Third baseman Zion Bowlin scoops up a ground ball and throws a runner out at first base in Friday afternoon's game against Shawnee Mission Northwest at FSHS.

On paper, it was a game that the Free State baseball team should have won.

The Firebirds did just about everything they could to ensure a victory. They allowed just two hits all afternoon at home Friday against Shawnee Mission Northwest. Free State kept the base paths completely clean in all but one inning, retiring SMNW hitters in order in the first four frames as well as the final two.

But that’s why the fifth inning loomed large in the team’s 4-3 heartbreaker for its first loss of the season.

“If you have six innings of three up and three down, you should win,” FSHS coach Mike Hill said. “If you give up two walks in a high school game, you should win. We did it all in one inning, otherwise we were terrific.”

Jaden Moore (15) celebrates from first base after hitting a single and driving in a run during a game Friday afternoon against Shawnee Mission Northwest at FSHS.

Free State senior starter Aaron Funk, who recently committed to Arkansas Little Rock, mowed down the opposition through the first four innings. He avoided deep counts, allowing just one at-bat to go longer than five pitches out of the first dozen batters he faced. As a result, Funk threw a total of 48 pitches (32 strikes) across four perfect frames.

But that all changed in the fifth inning.

Funk was given his first lead of the game, following an RBI single by catcher Jaden Moore, but it wouldn’t last long. He surrendered a leadoff walk, which was immediately followed by a single. Funk then responded with consecutive strikeouts before he walked the next batter to load the bases.

“For Aaron to be at a different level, which he aspired to be at, he’s got to be able to compete through a little bit of adversity,” Hill said. “To be a dominant guy, he’s got to do some things in that fifth inning to not let that happen.”

Free State pitcher Aaron Funk delivers a pitch during Friday afternoon's game against Shawnee Mission Northwest at FSHS.

With two outs, Cougars’ right fielder Austin Bell lifted a first-pitch fastball from Funk into center field, where the ball was misplayed. Bell made his way to third base, as all three Shawnee Mission Northwest base-runners scored.

Bell would later plate the fourth and final run of the frame on a failed pickoff attempt.

“We just had that one inning,” Moore said. “It makes it sting more. We could have played better but just that one inning ruined the whole game.”

The Firebirds (2-1) immediately stole two runs back in the home half of the fifth inning on just one hit. Kyle Abrahamson, who was the only player to record multiple hits, began the inning with a single and later scored on a wild pitch.

Moore drove in the second run on a sacrifice fly to center with the bases loaded, which nearly dropped and would have scored multiple runs had it not been for a superb defensive play.

Perhaps if it had, the post-game message would have been a much different one.

“I did think that was going to drop, you always have to expect that it’s going to drop,” Moore said.

Free State will welcome back Shawnee Mission Northwest at 5:30 p.m Thursday at FSHS.

SMNW 000 040 0 — 4 2 1

Free State 000 120 0 — 3 7 2

W — Joe Todd. L — Aaron Funk (1-1). S — Josh Flack.

2B — Matt Hill, FSHS.

Free State highlights — Funk, 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K; Dale Miller, 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K; Kyle Abrahamson, 2-for-4, run; Jaden Moore, 1-for-3, 2 RBI.