photo by: John Young

Free State High junior pitcher Aaron Funk sends a pitch towards home during the Firebirds' game against Leavenworth Thursday at FSHS.

Most of the time this spring, Free State High’s baseball team has gotten by on the strength of its pitching staff and the defense playing behind the stellar arms of senior starters Hunter Gudde and Trevor Munsch.

Thursday against Leavenworth, the formula mostly stayed the same, but junior right-hander Aaron Funk stepped into the starring role on the mound, and he helped steer the Firebirds to a 2-0 home victory over the Pioneers.

“It feels pretty great just to go along with the great pitching that Trevor and Hunter have,” Funk said after allowing just two hits and striking out six in four innings for the win, “and just to be the third threat.”

FSHS coach Mike Hill said Funk remains a “work in progress,” adding the junior displayed some of the tools that will make him successful as he found a groove with first-pitch strikes.

“He’s got a real legitimate breaking ball,” Hill said of Funk. “When he introduced that it kind of caught them off guard and then allowed the fastball to do a little bit more.”

The Firebirds (11-2) scored all the runs they needed in the bottom of the third, with three consecutive two-out singles. With senior Mikey Corbett, who led off with a perfect bunt single down the third-base line, 90 feet away from home, sophomore Kyle Abrahamson drove him in on a single to right field. After Gudde, who went 3-for-3, with three base hits, kept the inning alive, junior Jacob Pavlyak knocked in Abrahmson with a single to left.

“We have a lot of faith and trust in our pitching,” Abrahamson said. “We try to do our job with the offense.”

Effective as Funk was versus Leavenworth (9-4), Hill elected to re-visit Gudde in a closing role, something the Firebirds hadn’t done since early in the season. Gudde struck out four and surrendered one hit in three innings.

What’s more, Hill said the coaches have etched out a plan that will allow Gudde to mix in starts with relief appearances.

“There’s just so many intangibles,” Hill said, “you look for in a closer — of course, at the high school level that could be three innings — competitiveness, the ability to field your position, strike-thrower. All those things, that’s him.”

As the defending Class 6A state champions eye another postseason run, the next step is, well, scoring more.

“We’ve been asking an awful lot of our pitching and defense,” Hill said after FSHS left 10 runners on base in six innings, “and we have been solid, obviously, in both areas. But we all need to pick up offensively in order to be a complete team. I think we will. The kids are working hard and making the adjustments necessary. It’s just a matter of getting the ball to fall.”

Leavenworth 000 000 0 — 0 3 2

Free State 002 000 X — 2 9 0

W — Aaron Funk (3-0). L — Collin Jones. SV — Hunter Gudde (2).

Free State highlights — Funk, 4 IP, 6 Ks, 2 Hs, 3 BBs; Gudde, 3 IP, 4 Ks, H, 3-for-3; Mikey Corbett, 3-for-3, R; Kyle Abrahamson, 1-for-3, RBI, R; Jacob Pavlyak, 1-for-2, RBI; Matt Hill, 1-for-2.