Free State High’s baseball team was struggling to hit with runners in scoring position Friday until senior first baseman Marcileno Cortez came up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning.

With the game tied, two runners on and two outs, Cortez dropped in a single between three fielders in shallow left field for a walkoff 4-3 victory over Springfield (Missouri) Kickapoo at FSHS.

“That was very lucky to get enough on it and just to get it down,” Cortez said with a wide smile, after he hit an outside breaking ball on a 1-2 pitch.

Free State High junior Hunter Gudde smacks a two-run single in the bottom of the third inning of the Firebirds’ 4-3 victory over Springfield (Missouri) Kickapoo on Friday at FSHS.

The Firebirds left 10 runners on base in the first six innings. With one out in the seventh, sophomore left fielder Jacob Pavlyak hit a single to center, and Casey Hearnen dropped a bunt single. A strikeout set up Cortez’s heroics, which were delayed a few minutes after Kickapoo’s left fielder, Corey Johnson, suffered an injury sliding into the fence chasing a foul ball. The delay added to Cortez’s nervousness, but he remained focused.

“We’re happy for Marcileno, whose last two at-bats were really good at-bats,” FSHS coach Mike Hill said. “He did what we’ve been talking about. That was, he stuck with it. He went to the opposite field. He didn’t try to make something happen that wasn’t there. It was just a good piece of hitting.”

The Chiefs (12-5) scored all three of their runs, all with two outs, in the first three innings on six hits against Free State starter Tripp Wright. Junior designated hitter Tristan Stevens scored two of the runs, hitting a leadoff ground-rule double in the second inning and a line-drive single in the third.

But Free State reliever Hunter Gudde shut down Kickapoo hitters for the final 3 1/3 innings, limiting the Chiefs to just one hit.

“My fastball was working really good,” Gudde said. “My curveball was working really good, which it hasn’t been lately. I’m just lucky it was working today.”

The Firebirds (9-3, ranked No. 5) were only expecting to get an inning from Gudde, who threw around 60 pitches in Free State’s win against Olathe East on Monday. But he was efficient with his pitches and forced the Chiefs into routine grounders and pop flies.

“It’s not like he’s blowing people away with his stuff, but he can command three pitches, and he competes,” Hill said of Gudde. “That’s a recipe of a good pitcher. He really did a good job.”

After trailing 3-0, the Firebirds scored two runs in the third innings after loading the bases with a single from sophomore Zion Bowlin and walks drawn by senior Cooper Karlin and senior Jon Saathoff. Gudde drove in Bowlin and Karlin with a bloop single to right.

In the fifth inning, Free State tied the game after senior center fielder Joel Spain drew a leadoff walk. He stole second and scored on a throwing error.

“It’s just timely hitting, and that’s part of the game,” Hill said. “The kids stuck with it. They didn’t give in. They kept putting guys in scoring position, and sooner or later, the odds are going to go in your way.”

The Firebirds will face Nixa (Missouri) at 11:15 a.m. today at Kansas University’s Hoglund Ballpark.

Kickapoo 021 000 0 — 3 7 1

Free State 002 010 1 — 4 6 0

W — Hunter Gudde, 5-0. L — Adam Link.

2B — Tristan Stevens, Riley Herron, SK.

FSHS highlights — Gudde, 1-for-4, 2 RBI, 3 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Zion Bowlin, 1-for-3, run; Cooper Karlin, 0-for-1, 3 walks, run; Marcileno Cortez, 2-for-4, RBI; Jacob Pavlyak, 1-for-3, walk, run.