photo by: Chris Duderstadt

Free State junior Jake Baker fouls off a pitch during the Firebirds' 3-1 win over Blue Valley North on Saturday at FSHS.

Whether he was on the mound or in the batter’s box, Free State junior Jake Baker was calm, cool and collected during the Firebirds’ 3-1 victory over Blue Valley North on Saturday at FSHS.

The Mustangs struggled to make good contact against Baker the first time through the order, as the Free State junior threw three no-hit innings.

“Really just finding a rhythm and getting ahead in the count,” Baker said. “My coaches and my team put me in the right position to execute my pitches. All of the credit to them and my teammates.”

The only time Baker ran into trouble was the fourth, when he allowed a leadoff walk to Tyler Spangler. The BV North center fielder came around to score thanks to an errant pickoff attempt by Baker, a wild pitch and an RBI single from Peter Kramer. Baker didn’t allow the miscues to mount after that, though, as he responded by getting Gus Freeman to ground into a double play.

“He was terrific the first couple of innings. The occasional changeup was working, but by and large he just pounded with fastballs and mixed his spots,” Free State coach Mike Hill said. “That was good to see. He had struggled a little bit in our preseason, but he’s a competitive kid and he got good results in his first appearance.”

Baker’s day on the mound was done after the fourth, but the key to success was the same for relievers David Stuart and Jack Kallenberger. Stuart tossed two hitless innings before Kallenberger came on to for the save in the seventh. Kallenberger gave the game a fitting ending by coaxing Alex Miller to hit a double play ball.

“I was pleased with what we did on the mound. We threw strikes,” Hill said. “I do think the run that did score was from a kid that walked, but otherwise we pitched to our script. Our script with our staff this year is pitch to contact and let what I think is a good defense play. That’s exactly what happened this afternoon, so kudos to all three of our pitchers for the job they did and our defense for playing behind them.”

The Firebirds scored single runs in the second, third and fourth and never trailed, but Hill was discouraged that his squad couldn’t break the game open in the middle innings. Free State has stranded 10 or more runners in back-to-back games.

“I like what we’re doing in most cases at the plate. The thing that did snakebite us yesterday that could have today was the number of guys we left on base,” Hill said. “It was 11 again today. That hurt us yesterday. Today we got away with it.”

While the Firebirds struggled to hit with runners in scoring position, it was no fault of Baker — who went 3 for 3 with a double, two singles and a walk.

“At the plate I’m feeling pretty comfortable with the experience last year,” Baker said. “Just credit to my coaches and teammates for putting me in the right position and setting me up for success.”

Plate discipline was one of the positives that Hill took away from Saturday after watching his team 10 walks. Jaxson Webb paced the Firebirds with three bases on balls. However, Webb only came around to score one of those three times.

“I know we got a key two-out hit from (Kyle) Abrahamson to get an RBI to make it 3-1. We need to get a key hit, a timely hit, with runners on,” Hill said. “We’ve had a chance the last couple of days frankly to blow things open with a big hit, but we just haven’t got it. Timely hitting is such an important part of baseball. Hopefully it will even out at some point in time.”

The Firebirds moved to 3-1 with the win over the Mustangs. Baker said that it was important for the Firebirds to get back to their winning ways after a gut-wrenching 7-6 loss to Columbine (Colo.) on Friday. Columbine rallied from a 6-2 deficit in the seventh to defeat the Firebirds, and also garnered wins on Saturday over BV North and Shawnee Mission Northwest.

“It was huge for our team,” Baker said. “It was great to see the guys come out and compete again and really show that we can bounce back and get a win today.”

Free State will hit the road for the first time this season at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday against SM East.

BV North 000 100 0 — 1 2 1

Free State 011 100 0 — 3 6 2

W — Jake Baker. L — Jake Canent. SV –Jack Kallenberger.

2B — Jake Baker, FS.

Free State highlights — Jake Baker 3 for 3, double, 4.0 IP, H, ER, K, BB; Jaxson Webb 0 for 0, 3 BB, run; Kyle Abrahamson 1 for 3, RBI single, BB; Cam Karlin 1 for 3, RBI single.