a final score of 8-0. Not only did the Pirates get the win against Cameron the first time that they played, but they also were able to completely shut Cameron out.Senior Dusty Hylton was the leading scorer for Platte County. Hylton was able to obtain a hat trick by scoring three goals on Cameron.
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Klimek runs to victory in cross country meets
The Platte County Cross Country team stayed busy by competing in two meets. The first meet they took part in was at the Benton Invitational. The Benton Invitational was held Sept. 19 at Hyde Park in St. Joseph. The varsity boys team sent seven members to compete in the event. Out of 65 total boys in the race, three Platte County boys medaled. The boys came from Kearney, Excelsior Springs, West Platte, Benton, Lafayette, and Savannah. Senior Eli Klimek took first overall in the race with a time of 16 minutes and 52 seconds. Senior Shane Praiswater completed the race in 18 minutes and 29 seconds, which was good for 12th place. Sophomore Zach Ryun also medalled after he finished in 19th place in 18 minutes and 39 seconds. .
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McPherson's serves lead Lady Pirates to win
Senior Erin McPherson played a major role in the match and win against Grain Valley. Despite a five point lead by Grain Valley in game one, the Lady Pirates were able to come back and get the win. Senior Megan Nichols provided strong net play and McPherson had three straight points. This was good for a 16-14 victory despite several lead changes throughout the game. In game two, the Lady Pirates were able to develop a strong lead. They were holding on to game point, 14-11, when Grain Valley spiked the ball deep. All officials including the linesman called the ball out of bounds. They stated that no Platte County blocker touched the ball, and gave the Lady Pirates game and match point..
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