Lawrence Free State takes Kansas Class 6A baseball title

Lawrence Free State used shutdown pitching Friday to win the Kansas 6A state baseball tournament at Hogland Ballpark at the University of Kansas campus.

Senior pitcher Casey Hearnen and junior Hunter Gudde combined to allow just one run against Shawnee Mission Northwest in Free State’s 4-1 victory in the championship game.

It was the Firebirds second 6A state baseball championship. They finished the season 21-4. In the three state playoff games covering 21 innings, Free State allowed two runs and nine hits.

“That is just something extraordinary,” said Hearnen, who pitched the last five innings. “Hunter has been great for us all season. Trevor (Munsch) came off an injury and was fantastic.

“We strung things together. We have a lot of leadership, and it just feels great.”

Munsch picked up a complete game victory earlier Friday in Free State’s 4-1 win over Olathe South in the semifinals.

Gudde, who tossed a complete game shutout on Thursday in a 4-0 quarterfinal win over Haysville-Campus, started and pitched two innings against Northwest, allowing only a walk.

“We only used three pitchers the entire tournament,” Gudde said. “That was huge for us to get two pitchers out of the way in two games. That was the key to our success.”

Hearnen entered in the top of the third with a 3-0 lead after the Firebirds scored three times in the bottom of the second. Gudde knocked in the first run with a triple.

The three runs were more than enough for Hearnen, who retired nine straight batters before allowing a walk to start the sixth inning, followed by a hit from sophomore Javier Pena and another single from senior Nate Reeder to load the bases with no outs.

“He is not going to end a game without giving us some gray hair and making the game interesting, but there is no lack of faith at all,” said Free State coach Mike Hill. “I felt good in that situation and more importantly, our kids felt comfortable because they have been there before.

“When the game gets tough, our kids get tougher.”

Hearnen bore down, striking out the next batter and then giving up two ground ball outs that produced one run.

“I was just trying to keep them from tying it up,” Hearnen said. “I knew the next inning I could come in and shut it down. I know we have a great defense, and I was going to let them work.”

Free State got the run back in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI by senior Marcelino Cortez, who knocked in three runs from the ninth spot in the batting order.

“I was very fortunate,” Cortez said. “My teammates got on, and I was able to get them over and get them in.”

The Firebirds finished the game in style, turning a double play that started with Hearnen fielding the ball and throwing it to shortstop Michael Corbett, who fired it to Cortez at first base.

“I couldn’t believe the moment,” Cortez said. “Casey pitched his butt off. We did good things today.”

Because of that, Hearnen said he was able to join the dog pile with teammates he called brothers after the final out was recorded.

In the semifinals, Northwest recovered from a three-run deficit and beat Shawnee Mission East 5-3.

This story was originally published May 29, 2015 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Lawrence Free State takes Kansas Class 6A baseball title."