No one ever told the Lawrence Outlaws that growing pains would hurt this much.

Though the main focus of the team remains developing for next season, it was tough to tell from the faces of the players after a 9-5 semifinal loss to the Manhattan 17ers.

They wanted this one badly. And for six innings they had it won.

The Outlaws entered the final frame leading 5-2 before nine consecutive Manhattan batters reached in a seven-run seventh.

Despite the defeat, coach Brad Romme remained more than satisfied with the progression of his players over the weekend.

“They got thrown in the fire against good ball teams and responded,” Romme said. “Next time we’re in that position, things are going to go our way.”

The one responding most to the challenge was Lawrence fifth starter John Sneegas. The left-hander allowed just two runs in the first 61â3 innings, giving the Outlaws quality innings when they needed them most.

“That’s 61â3 of the best baseball that John Sneegas has thrown since I’ve known him,” Romme said. “He battled and competed against guys who are going to play college baseball next year. He definitely opened eyes and showed us something that we knew was there all along.”

Using a “backwards” approach – throwing a breaking ball as his main pitch while only occasionally coming with a fastball – Sneegas was able to be effective despite not having a scorching heater.

“You don’t need an 88-mile-an-hour fastball to be able to strike somebody out,” Sneegas said. “There’s two ways you can beat them – with heat like that or by hitting your locations. Today, I just hit my locations.”

But, in order to see how he would handle adversity and also to save some of the arms on the team, Sneegas was left in for much of the seventh. Though he tried to battle through, Sneegas was unable to complete his impressive start, replaced by Nick Ayre after the damage already had been done.

“I was losing gas in the last inning,” Sneegas said, “and it caught up to me.”

Ben Wilson was hit by a pitch to start off the bottom of the seventh, but the Outlaws mustered no more offense in the final frame.

Ayre contributed a hit and two RBIs, while Travis Ice and Kyle Cross both singled and scored in the loss.

Lawrence finished the tournament with a 3-2 record, gaining victories and also confidence competing against older teams.

“This is the best we’ve played all summer, and we’ve been getting better each game,” Sneegas said. “Coach has been talking about how we need to just raise the bar. We can’t peak and valley, we can’t go down – we’ve got to stay up and keep playing the same level of ball we’ve been playing.”