It’s safe to assume that Lawrence High senior Landon Moseley has a few nicknames. But based on his performance on the diamond this week, he might have earned one more.

Magic Man, perhaps. Or maybe even Houdini. For the second time in two days, Moseley executed the hidden-ball trick to tag out a runner at second base and put some momentum into the LHS dugout.

Wednesday, it came in a loss to Shawnee Mission East, but Thursday Moseley’s trickery was a huge reason the Lions were able to sweep Leavenworth, 2-1 and 4-0 at LHS.

With a runner at second and nobody out in the top of the seventh, Moseley snagged the ball from the outfield and pretended to throw it back to LHS pitcher Taylor Gentry. As Gentry walked to the mound, Leavenworth’s Judson Cole started to take his lead. That’s when Moseley tagged him out.

Lawrence High second baseman Landon Moseley makes the throw to first for a double play against Leavenworth on Thursday at LHS.

“It’s a fun little trick to pull off,” Moseley said. “Normally it will work a couple of times a year but definitely not two times in two days.”

Added LHS coach Brad Stoll: “I always tell them, ‘If it works once in a season it’s worth the time we spend practicing it. Getting it to work twice in two days, though, is kind of like the ugly kid getting the hot cheerleader to go to prom with him.”

Following both plays, fans from the opposing side voiced their displeasure, going as far in some instances as to call it cheating.

“People hate that play, but we think it’s good baseball. We think it’s stealing an out,” said LHS senior Ricky Bellinger.

While Moseley may have used illusions to aid the Lions’ cause Thursday night, there was nothing tricky about what Gentry and sophomore Garrett Cleavinger did on the mound. Both tossed complete games, both worked from ahead in the count throughout the night and both left the field with victories to show for it.

“We’ve beat it into their heads so many times that it’s so much easier to pitch when you work ahead in the count,” Stoll said. “I was really proud of Taylor for doing that tonight, and then Garrett, once he got ahead, his slider was filthy.”

Together, the Lions’ starting pitchers threw 14 innings, allowed one run on eight hits and struck out 15 Leavenworth batters. Cleavinger fanned 10 in the nightcap, including two apiece in the first three innings.

“It just felt good to go out there and dominate from the start,” he said.

The Lions took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Moseley scored on an RBI groundout by Ross Johnson. Albert Minnis and Tanner Kilmer delivered RBIs in the bottom of the third to make the score 3-0, with Johnson scoring after stealing two bases and Minnis scoring from first on a double by Kilmer.

LHS added one more in the fifth to set the final margin.

In the opening game, the Lions fell behind 1-0 in the top of the second but tied things in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Chase McElhaney. Minnis’ sac fly in the sixth that plated Moseley proved to be the game winner.

The sweep improved the Lions to 10-7 on the season. LHS will face Blue Valley North at noon Saturday at the Blue Valley District Athletic Complex before returning home Monday to take on Free State.