Kansas City, Kan. ? Tyler Bailey had three reasons to tuck his head under his baseball jersey and never come out Friday night.

First came the second-inning error he made for Lawrence High in right field that scored two runs. Then came blunder No. 2 in right in the fourth that ended up scoring another run. Then came a third mishap in the sixth.

But Bailey didn’t disappear. Instead, the junior dug his cleats into the batter’s box in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded and his team down four runs – the same runs he had a hand in giving away – and smacked a three-run triple to cut it to one. It was the hit that fueled the fire for LHS to stun Kansas City Ward with an astonishing 7-6 comeback in the final inning at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

“I just had to make up for all the mistakes I made earlier,” Bailey said. “I felt like I just needed to do it for the team. If I didn’t make that, it would be in the back of my head all year.”

With Bailey standing on third, pinch hitter Devin Forio knocked a single to center to tie the game at 6. An inning later, Lions third baseman Clint Pinnick completed a turnaround from 6-0 down with a bases-loaded single up the middle that sent the LHS players flying out of the dugout to meet Pinnick and catcher Chase Muder, who scored the winning run.

“I knew it was going to be a fastball,” Pinnick said of the final pitch. “He wasn’t getting the curveball over very well, so I was just looking for that one pitch to take.”

LHS coach Brad Stoll said Bailey had been a popular topic among the coaching staff even before Friday night’s contest because of his ability to stay focused at the plate.

“He couldn’t catch it if he had a fish net out there,” Stoll said. “He struggled. But you know what? He stepped up there and absolutely unloaded one. That’s a testament to that kid. He could have easily checked it in.”

Bailey wasn’t alone in making fielding mistakes, either. The Lions committed six of them and had more errors than hits for much of the game.

Maybe that’s why it made it easier for teammates to keep Bailey’s spirits up.

“We told him not to let his head down,” Pinnick said. “It was just bound to happen that he was going to make a play like that. He really showed some savvy by hitting that ball out there.”

With the victory, LHS downed what Stoll has called one of the toughest teams for miles around. K.C. Ward had won 45 consecutive games – a state record – until the streak was snapped a week ago by K.C. Rockhurst, and the Cyclones own five consecutive Class 4A state championships.

“That is the premier program in the entire state of Kansas,” Stoll said. “I don’t give a lick if they’re 4A, 5A, 6A. They are the marquee program. To cough it up as many times as we did and not play particularly well in the beginning … our kids have a lot of heart and a lot of guts. I’m very proud of our kids tonight.”

Lawrence (4-4) will take on that Rockhurst team at 4:30 p.m. today at Hoglund Ballpark.