Lawrence High senior pitcher Daonte Lowery (3) shows good form against Olathe Northwest on Thursday April 7, 2016 at LHS.

A backup senior infielder for Lawrence High, Colton Lovelace doesn’t gets many plate appearances, nor often see his name listed with the starters on the Lions’ lineup card.

However, his teammates and coach Brad Stoll trust Lovelace to succeed within his role when called upon. Thursday evening at LHS, the 5-foot-9 pinch-hitter came through with a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth against Olathe Northwest, sparking a five-run inning that gave Lawrence the lead for good in a 10-9 victory.

During the previous inning, Lovelace prepared for his cameo by taking some mental at bats in the dugout, watching ONW left-hander Mason Green closely, armed with the knowledge he would see him in the fifth.

After fighting off two inside pitches in a tie game, Lovelace slapped an outside, two-strike fastball to right field. By the time he returned to the dugout, he had crossed home plate to give LHS a 6-5 lead, its first of the game.

“I felt great,” Lovelace said after delivering his first varsity hit in his seventh at bat of the spring. “I think it got everybody just energized and Ivan (Hollins) followed me up with a walk, and Reese (Carmona) had a clutch base hit with a drag bunt down the line. I just thought everybody did a good job of piggy-backing off each other. And that’s kind of our motto — kind of like the Royals — just keep the line moving. That’s what we have to do.”

Sophomore Andrew Stewart drove Lovelace in with a sacrifice fly. From there, senior Brad Kincaid drew a walk, and sophomore Devin Lauts smacked the ball down the third-base line, plating two more runs on an error. Senior Parker Kirkpatrick kept the rally going with a two-out single, and the Lions (3-4) took a 10-5 lead into the sixth after senior Daonte Lowery knocked in two more runs with a double.

Said Kincaid, who went 2-for-3, with a double and a triple: “It’s awesome to see guys come off the bench and always be ready to hit. And then when someone gets a hit, hitting’s contagious for us. We’ve seen it for the past two games now. We’re just pounding the ball around the yard. As soon as one person gets it, it just gets our train going, and there’s no stopping us.”

The third inning actually might have been equally important for the Lions, who had fallen behind 4-0, after two scoreless innings for both teams. LHS tied the game up by matching the Ravens with a four-run third of their own, highlighted by a two-run triple off the bat of Kincaid, an RBI-double to the right-field gap by Lauts and a sac fly to center from Lowery.

Stoll said the Lions should be more relaxed in those must-have innings now that they’ve proven they can respond. Plus, they have senior Luke Padia (2-for-4) back in the starting lineup.

“We all feel there are some bats in there now,” Stoll said, “and when we’re down we can barrel some bats up and get right back in a baseball game, which we did tonight successfully.”

Kincaid closed the victory after ONW scored four runs off reliever Cade Burghart in the sixth. After walking two of the first three batters he faced in the seventh, Kincaid trusted his defense, recording outs with a fly ball to center and a pop-up just behind second base. Although Stewart and Braden Solko bumped into each other on the final out, Solko kept the ball from reaching the turf and tying the game.

“I almost had a heart attack,” Kincaid said, with a laugh. “That was crazy.”

Stoll expected Kincaid to pitch himself out of the jam.

“He’s closing for us because of that,” the coach said.

Olathe NW 004 104 0 — 9 10 1

Lawrence 004 150 X — 10 13 1

W — Gavin Greenwood (1-1). L –Mason Green. SV — Brad Kincaid (2).

2B — Colton Thomas, Ben Owen, Olathe NW; Brad Kincaid, Devin Lauts (2), Daonte Lowery, LHS. 3B — Kincaid, LHS.

LHS highlights — Lowery, 2-for-3, 3 RBIs; Kincaid, 2-for-3, 2 RBIs, 3 Rs; Lauts, 2-for-4, 2 RBIs, 2 Rs; Luke Padia, 2-for-4; Andrew Stewart, 1-for-1, 2 BBs, RBI, R; Reese Carmona, 1-for-3, 2 Rs.