Free State's Mikey Corbett comes around on a pitch for a hit against Blue Valley North during the second inning on Friday, May 1, 2015 at Free State High School.

Free State High’s baseball players have pitched well and played solid defense for the last few weeks. The only question is whether they can score a few runs.

They answered that quickly with three early runs in a 7-0 victory over Blue Valley North on Friday at FSHS. The Firebirds held opponents to just two runs in their three games this week and recorded their fifth shutout of the season.

Sophomore right-hander Jackson Flynn was solid in his second varsity start, allowing just three hits in six shutout innings while striking out four and walking one. This week, Free State’s starting pitchers tossed 16 scoreless innings.

Free State starting pitcher Jackson Flynn delivers against Blue Valley North during the third inning on Friday, May 1, 2015 at Free State High School.

“As my start progressed, I gained a lot of momentum with all of my pitches and everything,” Flynn said. “It just went well today. …The nerves are slowly sinking away, but they were still there a little bit tonight.”

Similar to Flynn’s last start, the Firebirds (12-4) gave him some run support in the first inning. Senior Jon Saathoff hit a sacrifice fly, scoring senior Cooper Karlin, who had singled to center. Junior Hunter Gudde followed with a two-out RBI single to center, and sophomore Jacob Pavlyak drilled an RBI triple into right-center.

“It was outside, and I’ve been trying to work on hitting that outside pitch to the opposite field, and I finally did that,” said Pavlyak, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. “That’s what coach has been telling me to do the past five games — whole season, pretty much.”

Flynn didn’t need any more help. He stranded a runner at third base in the second inning, and he allowed just one hit over his next four innings on the mound. The only hit was a come-backer that deflected off his foot to the first-base line.

Free State's Mikey Corbett comes around on a pitch for a hit against Blue Valley North during the second inning on Friday, May 1, 2015 at Free State High School.

His only hiccup Friday was a curveball that flew to the backstop in the first inning. But he started to gain more control of the pitch as the innings progressed, and in the sixth inning he struck out the side by dropping his curveball underneath a few swings.

Senior closer Casey Hearnen relieved Flynn for the seventh inning and struck out the side.

“You know, his best pitch has always been his fastball because of the movement,” FSHS coach Mike Hill said of Flynn. “Yet today, as he did last Saturday at KU, he threw some really good breaking balls. His change-up was an out pitch for him today. Just a sophomore, he’s still got a lot to learn, but it’s just a credit to him and very impressive how much better he’s become over the last year.”

With Flynn cruising along, the Firebirds didn’t have to worry about their bats. They scored their last four runs without a hit, drawing walks, stealing bases and scoring on wild pitches or groundouts. Senior Joel Spain drew four walks and scored four runs.

“I think we just kind of let off a little bit,” Pavlyak said. “We felt like we had it. But we can’t do that. We’ve got to keep putting runs up, and I think we’ll start doing that.”

The Firebirds were hoping to have a better approach at the plate after facing two pitchers headed to the University of Arkansas and the University of Oklahoma this week, respectively, and know that’s an area that needs more production.

“We still have to improve offensively, there’s no question about that,” Hill said. “I like what we do defensively. I like what we do on the mound. We still need to get better there, but offensively we need to grow a little bit if we’re going to be a championship-type team.”

Free State will travel to face Olathe North at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

BV North 000 000 0 — 0 3 3

Free State 301 021 x — 7 6 0

W — Jackson Flynn, 2-0. L — Nick Romey.

3B — Jacob Pavlyak, FS.

FSHS highlights — Flynn, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K; Casey Hearnen, 1 IP, 3 K; Hunter Gudde, 2-for-4, run, 2 RBIs; Pavlyak, 2-for-4, 2 RBI; Joel Spain, 4 walks, 4 runs.