Apparently, Free State High’s baseball team should have saved some of its recent offensive firepower for Friday night’s matchup with visiting Blue Valley North.

A day after pelting Shawnee Mission West for 14 runs on 16 hits, the Firebirds couldn’t muster an encore against the Mustangs, failing to record a hit through nearly four innings en route to just their third loss of the season, 3-0.

“We’ve been on a pretty good (offensive) run,” said Free State coach Mike Hill, whose team dropped to 12-3 overall. “That’s just the nature of the game. If you’d told me ahead of time we’re going to give up three runs, I’d have felt pretty good about it.”

The Firebirds couldn’t get much of anything going for most of Friday’s game, managing just three singles in what represented a far cry from Thursday’s offensive onslaught.

“I think we just didn’t come ready to play,” said shortstop Colin Toalson, who singled in the bottom of the fourth to break up what had been a BV North no-hitter. “And they’re a good team, and they got it done.”

Mustangs starting pitcher Tom Vance wasn’t overly dominating, but did what he had to do against what, with the exception of Friday’s loss, has proven to be a potent Firebirds offense.

He gave up just one hit in four innings, preventing Free State from making sufficient contact on most occasions, while also getting some much-appreciated help from North catcher Sean McHugh.

After knocking in lead-off batter Grant Adams in the top of the first to give the Mustangs an early 1-0 lead, McHugh scored the game’s second run in the top of the third inning on a James Hennahane base hit, giving Vance and reliever Matthew McHugh all the cushion they’d need.

Blue Valley North added a final run in the top of the sixth, though it proved unnecessary as only three Firebirds batters reached base through the final four innings.

For the most part, the Firebirds appeared willing to write-off Friday’s rare home defeat as an inevitable off-day in a three-month-long season — confident the outcome was the result of a momentary lapse in focus rather than the sign of an impending slide.

“Yesterday we had that 14-10 game, so we’re doing something (right),” Toalson said of Free State’s offensive capabilities. “… I’d like to just forget about this one pretty quick and come ready to play next game.”