Plattsburg advances to quarterfinals with 7-2 victory over Maysville

May 24—MAYSVILLE, Mo. — Riding the pitching performance of senior Brock Steggall, Plattsburg beat Maysville 7-2 on Monday in Maysville to advance to the Class 2 Quarterfinals for the first time since 2009.

Steggall noted that fact when speaking on his team advancing to this stage of the postseason.

"It's awesome, we haven't seen this at our school in 13 years," he said. "So being a part of that group, we're just having fun and enjoying it while it's lasting."

As has been the theme for many teams this year, the senior class for Plattsburg (27-8) has overcome a lot to get to the point that they are at now. Between a lost year due to the pandemic and a down season four years ago, coach Beau Brown reflected on the team making it this far.

"These guys came in freshman year and they won three games," Brown said. "We're not there yet, we're not taking anything for granted, but it's been a really cool run so far and the boys are having a lot of fun."

Plattsburg jumped out to a 4-0 run over the first two innings. They opened up scoring on the second at bat of the game on a single from junior Wyatt Moran and followed that up with a 1 RBI double from junior Jackson Lewis. They put together with a 1-2-3 inning on defense, then scored another two runs on a two-run double from senior Kayden Carter with bases loaded in the second.

After their early April game against Maysville (13-8) was marred by errors, Moran said the early lead helped give them a cushion to play with more confidence.

"That boosted our confidence and helps our defense," Moran said. "One error won't hurt us that bad where in a 0-0 ballgame it could ruin the game for us."

Moran was 4-4 at the plate in the game.

Steggall stranded a Wolverines runner on third in the bottom of the second, and after two strikeouts they were able to catch a baserunner leaning off of third in the top of the fourth. The Tigers' ability to punish the Wolverines for aggressive baserunning and shut down scoring opportunities was prevalent throughout the contest.

Steggall also finished with nine strikeouts. Brown spoke on his performance.

"That's what he's done all year for us. There hasn't been a game where he's given up more than three runs. He's definitely one of the top pitchers in the state and he proved it again tonight," he said. "We got in some situations where they had some opportunities and he was able to bear down."

Plattsburg added another run on a single from Joseph Hofmeister in the top of the fourth to extend their lead to 5-0, and a pair of hits from Moran and Lewis in the fifth took that lead to 7-0 before the Wolverines finally were able to get on the board in the bottom of the inning. Senior Zach Heintz drove in two before, fittingly, getting caught off base running for the triple.

The Tigers struggled to get on base after the Wolverines put Heintz on the mound in the sixth inning, but the damage had already been done.

Steggall spoke on living to play another game.

"To do this one more time for my senior year and all of our other seniors, it's going to be awesome. We're looking forward to getting this next win," he said.

The Tigers will host Windsor on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

Levi Smith can be reached at levi.smith@newspressnow.com.