Ah, that’s more like it.

Lawrence High’s baseball team, throttled twice in Tulsa, Okla., last weekend, opened at home Thursday night by waxing Olathe South, 12-2, at Ice Field.

“We needed one pretty bad,” Lions coach Brad Stoll said. “It was nice to thump somebody, and South is a pretty good team.”

Lawrence pounded 17 hits against three Falcons pitchers. Leadoff hitter Daniel Parker went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and scored twice. Parker’s RBI single drove in the Lions’ 12th run with two outs in the sixth inning to finish the run-rule victory.

“We just kept hammering the ball,” Stoll said.

Nursing a 4-2 lead after 41â2 innings, the Lions exploded for seven runs on seven hits in the fifth. First baseman Nick DeBiasse started the onslaught with a solo home run over the leftfield fence.

“It was close for awhile,” said Parker, the Lions’ senior shortstop, “then Nick hit that home run. Nick set the tone and we just followed.”

Third baseman John Novotny went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, including one that drove in the Lions’ first two runs in the first inning.

Novotny also made a couple of notable defensive plays, including one in which he threw out a runner who had rounded second too far on an apparent infield hit in the second inning.

“That was a nice play,” Stoll said. “John stole an out with a ball fake.”

Two years ago, Novotny also started the season as the Lions’ third baseman, but he soon lost the job because of defensive woes.

“He’s come a long way,” Stoll said of the senior third-sacker. “We had to move him (to first base) back then, but he’s a hard-working kid who takes pride in his defense.”

For his part, Novotny was just happy to play at home after the rough start in Oklahoma. The Lions suffered 11-2 and 15-7 losses to a pair of Tulsa teams before salvaging a 6-5 win over Stillwater, Okla.

“Tonight shows that if you play error-free and the middle of the lineup produces, you’ve got a shot,” Novotny said.

DeBiasse bats fourth and Novotny fifth. No. 3 hitter Jordan Guntert was 1-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, so the Lions’ 3-4-5 hitters were a combined 6-for-11 with five RBIs.

Meanwhile, second baseman Aaron Rea was charged with the Lions’ only error when he failed to come up with a hard smash to his right in the third inning.

Senior right-hander Drew Hulse pitched the first four innings for his first victory, surrendering five walks and three singles, but only one earned run.

“We think of ourselves as a state-caliber team,” Novotny said. “We expect to play like this every night.”

Next for the Lions (2-2) will be a doubleheader Tuesday at Leavenworth.