FREE STATE HIGH'S JOHN WILSON stares down a ground ball during the Firebirds' game against Shawnee Mission East. The Firebirds earned a 4-3 victory in eight innings Friday.

Not everyone at West Junior High knows ninth-grader Ryan Scott’s unusual status.

“Not really,” Scott said. “But I’ll get a ‘good game’ sometimes from teachers and students who read the paper.”

Scott deserves more kudos in the WJHS hallways after his route-going mound stint in Free State High’s 4-3 eight-inning baseball victory over Shawnee Mission East Friday afternoon at the FSHS field.

Scott, the lone freshman on the Firebirds’ varsity roster, gave up seven hits – three of them infield singles – fanned seven and walked two, one intentionally.

“I think the last time I pitched eight innings was on my summer team when I was 13,” Scott said.

Free State coach Mike Hill kept a close eye on Scott’s pitch count and decided to leave the lean 6-foot-2 right-hander out there.

“I didn’t expect him to go that long,” Hill said, “but he kept on going and his pitch count wasn’t that high. We wouldn’t have put him out there for the ninth, though.”

Ben Wilson prevented a ninth inning by slamming a two-out, game-winning double over the left-fielder’s head in the bottom of the eighth. Wilson’s blow was one of the few balls hit hard off SM East right-hander Adam Watson all afternoon.

“He has a good curveball that was different that what we were used to,” Wilson said about Watson. “It had a sharp break. He also did a good job of throwing our timing off.”

In the fateful eighth, Andy Petz drew a leadoff walk – the only free pass Watson issued – and was sacrificed to second by Kyle Cross, setting the stage for Wilson, who hadn’t hit the ball out of the infield in three previous plate appearances.

“Coach Hill says when you’re struggling to look for a fastball,” Wilson said. “So that’s what I was trying to do.”

Watson delivered the fastball and Wilson drilled the pitch to the base of the left-field fence, allowing Petz to score the game-winner easily. Wilson’s hit was one of only four mustered by the Firebirds. In fact, if it weren’t for four SM East errors, the Firebirds wouldn’t have forced extra innings.

“I thought we were lethargic offensively,” Hill said. “We had to ride the back of a ninth-grader to get a victory.”

Where Scott will fit into the postseason picture remains to be seen, but Friday’s performance may have lifted him into the No. 3 starter role behind junior left-handers Cody Lown and Caleb Gress.

“He’s going to be a very good pitcher,” Wilson said of Scott. “He’s really ahead of most young guys.”

Friday’s start was Scott’s second. He began the season on the junior varsity, then pitched in varsity relief before earning his first start last Saturday against Kansas City (Mo.) Pembroke Hill. Free State drilled Pembroke Hill, 11-0, in five innings.

Free State (14-4) is assured of playing host to a Class 6A sub-state next Wednesday. First, however, the Firebirds have a date with Leavenworth at 4 p.m. Monday at Kauffman Stadium.

The Leavenworth game won’t count in sub-state seedings, but it will count toward Sunflower League standings. Free State is 7-3 in the league and can finish second with a win over the Pioneers. Olathe East has already clinched the league title with a 9-2 record.