Fourth place was nothing to sneeze at. But third place in the Class 6A state high school softball tournament would have been better.

“I feel like we just didn’t make the third-place game mean enough,” Free State High’s Jamie Stanclift said. “We talked and talked about making it mean something, but I don’t think we had it together.”

The Firebirds certainly didn’t have it together in the sixth inning.

Emporia erupted for seven runs in that frame and toppled the Firebirds, 10-7, for the consolation championship Saturday afternoon at Clinton Lake Softball Complex.

About the only consolation the Firebirds had was that they mounted a comeback in the seventh inning, scoring four runs against Spartans’ ace Jenna Potter.

“I felt disappointed because we had the lead and lost it,” Free State coach Pam Pine said, “but I was glad we made an attempt at a comeback.”

Free State didn’t touch Potter for a hit until the fifth when Stanclift doubled to left to score Livi Abney, who had walked and taken second on a passed ball. Minutes later, Stanclift scored on Allie Hock’s infield single and a throwing error, and the Firebirds had a 3-1 lead.

But Emporia came right back and knotted the count at 3 on a two-run single by Ashley Lynch. An inning later, the Spartans exploded for seven runs on six hits, a walk, a hit batter and an error. Pine used all three of her pitchers in that fateful frame – starter and loser Catherine Smith, Summer Mulford and Ashley Wagner.

“A lot of people were down that inning,” said Hock, the Firebirds’ catcher, “and we had a little snowball problem.”

Hock and Aleese Kopf, both sophomores, each drove in a pair of runs in the seventh – Hock with a double and Kopf with a single – but the Firebirds couldn’t make enough contact against Potter.

Free State High's Hannah Somers returns to the dugout after striking out against Emporia. The Firebirds lost two games and finished fourth at the Class 6A state tournament Saturday at Clinton Lake Softball Complex.

Free State touched the Emporia senior right-hander for five hits, drew six walks and had one hit batter, but Potter fanned 16 Firebirds – including Wagner, Brooke Abney and Sachi Sakumura four times apiece.

“Jenna is a great pitcher,” Stanclift said. “She plays on my summer team. She has a great rise ball, and you have to be disciplined against her.”

Stanclift and Livi Abney were the only Firebirds who didn’t strike out at least once against Potter.

In Thursday morning’s semifinal against No. 2 seed Shawnee Mission Northwest, Free State struck out only five times against right-hander Kim Jones, but the Firebirds mustered only three harmless singles and bowed, 7-1.

Curiously, though, the Firebirds stranded 11 runners because they drew five walks and the Cougars were guilty of an unseemly seven errors – three by catcher Tiffany Carter.

Free State High pitcher Ashley Wagner, right, shows her disappointment during a loss to Emporia. The Firebirds lost in the third-place game at the Class 6A state tournament, 10-7, Saturday at Clinton Lake Softball Complex.

Carter, however, slammed a solo homer off Free State starter Wagner to start a five-run fourth inning. Third baseman Alyx Schmidt clubbed a two-run homer in the first. Free State scored its lone run in the fifth on three errors and a walk.

After Friday night’s exciting 5-3 first-round victory over No. 3 seed Wichita Northwest, the sixth-seeded Firebirds had been hoping to make more noise Saturday. They didn’t, but still they fashioned the first winning season (14-11) and made the first state appearance in the school’s eight-year history.

6Sports video: Free State softball place fourth at state

“You’re here wanting to win the whole thing,” Stanclift said, “and when you lose you forget it’s an honor to be here with the best teams in the state. We deserve credit for getting this far.”

Echoed Hock: “Yeah, we’re disappointed, but fourth place is awesome. And we’re going to try to build off this in the next couple of years.”