photo by: John Young

Lawrence High junior Sammy Hogsett (11) is greeted by teammates after scoring a run during the Lions' game against Maize during the River City Baseball Festival Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark.

With the game-winning run standing on third base in the bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday, Lawrence High sophomore infielder Andrew Stewart was focused when he walked up to the plate.

Stewart saw his coaches call for a squeeze bunt and tapped his cleats to let them know he understood. When Maize pitcher Jake Doerflinger started his delivery, LHS senior outfielder Ivan Hollins started running toward the plate.

The pitch was in the strike zone, and Stewart dropped down a bunt in fair territory, scoring Hollins and giving the Lions a 3-2 victory at Kansas University’s Hoglund Ballpark.

“I didn’t really think about it,” Stewart said. “I just got it down.”

Hollins set up the walk-off bunt when he drilled a pitch into right field, and Maize’s right fielder misplayed the ball, watching a single turn into a runner on third base.

After a strikeout, the squeeze bunt was set into motion. The Lions (6-5) practice the play several times a week and executed it to perfection when it mattered the most.

With players flying out of the dugout to celebrate with Stewart and Hollins, it ended any memory of their 18-run loss on Friday.

“(Friday) was an anomaly,” said LHS senior Brad Kincaid, who went 2-for-3 at the plate. “We just came out here and coach told us to erase yesterday and that’s exactly what we did. We came out and hit the ball, played defense and everyone is pitching well.”

In the final three innings, the Eagles (7-4, ranked No. 8 in Class 5A) left a runner stranded at third base.

Kincaid, who pitched the final 2 1?3 innings, lived on the edge. His slider wasn’t moving the way he wanted. He watched Maize fill the bases with two outs in the sixth inning without a hit. Yet, he escaped the threat by forcing a routine ground ball.

In the seventh inning, after Maize senior Jacob Karst hit a two-out double and advanced to third on a wild pitch, Kincaid struck out Maize’s clean-up hitter with an 86-mph fastball.

“His slider wasn’t there,” LHS coach Brad Stoll said. “He had zero feel for the slider. But he got by on pure guts and a fastball. That just shows what kind of kid he is.”

Kincaid added: “I just trust my defense behind me because I know they are going to get the job done. That makes it a lot easier for me and I can just go out there and throw as hard as I can.”

The Eagles scored two runs on three hits in the first inning against LHS starting pitcher Parker Kirkpatrick. Maize senior Hunter LaMunyon hit an RBI single and Karst scored on a sacrifice fly.

Afterward, Kirkpatrick found his rhythm. The senior right-hander, who underwent Tommy John surgery last year, tossed three scoreless frames before he exited with two outs in the fifth inning.

“I was just pleased with overall attitude, nobody panicked,” Stoll said. “We got down early. We’ve come from behind. I think they just felt like, ‘OK, we’ll be fine.'”

LHS sophomore first baseman Devin Lauts hit a leadoff single in the second inning and scored on a single from senior outfielder Daonte Lowery.

In the fourth inning, the Lions tied the score without a hit. After Kirkpatrick reached on an error, his courtesy runner, Sammy Hogsett, scored on an error when senior outfielder Luke Padia hit a ground ball to third base.

“I came in here today,” Stoll said, “and said, ‘Guys last night is over. This is the last time we’re ever going to talk about it. We can’t do anything about it, move on.’ And they moved on. They came out and played as hard as they could today and that’s all you can ask.”

Maize 200 000 0 — 2 6 3

Lawrence 010 100 1 — 3 8 1

W — Brad Kincaid, 2-0. L — Jake Doerflinger.

2B — Kincaid, LHS; Jacob Karst, Maize.

LHS highlights — Kincaid, 2-for-3, 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K; Parker Kirkpatrick, 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Daonte Lowery, 1-for-3, RBI; Ivan Hollins, 1-for-3, run.