Lawrence High's Mike Sinks (14) and Jacob Unruh (26) walk off the field following their loss to Washburn Rural in their regional playoff game Thursday in Topeka.

Topeka ? Lawrence High baseball players walked off the field stunned into silence on Thursday.

Every time they trailed against Washburn Rural in the first round of regionals, they found ways to fight back. Needing just one out to advance to the regional finals, the Lions slipped into a corner they couldn’t escape, losing 6-5 in nine innings at Hummer Sports Park.

With LHS up by a run in the bottom of the ninth, Washburn Rural had runners on first and second base with two outs when senior Blake Peterson belted a 3-1 pitch to the left field fence for a walkoff, two-run double.

The Blues celebrated down the first-base line, and the Lions were left thinking how close they were to keeping their season alive.

“It stings real good,” LHS junior Brad Kincaid said, taking deep breaths to compose himself. “I got really close to the senior class this year. I’m going to miss them to death, man. We should’ve won that game, you know. Things just don’t go our way sometimes. It’s real tough.”

The Lions (7-14) had a one-run lead in the top of ninth after senior Steven Garcia sprinted to second base on a walk when Washburn Rural’s catcher couldn’t find ball-four at the backstop.

Senior pinch-runner Luke Zenger replaced Garcia on the base paths, moving to third on a single from senior Nyle Anderson, and scoring on a suicide squeeze bunt from junior Luke Padia.

LHS was held to just two hits on Thursday, but continuously found ways to score runs.

“There were kids that literally left blood, sweat and tears on that field,” LHS coach Brad Stoll said. “I’m so dang proud of this group. I told them as an alumni, I’m so proud to wear the same uniform as they do.

“I mean that because they were dialed in today. They fought. They threw a punch, we threw a punch. Just at the end, the kid put a good swing on the ball.”

The Lions were trailing by a run in the sixth inning before junior Daonte Lowery drew a walk, stole second and scored on a single to left by senior Michael Sinks, which was the Lions’ first hit. Sinks stole a base and eventually scored on a wild pitch for a 5-4 lead.

The Blues (14-6), who lost to Junction City, 4-3, in the regional championship, tied the score in the sixth inning with back-to-back hits from Jackson Cobb and Brayden White. Lowery made a diving catch in center field with two outs to prevent any more runs from scoring.

“It wasn’t like the one-run games that we had in the past,” said Sinks, who also tossed four innings. “We were tough today, they just found a couple of holes.”

Peterson puzzled the Lions at the plate with a sharp curveball, allowing just one hit in six innings while striking out 10. But the Lions took advantage of every chance they had. Ivan Hollins scored after drawing a walk in the third inning, and Kincaid scored in the fourth, reaching first base on a dropped third strike.

“It’s kids buying into taking base running seriously, taking small ball seriously,” Stoll said. “The squeeze at the end of the game was flawless. Delayed steals and all that stuff, the kids take a lot of pride in. It’s kids that know when you have a really good arm on the mound, you have to find ways to get it done.”

The Lions, who lost nine games this season by two runs or less, just had trouble holding onto their brief leads. The Blues scored all of their runs with two outs.

“It just sucks,” Sinks said. “It’s been over a week since we played. You just work that whole week. You think about it the whole week. Going into that last inning up by a run, you think you have a really good chance, obviously.

“I don’t know, watching that ball fly over the left fielder’s head, it didn’t come down to that, but watching that happen just hurts.”

Washburn Rural 6, Lawrence High 5 (9 inn.)

Lawrence 001 102 001 — 5 2 3

Washburn 002 011 002 — 6 11 1

W — Jake Michalski. L — Nate Hulse.

2B — T.Y. Burton, Blake Peterson (2), Jackson Cobb, WR.

LHS highlights — Michael Sinks, 1-for-4, run, RBI, stolen base, 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K; Nyle Anderson, 1-for-4; Nick Haynes, 3 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.