Goodness gracious. What can’t this guy do?

Free State High senior Ryne Price already had proven his greatness in the clutch Tuesday by blasting a three-run home run in the sixth inning, which put the Firebird baseball team back in a game it was on the verge of losing to Shawnee Mission West.

It was only an appetizer, though. Nearly 20 minutes later, Price had a blast for the ages: a three-run, walk-off bomb in the bottom of the seventh that sent Free State home a 11-10 winner, sent the whole team to home plate to mob him and even sent fellow classmates rushing onto the field from the stands in a celebration normally not seen in high school baseball.

Even FSHS coach Mike Hill, a man who’s not excited easily, felt pretty darn good after seeing his cleanup hitter finish one of the most dramatic victories in Free State sports history.

“He’s a pretty good player, isn’t he?” Hill said.

Yeah, coach, you could say that.

Price’s fourth and fifth home runs of the season — both three-run fun ones — came when the Firebirds really couldn’t settle for anything less. Down 8-3 in the sixth inning, the Firebirds plated one run on an Anthony Dreiling RBI double before Price came up two batters later and sent a towering shot into the trees in right field, scoring Dreiling and Robby Price ahead of him.

That made the score 8-7, and the Firebirds tied it later in the inning when a Jake Hoover single scored Scott Heitshusen.

The timely hitting, perhaps the only facet that worked well for Free State on Tuesday, was just getting started, though.

Free State pitcher Max Ellenbecker delivers during the Firebirds' 11-10 victory over Shawnee Mission West. The Firebirds rallied for the win Tuesday at FSHS.

SM West, a persistent pest to FSHS, took a 10-8 lead in the top of the seventh on a two-run double by Grant Lambert.

Regardless, the Firebirds’ prolific offense never panicked. Why should it?

“I think we all know,” Ryne Price said, “that we can find a way to get it done.”

After Tyler Blankenship and Dreiling were beaned, the tying runs were put on base as the heart of the Firebird order came up. After a Robby Price fielder’s choice forced out Dreiling, big brother Ryne sent his second towering shot in two innings out to deep right-center field.

“I felt it was either going to be gone or off the wall,” Ryne Price said. “I still ran, because I had to get to third if it went off the wall.”

No worries. The SM West outfield could do nothing but helplessly watch as the ball safely landed well beyond the fence. Just like that, the Firebirds’ winning streak hit six games.

They improved to 10-2 on the season, including 6-1 in the Sunflower League.

By no means was the victory pretty. The Firebirds committed four errors, and their three pitchers walked or plunked eight Viking batters. Giving up 10 runs is never fun, either.

“Good teams have to win ugly,” Hill said. “We certainly won ugly tonight.”

6Sports video: Free State holds off Shawnee Mission West

Price finished the day 2-for-5 with three runs scored and six RBIs. Sophomore Brett Lisher crushed a solo home run in the fifth inning, and Tyler Blankenship added two hits and was hit two times.

After four straight victories by at least nine runs, it was finally a nail-biter for the Firebirds.

“In some senses, this was good for us,” Hill said. “When we’re on that high for so long, the law of averages suggest it’s not always going to work that way. But I’m very proud of our kids.”

The Firebirds will return to action with two home games today. They’ll face Emporia at 3 p.m., then after Emporia and Leavenworth play, they’ll play Leavenworth at approximately 7 p.m. Both games were added to the schedule after two washouts at the River City Baseball Festival.