Kansas City, Kan. ? Mike Hill isn’t ready to say he’s cuckoo for Cody Kukuk, but the Free State High baseball coach definitely liked what he saw Saturday afternoon.

Kukuk, a freshman left-hander, pitched four hitless innings in his first varsity start as the Firebirds flattened Springfield (Mo.) Hillcrest, 10-2, in the River City Festival at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

“He’s just a pup,” Hill said of Kukuk, a ninth-grader at Southwest Junior High, “but it was important to get him a start.”

Although Hill has a raft of veteran hurlers available, by starting Kukuk he showed nothing is set in stone.

“We’re trying to figure out our rotation for later in the season and hopefully the playoffs,” the Firebirds’ coach said, “and we haven’t identified that.”

Kukuk certainly didn’t hurt his chances. The lone freshman on the Firebirds’ 18-man roster had a no-hitter going until Jared Nagel led off the fifth inning with a ground single up the middle.

Two batters later, Kukuk issued a walk and then a two-out triple to leadoff hitter Troy Terrill who dumped an opposite-field fly ball just inside the foul line.

“It was just a good hit,” Kukuk said of the triple that spoiled the shutout. “He (Terrill) just made contact.”

Hill noted he had planned to start Kukuk in Thursday’s Festival opener, but that game was rained out. So he used the young southpaw for an inning in relief Friday night, then told him two hours before Saturday’s game that he would be starting.

“I wasn’t nervous,” Kukuk said. “I was excited.”

Hill hooked Kukuk after five innings. Brad Witmer pitched a scoreless sixth, and Ryan Scott struck out the side in the seventh.

Kukuk surrendered only those two hits and fanned five, but he also walked five and pitch command, noted Hill, “is what he has to improve on.”

While Kukuk took care of business on the mound, second baseman Jordan Dreiling did most of the damage at the plate. A switch-hitter who batted right-handed against Hornets’ lefty Bart Lairmore, Dreiling went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and five runs batted in.

“It was a good day to hit,” Dreiling said with a smile.

A senior, this is just the fourth year that Dreiling has been a switch-hitter.

“Before today I had only three at-bats right-handed,” Dreiling said. “I’m a natural righty, but I probably hit about the same from both sides.”

Free State bounced back smartly after suffering its first defeat Friday night, a 13-4 thumping by Kansas City, Mo., Rockhurst that featured four errors. Saturday, they went errorless.

“It was good to get back at it and get the bad taste out of our mouths,” Hill said. “It wasn’t a great performance, but it was OK.”

Free State (8-1) is scheduled to play host to Shawnee Mission South at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.