photo by: Chris Duderstadt

Columbine (Colo.) catcher Dylan Jutze shows the ball to the umpire after tagging out Free State's Jack Kallenberger in the seventh inning of the Rebels' 7-6 win over the Firebirds on Friday at FSHS.

In its first game in seven days, Free State High’s baseball experienced about every emotion one could feel in a 7-6 loss to Columbine (Colo.) on Friday at FSHS.

Frustration was the main feeling for the Firebirds, as they lost a four-run lead in the seventh inning. The Firebirds also stranded 10 runners and lost four on the base paths.

“When you leave 10 guys on base in a one-run ballgame, it will come back to bite you, and it sure did tonight,” Free State coach Mike Hill said.

Free State took a 6-2 lead into the seventh, but the Rebels refused to go down swinging. Dylan Jutze ripped a leadoff double, and Brady McLean and Frankie Shearn followed with singles to pull Columbine within three. Free State’s Jake Rittman came in to relieve David Stuart after Shearn’s single. Rittman retired Vic Lara on a flyout to center, but Logan DeArment kept the rally going with a single to load the bases.

DeArment’s base knock was the Rebels’ final hit of the inning, but they were able to do the rest of the damage against Rittman and Jack Kallenberger with three bases-loaded walks and a wild pitch.

“We had some challenges on the mound, but that’s OK,” Hill said. “We’re going to grow and learn from that to get better.”

Even after the tumultuous top of the seventh, the Firebirds still only trailed by one. After Kallenberger earned a walk to put the tying run on, Cam Karlin smacked a one-out double down the third-base line to put the tying and winning runs in scoring position. The Firebirds couldn’t get over the hump, though. Kallenberger was tagged out at the plate after getting caught in a rundown for the second out, and Colter Maldonado struck out swinging to end the game.

“We spend way too much time on base running to make the amount of mistakes that we did today,” Hill said. “You make three instead of four and you win the ballgame, but we’re young. We’ve got a lot to learn. Sometimes the lessons like we endured today are going to be the positive ones that help us get better down the road.”

Although the loss was a tough one to swallow for Hill and the Firebirds, the Free State coach found some reasons for optimism as well. The Firebirds failed to strike in the first two innings despite loading the bases, but their patience at the plate paid off when the same situation arose in the fifth.

Back-to-back singles by Kyle Abrahamson and Rittman jump-started a two-out rally. Although Kallenberger and Quinton Graham highlighted the Firebirds’ five-run fifth with two-run singles, Hill said the biggest plate appearance came from Jake Baker, who battled back from an 0-2 count to load the bases after the singles by Abrahamson and Rittman. Parker Gay was then hit by a pitch to bring in Free State’s first run.

“I think Jake’s at-bat was the catalyst. It shows you that a good at-bat doesn’t necessarily have to be a base hit,” Hill said. “I was really pleased with what he did there.”

The Firebirds’ offensive outburst in the fifth put Free State starter Ethan Bradford in line for the win. The Rebels jumped on Bradford for two runs with a two-out rally in the first, but the Free State left-hander settled in after that, while putting up four scoreless frames.

“I think he got command of his fastball and was able to throw his changeup. That was the difference after the first inning is he was really able to command changeup and kept them off-balance,” Hill said. “I was really pleased with the growth we saw from him after the first inning. He’s a young kid trying to figure some things out. He needed a positive experience and we certainly felt like he got that today.”

The loss to the Rebels was the Firebirds’ first defeat of the season, as they fell to 2-1. Free State won’t have much time to dwell on the setback since another home tilt is set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Blue Valley North.

“I think the kids have to flush it, and that’s hard when you have a ballgame in your hands and you let it go, but they’ve got to. That’s part of baseball is that you’ve got to move on to the next thing,” Hill said. “What will be interesting for us to see is how do they come back tomorrow? Do they come back with a good attitude and ready to play, or do we allow one loss to turn into two?

“I think that will be a challenge for us and I’m excited to see how we respond,” Hill continued. “I thought we got better in many ways today. We didn’t get the result we wanted on the board, but we’re improving.”

Columbine 200 000 5 — 7 9 2

Free State 000 051 0 — 6 10 0

W — Zach Thill. L — Jake Rittman. S — Logan DeArment.

2B — Cam Karlin, Free State; Dylan Jutze, Columbine.

Free State highlights — Jack Kallenberger 2 for 2, 2 RBI, 2 BB, R; Kyle Abrahamson 2 for 3, RBI, BB, R; Ethan Bradford 5.0 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 3 K, 3 BB.