Free State senior Dacia Starr rounded first base fully expecting the ball to land safely in the glove of Shawnee Mission South’s Darriona Morris.

Fortunately, for Starr and the Firebirds, the wind was especially kind to elevated fly balls. The ball carried further than normal, and Morris didn’t get a glove on it until she reached over the fence in dead center. The ball skipped off Morris’ glove as she bounced off the fence, and Starr was welcomed with a bench-clearing celebration at home plate.

The two-run homer was Starr’s first of the season, who had five through the first six games last year, and highlighted a four-run first inning outburst, which was more than enough to push the Firebirds past the Raiders, 11-1, at home Friday.

“I didn’t know it was a home-run until I was rounding second and saw the umpire raise his hands,” Starr said. “It’s very important to get a strong start, so we have that lead. Sometimes we give up more runs than we should, so it’s nice to have cushion.”

Freshman Haley Lockwood-Peterson began the frame with a bloop single into center. The ensuing batter, senior Mayah Daniels, plated Lockwood-Peterson with a triple. Daniels finished with two triples on the afternoon.

Starr followed suit by depositing a fastball just past the 220-foot mark in dead center. She admitted afterwards that a majority of her home runs tend to go over the left-field wall, which was not feasible due to the wind conditions.

“Every day I tell my big hitters to look at the flag,” FSHS coach Lee Ice said. “I said if you pull anything today, it’s not going to go anywhere. If you elevate it, it’s going to get out of here. I thought it had a chance once it got elevated.”

Later in the first, Jenalee Dickson drew a one-out walk and came around to score on a throwing error by the catcher, to complete the four-run first inning. Shawnee Mission South committed five errors.

The Firebirds (3-4) recorded just two hits over the next two frames, a single by Emma Stanwix and a triple by Morgan Leslie, but still managed four more runs over that span.

With a comfortable advantage, Ice began using his reserves in final two innings. A total of 15 players posted a plate appearance, as seven of them notched a hit. Leslie, Daniels and Annie Roszak were the only ones credited with multi-hit efforts.

“I still think we can swing the bats better than what we did today,” Ice said. “I didn’t think we squared the ball up as well as we are capable of.”

Meanwhile, Daniels earned the victory after tossing two scoreless innings. She threw a total of 21 pitches — 17 of which were strikes — as she didn’t allow a baserunner and fanned one batter.

FSHS has now won three of its last four games, after falling to 0-3 to start the year.

“I feel like we are finally playing as a team,” Daniels said. “At first, we didn’t know where we were going to be. Now we are settling in and doing our job.”

Free State will play host to Olathe North at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

SM South 001 00 — 1 2 5

Free State 422 21 — 11 10 2

W — Mayah Daniels. L — Anna Levorson.

HR — Dacia Starr FSHS. 3B — Mayah Daniels (2), Morgan Leslie, FSHS. 2B — Jasper Hawkins, FSHS; Katie Schultz, SMS.

Free State highlights — Starr 1-for-2, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB; Daniels 2-for-4, RBI, 2 runs, 2 IP, 0 ER, 0H 1K; Leslie 2-for-2, RBI, 1 run; Annie Roszak 2-for-2, 1 run.