Lawrence High senior shortstop Jessica Fishburn didn’t care if she reinjured her back and never played softball again. She was going to play Thursday on the Lions’ Senior Night against Shawnee Mission Northwest at Holcom Sports Complex.

She did, too, but only for one play and one at-bat.

After trying to gun down Northwest’s lead-off batter, who dribbled a slow grounder to Fishburn on the game’s first play, LHS coach Reenie Stogsdill pulled the plug.

“There’s not really any closure,” said Fishburn, after Lawrence’s second game was canceled after that pitch because of bad weather. “I just wanted to be back out there and play in a game.

“I was to the point where I didn’t care what might happen. I just wanted to play.”

Thursday wasn’t a party for the Lions’ other three seniors — Audrey Corkhill, Emily Miller and Courtney Taulbert — because Lawrence lost the first game of the doubleheader, 2-0, when the Cougars plated two in the 11th inning.

Fishburn is used to playing — she had only missed one game in her career prior to this year — so her rare back injury has been hard to cope with. In her only at-bat Thursday, Fishburn popped out to right. Then her back backfired.

Because of a birth defect, part of her lower back didn’t fuse properly. It hadn’t been a problem until a couple of years ago, when athletics caught up with the three-sport athlete, who also plays basketball and volleyball.

An X-ray at the beginning of this year showed a stress fracture in her lower back. She talked to a physician and trainer, who recommended rest.

So she waited, but that didn’t help.

Then there was physical therapy, but that didn’t do the trick, either.

“It was really hard to watch her sit on the bench,” said Miller, who has played softball with Fishburn since they were in grade school. “I knew how bad she wanted to be out there.”

There were even times where Fishburn considered quitting so she wouldn’t distract from the rest of the Lions.

But she didn’t, and Stogsdill was determined to give her a moment Thursday.

“There were times where she was really down,” Stogsdill said. “But she stuck through it. And I just had to get her in there tonight.”