Free State High’s Allie Hock learned a simple lesson from last year’s early-round exit from Kansas Class 6A state softball tournament.

“One pitch can change everything,” said Hock, senior catcher for the Firebirds, who lost, 2-1 to Olathe East on a walk-off home run, in last year’s first round. “There’s 21 outs, and as long as you have an out to spare, there’s still a chance that you can either win the game or you can lose the game.

“All these state championships and state games come down to either 1-0 or 2-1 games. They’re not going to be blowout, run-rules – or at least they shouldn’t be. So we just have to be ready at every moment to make that play or make that hit that could win us the game.”

Hock and the Firebirds will apply what they learned in last year’s loss when they face Sunflower League foe Shawnee Mission West at 7 p.m. today at Wichita’s Two Rivers Complex.

“I think it gave us more heart,” Free State starting pitcher Catherine Smith said about the late-inning defeat to O-East. “We know we have to come out strong and step it up. We can’t let somebody else take it upon themselves to do the nice play. Everybody is responsible for their own effort.

“You have to make that special play. We definitely learned this year that you have to step it up.”

The memory of the narrow loss at state also lingers in FSHS coach Pam Pine, who said the team should remember how well it played against the three-time state champs.

“The girls took that really, really hard, and there was lots of tears,” Pine said. “You forget about how good of a year you had when you lose, especially like on a walk-off home run. That just gets you way down in the gut. So they remember that, and they really, really want this, and I sure hope for all those girls that they get it.”

Free State (18-3), who won the Sunflower League title, beat SM West in their only meeting in the regular season with a 5-3 victory at home.

“It’s got its benefits,” Hock said. “We’ve seen their batters about three times and know what they have, and I’m sure coach Pine has talked to some other schools to get a little better report on what their hitters have and what they like. We’re just going to approach it like any other game.

“Whatever pitch is working best, we’re going to start with that and build from there against their batters, and hopefully that’ll let us get ahead on the defensive aspect. We’re going to go right at them. We’re not going to pitch around anybody. I’m confident enough in our defense – and everybody else is, too – that we can make those plays when they do get runners on, to get them.”

But things were a little shaky for the Firebirds in regional play as they narrowly got past Lawrence High in a 1-0 game and edged Topeka High, 3-1.

“I think we went off of what people were saying, ‘Oh, you guys will have a cake walk in regionals. You don’t need to worry about anything,'” Hock said. “We took that too seriously and didn’t come as prepared as we should have for those two games, and it almost ended up biting us. I think we all kind of woke up from that and realized that we’re going to state again. … To just make it past those games just showed you how much heart this team has.

“We had to dig deep and fight through all the mental problems we were having or whatever it was, and we’ve bounced right back, and we’re ready to go. There’s no doubt in my mind.”