By Ryan Deal

605 Sports

Platte manager Todd Strand, who was equally as emotional, praised Buitenbos for his semifinal performance. 

“Hats off to these guys,” Strand said. “They played one helluva game. Michael threw a gem, for just throwing the other day. He comes back and throws an absolute gem.”

Buitenbos allowed six hits, four walks and struck out four batters on 128 pitches in the complete-game performance. 

“Classic Boot performance, man,” Platte catcher Hunter Hewitt said. “Classic. He’s been doing it for a long time. He was lights out in round two (vs. Alexandria) and he was lights again today. Honestly he might have been a little bit better round two, but what you get on the mound with Boot is a bulldog.”

But Platte couldn’t put away their league foes until a three-run seventh inning. After Hewitt’s RBI single in the first inning, the game remained scoreless until the seventh inning. 

With two outs, Sheldon Gant hit a sharp ground ball to Dimock-Emery shortstop Drew Kitchens, who sailed his throw past first baseman Phil Johnson for an error. 

Buitenbos scored from second on the throw and hyped up the Platte crowd as he crossed home plate. 

“I usually try to stay calm during the games, but yeah I hyped them up a little bit and it got a nice little pop,” Buitenbos said. “Our fans are amazing. This place was packed. I just tried not looking up in the stands because if I did, holy smokes, it feels like I am pitching in the major leagues right now. It was amazing.”

After the run, Hewitt drove in his second run and Mason Townsend later scored on a wild pitch, leading to a 4-0 advantage. 

“That gave me a little weight off my shoulders there,” Buitenbos said. “Guys were playing a little more freely.”

Buitenbos continued to shutout Dimock-Emery, which left 12 runners stranded on base, in the final two innings. But Buitenbos wasn’t at ease until the 27th out. 

“We’ve played in some crazy games this tournament and I am happy that this one was a little bit better,” Buitenbos said. “It was still tight. I was a little nervous on the mound in the ninth inning, but we were able to get the job done.”

Platte finished with eight hits, including two hits and two RBI by Hewitt. Buitenbos added two hits, while Seth Muth, Gant, Townsend and Hayden Kuiper added hits. 

“We finally kept putting the ball in play and I kept telling them, ‘Just keep going guys,’ ” Strand said. “They will fall in there sooner or later and they did.”

Saturday’s meeting was the rubber match between the Sunshine League teams. On June 6, Platte won 8-6 in 11 innings, while Dimock-Emery won an 8-3 decision on July 14. 

“We battle them all year long,” Strand said. “They are something else. (Dimock-Emery manager Brad Bartscher) has a great group of guys there and we respect them up and down the lineup.”

Kitchens, Peyton Nash, Jason Schmidt, Phil Johnson, Gene Kitchens and Chase Arend had hits for Dimock-Emery. Landon Waddell, who had 15 strikeouts against Platte earlier this season, lasted 6.2 innings and allowed seven hits and one earned run. He finished with two strikeouts.

Johnson pitched the final 2.1 innings, allowing one hit, zero runs, one walk and struck out two batters. 

Platte will now play Garretson or Dell Rapids PBR in the Class B state championship game on Sunday. 

“It’s great because a lot of guys here that have never had this feeling, including myself, I have never got to play for a state title of any kind,” Hewitt said. “So to be in that situation is honestly a dream come true in the first place. But the mentality is that the job's not finished.”