photo by: Richard Gwin

Free State senior Hunter Gudde pitched a complete game shutout against Derby in a 10-0, five-inning victory Thursday at Hoglund Ballpark at Kansas University in the first round of the Class 6A state tournament.

Most decisions baseball managers make have a direct impact on the game in front of them.

But Thursday, during the first round of the Class 6A state tournament at Hoglund Ballpark, one of the biggest decisions Free State coach Mike Hill faced came with an eye toward the future.

Leading 5-0 through two innings, with Sunflower League pitcher of the year Hunter Gudde on the mound, Hill easily could have taken his ace out of the game and saved his arm for Friday’s semifinals or a potential state title game on Saturday.

He didn’t, and Gudde cruised to a complete-game, one-hit shutout during the fourth-seeded Firebirds’ 10-0, five-inning victory over Derby.

If that sounds familiar it’s likely because Gudde kicked off last year’s state title run with a similar effort — 7 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 5 strikeouts on fewer than 80 pitches in a Round 1 victory.

Thursday, Gudde needed just 55 pitches to go the distance, and that, as was the case a year ago, sets up the very likely scenario that the senior hurler will pitch again today or Saturday.

“Everything about this past two weeks has felt very similar (to last year),” Gudde said. “My teammates and I have been talking a lot about that.”

Although no one in the Free State dugout expected the offense to explode for 10 runs, Hill said he never considered resting Gudde during Thursday’s first two innings. That changed when the Firebirds added a run in the bottom of the third.

“At 6-0, there was a decision,” Hill said. “He was not gonna go 7 innings at 6-0. We weren’t gonna do that.”

Fortunately for the Firebirds (19-4), Hill never had to make that call. Both Gudde and Free State’s offense kept rolling and a four-run fifth ended the game early.

“I didn’t hear anything,” Gudde said about the take-him-out-or-leave-him-in discussion. “But I’m sure coach Hill and (pitching) coach (Layne) Meyer (were) thinking about pulling me. And then we went out and run-ruled ’em, which was huge.”

Hill said he never asked for Gudde’s input and added that coaches often will let a player weigh in on a decision to stay in the game but never do they get to factor into the decision to take them out.

“That’s on us,” Hill said.

Gudde’s low pitch count and terrific command made Hill’s call easy, and all parties involved came out looking like geniuses.

For the game, Gudde finished with eight strikeouts and gave up just one hit, a single on his first pitch. For the season, Gudde has tossed 50.1 innings in 14 appearances and is 7-1 with 49 strikeouts, three earned runs and a 0.42 earned-run average. And for his career, which will go down as one of the best in school history, Gudde now has thrown 110.1 innings in 27 appearances, is 17-1, has given up just 10 earned runs while striking out 86 and crafting 0.63 ERA. Those numbers include 14 scoreless innings at the state tournament.

It’s numbers like those that make the potential to bring him back such an advantage for the Firebirds.

“That’s what we did last year, and it was so important for us,” said Hill, noting that Gudde wound up starting the 2015 state title game one day after notching the first-round, complete-game win. “So there’s no question we were thinking about that. You don’t go into the game thinking about it, but the offense gave us that breathing room.”

Throughout his coaching career, Hill always has — and always will — put the health and safety of his players first. So even though state rules allow for a player to pitch a maximum of nine innings in one day and 12 innings over two, it’s not like Gudde will be asked to pitch another seven innings and throw 100 pitches today.

Of course, as competitive as Gudde is, at this point Hill would probably have to put him in a straitjacket to keep him from throwing in today’s semifinal showdown with top-seeded Blue Valley or beyond.

“There really isn’t a better way this could’ve gone for us,” Gudde said. “It was the perfect scenario. I’ll be ready to go tomorrow for either game, whichever one they need me. But let’s hope they don’t need me.”

That would make for Hill’s easiest decision of all.