Kansas City, Kan. ? Not all home runs are alike. Some are high fly balls. Some are line drives. And some are inside-the-parkers.

Then there are the jaw-droppers, the oh-my-goshers – the ones like Free State High’s Ben Wilson crushed in the first inning of the Firebirds’ 13-4 victory over Springfield (Mo.) Hillcrest on Saturday afternoon in the River City Baseball Festival.

Wilson’s screaming rocket cleared the bullpen wall in deep left-center field at Community America Ballpark, home of the Kansas City T-Bones. Estimated distance: At least 420 feet.

“He’s a powerful young man,” Free State coach Mike Hill said of the senior first baseman. “When he gets in a zone, he can punish the baseball.”

Surely, Saturday’s wind-aided launch off Hillcrest left-hander Ray Wood was the longest of Wilson’s high school career. Uh, not quite.

“He hit one to right-center at Olathe North last year that was at least 420 feet,” Hill said. “I remember that one, and it was with the wind coming in.”

Wilson agreed.

“Yeah, that one at Olathe North was probably the longest,” Wilson said. “This one was probably the second or third longest.”

Not that Wilson or Hill are as concerned about distance as they are about consistency, and the 6-foot-4, 225-pound slugger also contributed a double and a pair of singles, driving in three runs and scoring three.

“He’s had trouble with breaking balls in the past,” Hill said, “but he was hitting everything today. I liked the way he went the other way with the breaking balls.”

Wilson’s double and one of his singles were to right-center.

“I was seeing the ball well,” Wilson said. “The coaches have been trying to get me to relax up there, and I felt really good today.”

So did the Firebirds’ other Wilson. Junior third baseman John Wilson, no relation, went 3-for-4 with a double, scored three runs and drove in a pair.

If you’re wondering, John is often asked if he’s related to Ben.

“I played with him on a few teams before high school,” John Wilson said. “He’s big. I was kind of intimidated by him. He really got us going today. That home run boosted us.”

Wilson’s two-run homer and three Hillcrest errors fueled a six-run Free State first inning, and the Firebirds never looked back. In essence, they wasted little time erasing the memory of Friday night’s disappointing 7-5 eight-inning loss to Kansas City Ward, also at the T-Bones park.

“On the bus ride back,” Ben Wilson said, “we talked about that and other things, and that we had to move on.”

Another Ben, junior right-hander Ben Witmer, pitched the first three innings and Ryan Scott, a freshman right-hander, hurled another two frames. Both were making their varsity debuts.

“I feel good about what we did today,” Hill said. “We used some pitchers who hadn’t been in yet, and that was important.”

The Firebirds (7-1) will resume Sunflower League play Tuesday at Olathe South.