photo by: Carter Gaskins

Lawrence High pitcher Austin Quick winds up for a pitch against Olathe North Monday. LHS beat O-North, 3-1.

Protecting a two-run lead in the top of the seventh inning with two runners on base and none out Monday, Lawrence High senior pitcher Austin Quick was told by assistant coach Adam Green during a mound visit that he had 10 pitches left before hitting his pitch count.

He only needed one more to end the game.

On a play that many players had never seen before, Lawrence shortstop Andrew Stewart caught a line drive near second base. With both runners trying to steal, Stewart stepped on second base and threw to first for a game-ending triple play, securing a 3-1 victory at LHS for the program’s fourth straight win.

An electric ending to match a phenomenal pitching performance.

“I think I’ve seen a triple play once when I was in the third grade,” Quick said. “That was pretty awesome. Especially because they were getting a little momentum there.”

LHS coach Brad Stoll added: “I’ve never seen one live, certainly not to end the game. That was pretty wild.”

The Lions (5-5) prepared for the hit-and-run with second baseman Garrett Romero covering the base and Stewart protecting the left side of the infield. It worked to perfection on the line drive.

For Stewart, it was a little bit of redemption after O-North’s Connor Heck reached on an error, a ball that he bobbled, and later scored to lead off the seventh inning.

“I knew I messed up on the ball up the middle,” Stewart said. “I’ve got to flush it and (think) next pitch. A couple of pitches later, that’s what happened. The baseball gods rewarded me for flushing it.”

Quick, who took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, was near untouchable in the early innings. He struck out the first five batters he faced, overpowering Olathe North (4-5) hitters with a lively fastball and hard-breaking off-speed pitch.

Teammates noticed prior to the game that Quick, signed to play at Kansas next year, was more focused than usual. Typically, he’s one of the players who brings a lot of energy to the field.

“He was just really laser locked in and focused,” LHS catcher Reese Carmona said. “You could tell he was going to do good this game.”

With Kansas baseball coach Ritch Price sitting behind home plate, Quick allowed two hits in a complete game, striking out nine and walking three. He retired the first 10 batters with ease.

Quick, the Lions’ starting catcher when he doesn’t pitch, said his background behind the plate allows him to read batters well, noticing if they lunge to outside pitches or their stance hurts them on inside fastballs.

Olathe North’s Colton Pennington, batting ninth, delivered his team’s first hit with one out in the sixth inning on a single that dropped in front of Lawrence’s outfielders. Quick’s teammates knew he was working on a no-hitter but didn’t want to take away his focus in the dugout.

“You could tell he didn’t really want to talk,” said Carmona, who singled in the second inning and scored on an error. “He was just too locked in.”

In the fifth inning, Quick walked the first two batters. He said he started to lose some of the “juice” on his pitches. Instead of panicking, he struck out the next two batters while Carmona tossed out a runner trying to steal third.

Lawrence junior Caleb Mondi added another defensive highlight in the fourth inning when he started a relay to toss out a runner trying to advance to third base on a fly ball to right field. Carlos Vasquez applied the tag after Stewart fired the relay throw from near second base.

“Our confidence is definitely up higher,” Stewart said. “We’re definitely coming along better as a team.”

O-North 000 000 1 — 1 2 1

Lawrence 120 000 x — 3 3 1

W — Austin Quick. L — Colton Pennington.

LHS highlights — Quick, 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 9 K; Reese Carmona, 1 for 4, run; Devin Lauts, 1 for 4, run; Carlos Vasquez, 2 walks, HBP, run.