Lawrence High junior Devin Lauts delivers a pitch in the fifth inning of the Lions' 3-1 loss to Shawnee Mission Northwest on Tuesday at LHS.

The opportunities were there for the Lawrence High baseball team to come through with a big inning against Shawnee Mission Northwest, but the Lions could not capitalize on them in a 3-1 loss to the Cougars on Tuesday at LHS.

The Lions (6-10) had at least one base runner in five different innings, but Braden Solko’s RBI single in the sixth accounted for their only run. Solko’s single put runners on first and second with one out, a double play ended the inning.

“We didn’t do a few things when we really needed something to be done,” Lawrence coach Brad Stoll said. “It’s just very frustrating because I thought we had some chances to throw some haymakers, and we tried to put some pressure on them. We just couldn’t strike gold.”

Three of Lawrence’s six hits — all of which were singles — came in the sixth. The Lions had chances to get on the board first before the Cougars broke through with their three runs in the fifth.

In the first, Andrew Stewart ripped a leadoff single before stealing second and third with nobody out. Stewart was stranded at third, though, after SM Northwest pitcher Dylan Nedved notched back-to-back strikeouts and coaxed Solko to fly out to left.

Nedved continued to mow down the Lions in the second by striking out the side, but the Lions got their leadoff man on again in the third when Alexander Guy reached on an error. However, Guy was picked off by Nedved to end the threat.

Base-running continued to be the Lions’ kryptonite in the fourth when Lauts was caught in a rundown between second and third.

“We work very diligently on our base-running every day. We spent a good 20 minutes on it (Monday). It’s a daily part of our practice plan,” Stoll said. “We take a lot of pride in it. Those things are correctable. It’s just frustrating when it’s something that you take pride in and kind of run into a couple of jams with it.”

While Stoll and the Lions were disappointed with their offense, the pitching performances from Gavin Greenwood, Lauts and Hank Dobson kept them in the game. The Lions vividly remembered their 17-0 loss to the Cougars (13-3, ranked No. 3 in 6A) on April 8, and knew they would have to find a way to keep SM Northwest’s bats quiet.

“Coming at teams with a couple of different pitchers is hard because it’s hard to adjust,” Greenwood said. “I really like doing that. I feel it’s really effective.”

Greenwood led the way, as he only allowed two unearned runs on two hits through 4 1/3 innings. The LHS right-hander struck out two and walked one.

With the regular season coming to a close, Stoll is still confident that the Lions can make some magic happen in the next few weeks if they give it their all.

“The key is to bring the fight every day. Just to show up ready to throw punches,” Stoll said. “Punch first. If they punch you first, punch back and take that mentality.”

SM Northwest 000 030 0 — 3 4 1

Lawrence 000 001 0 — 1 6 1

W — Dylan Nedved. L — Gavin Greenwood. SV — Mark Adamiak.

LHS highlights — Braden Solko 2-for-3, RBI, stolen base; Andrew Stewart 1-for-3, two stolen bases; Gavin Greenwood 4.1 IP, 2R, 2H, 2K, BB.