Before the high school baseball season started, Lawrence High coach David Petry joked that his squad probably was the second-best team in the city.

The Lions might just be the second-best team in the state — right behind Free State High.

Both Petry and FSHS coach Mike Hill may want to kill me for writing that, but it’s their fault. The Firebirds and Lions are playing too good to be ignored.

Besides, I’m a bit behind. The Kansas Baseball Coaches Assn. had FSHS and LHS ranked 1-2 last week.

FSHS, 9-0 for the first time in school history, has been Class 6A’s top-ranked team for two weeks.

The Firebirds shot to the top — after being unranked in the preseason — after smoking both Shawnee Mission South and Kansas City (Mo.) Pembroke Hill, 13-0, then beating one of Oklahoma’s best teams (Claremore High), 9-4.

Just for good measure, they won all three games in Lawrence’s River City Festival last week, outscoring their opponents 21-5, and notched a dramatic 9-8 victory against Olathe North Tuesday.

Hill hasn’t placed any importance on the top ranking, but won’t deny that it’s been fun getting to this point.

“Being ranked No. 1 doesn’t get you any hardware in the trophy case,” he said after Saturday’s 7-2 victory against KC (Mo.) Winnetonka. “But we’ll take it. Now, we’re gonna be other people’s statement games, and that’s fine. That’s where we want to be.”

The Lions want to be there, too. They’re 7-0, including wins over Olathe North, Lee’s Summit (Mo.) North and Shawnee Heights, the top-ranked team in Class 5A.

Saturday’s win over Heights also capped the Lions’ perfect run through the River City Festival. Needless to say, the Lions maintained their second-place standing in the 6A poll.

Of course, Petry sounds similar to Hill when it comes to rankings.

“I don’t know who votes on these, because I don’t,” he said Saturday. “And they don’t mean very much because Maize was ranked No. 1 before the season, and now they’re not even ranked.”

(When the new poll came out this week, Maize had jumped back in at No. 10.)

True, the preseason polls can overestimate or omit some teams — Syracuse proved that in New Orleans last week — but at this point of the season, it’s clear both FSHS and LHS will be teams to watch as the season rolls on.

Still, eager readers surely want to know which one is better.

I’ve seen five of the Lions’ six home games — all of which have been in Lawrence — and two of the Firebirds’ five home games, and can say, without hesitation, that the answer will come Saturday at the FSHS Field.

Both teams were supposed to play last Tuesday, but poor weather postponed the game. After both teams won on Tuesday, there’s still another game to go through. The Firebirds will travel to Belton, Mo. tonight, while the Lions will play host to Olathe South Friday. There’s a chance Saturday might not be a clash of undefeated teams, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

The question of the Firebirds’ powerful offense against the Lions’ deep, quality pitching can be answered Saturday. And again May 8 at Ice Field when they meet again.

And possibly in regionals, or if everything holds, in the state tournament.

Talk about bringing the intra-city rivalry to another level.