Leavenworth ? Free State High baseball coach Mike Hill could have said the understatement of the century after Tuesday night’s game against the Pioneers.

“I would say we swung it well and took advantage of the elements of the ballpark,” Hill said.

Well, what else can you say after the Firebirds earned a 35-6, run-rule victory – that’s right – over the Pioneers.

“It’s not a big yard, and the wind was blowing out, but to be honest with you, we hit the ball,” Hill said. “They only had three errors, and we only walked a few times. It was just a matter of us swinging it.”

Nick Ayre (1-0) earned the victory, throwing just three innings before Cody Lown relieved.

Andy Petz homered twice for Free State, Scott Heitshusen and Brett Lisher each blasted grand slams, and Hunter Scheib, E.J. Swanson and Lorenzo Ricketts also homered.

“I’m not sure what value today’s game was to us,” Hill said. “But it was a league game, and I thought our kids did a nice job.”

FSHS (10-2 overall, 4-1 Sunflower League) will play host Thursday to Shawnee Mission West.