It would be tough to gloat about crushing a team that only brought 11 players to play a baseball game, so instead the Free State High squad focused Wednesday on how to improve its own game, even after a decisive 11-0 victory over Kansas City Washington at FSHS.

The game was called after five innings because of the run rule, but it was clear that the game was over much earlier than that.

Free State High's Andy Petz connects with the ball for a triple against Kansas City Washington. The Firebirds routed the Wildcats on Wednesday at the FSHS field.

Free State coach Mike Hill said his team seemed to be a bit lackadaisical sometimes during the game, but isn’t it difficult to keep focus when one team clearly is better than the other?

“Yeah, a little bit but you’ve got to have a little mental toughness to work through that,” Free State’s Robby Price said.

Price started the offense in the first inning when he had a leadoff stand-up triple to right field off Washington’s James Slavens.

“Robby is an outstanding player. He starts us off (Tuesday) by leaving the yard, and today he leads us off with a triple,” Hill said. “It’s nice to have a leadoff hitter like him.”

Hill was pleased with how his team hit the ball, but he wasn’t thrilled with how they ran after the ball was put in play.

“I think the base-running left a little to be desired,” Hill said. “We’re in such a competitive league that when we get back into the league and we’re playing some quality clubs, those little things are going to get you beat. We got away with them today, but that won’t be the case in the future.”

Free State High's Cory Cooper slides safely into third base against Kansas City Washington's Shane Turner.

Despite a couple slipshod base-running errors, there wasn’t much to fault the Firebirds for.

Scott Heitshusen set the tone early on the mound, striking out the first two batters he faced and giving up only two hits.

But even Heitshusen found that there were enough aspects of his game that he needed to work on, citing a pair of consecutive walks he issued in the second inning.

Nevertheless, Hill said he was impressed with how Heitshusen got out of the inning in his first start of the season.

Scott Heitshusen pitches during his two-hit shutout. The Firebirds routed the Wildcats, 11-0, Wednesday at Free State.

For Washington, it was a nightmarish day on the diamond, wrought with errors, miscues that could have been errors and missed opportunities all over the field. But the team’s roster had been pared down to 11 players because of eligibility issues and players being punished for skipping practice.

Free State (6-2) will travel today to Olathe South to play its third game in as many days.