Before Free State High’s 2015 baseball season began, coach Mike Hill thought he and his assistants had some dependable, useful players they could put on the field and expect to compete.

He didn’t necessarily have a gut feeling on whether the roster would turn out to be one of the state’s best, but he had confidence in at least one aspect of what the Firebirds had to offer.

“We knew we could pitch,” Hill said.

You can say that again. FSHS used just three hurlers — juniors Hunter Gudde and Trevor Munsch and senior Casey Hearnen — and only surrendered two runs during the past two days at Hoglund Ballpark, where the Firebirds silenced their Class 6A competition on the way to the program’s second state championship.

By the time Hearnen fielded a seventh-inning grounder against Shawnee Mission Northwest on Friday night and turned a title-clinching double play with the help of junior shortstop Mikey Corbett and senior first baseman Marcelino Cortez, Free State finished the state tourney with its three-armed pitching monster registering a 0.67 ERA on the grandest stage of the spring.

Said Gudde, who threw a two-hit complete game Thursday and worked two hitless innings as the starter in a 4-1 championship victory over SMNW: “We didn’t really expect to only use three pitchers this whole tournament. It was huge for us.”

Hearnen, Free State’s go-to reliever and closer, conversed with Hill in the days leading up to state about his role and learned he could either start or throw long innings in the title game if FSHS advanced that far. Thanks to complete games from Gudde (versus Campus) and left-handed semifinal starter Munsch (in a 4-1 win over Olathe South), Hearnen didn’t even have to make his first start of the season.

“It couldn’t have worked out more perfect for us,” Hearnen said after earning a title-game victory with five innings of relief against SMNW.

Munsch had one goal Friday: throw a complete game. He accomplished it by scattering five hits over seven innings and striking out six O-South batters. The junior finished his contribution with the Free State fans on their feet.

“That’s obviously what you want,” a happy Munsch said after FSHS won its first state title since 2006. “Use two pitchers in two games. And that’s what happened.”

Unlike the Cougars, the Firebirds hadn’t exhausted all of their arms in the first two rounds. Hill had options entering the final game of the season: “Do we start Casey in the championship game or do we see if we can steal a couple on the front side?”

Gudde’s low pitch count a little more than 24 hours earlier allowed him to stay effective. The righty didn’t allow a run in nine innings at state. He struck out six, and only two batters managed a hit.

Hearnen then surrendered just two hits and two walks to finish a spectacular stretch.

“I knew once we got up,” Gudde said, “Casey wasn’t gonna let them score.”

The Cougars did get one across, but the Firebirds (21-4) mostly did what they had all season: win without looking the part of a dominant team. Not much flash on the mound? Not much pop at the plate? Neither kept the Firebirds from taking the state championship plaque home.

Still in amazement over the team’s accomplishment, Hearnen said: “I think people underestimated what we could do purely based off fundamentals and great pitching.”

Hill couldn’t deny he has coached more talented and dominating groups than this one.

“But these kids,” he said, “are state champions.”