Before Free State High’s baseball practice on Monday, junior shortstop Mikey Corbett yelled out to his teammates.

“This won’t be our last practice,” he said.

The top-seeded Firebirds are hoping to keep their season alive at regionals today. They will face eighth-seeded Olathe North at 4 p.m. at FSHS. With a victory, they will play the winner of Olathe Northwest and Manhattan at 6 p.m.

“I’m really excited,” senior Joel Spain said. “You play like it’s your last game. Obviously we don’t want it to be, but we get to host, and that’ll be fun for us to come out here and hopefully get two wins.”

Free State (16-4, ranked No. 2 in Class 6A) has won 12 of its last 14 games, including five of six at home.

“You certainly hope, even though it may be small, that there’s some built in advantage to playing where you’re comfortable and more importantly playing as the home team with the last at-bat,” FSHS coach Mike Hill said. “It’s worked for us before and hasn’t worked for us before. But it’s a reward to the kids for the great regular season that they had.”

The Firebirds faced Olathe North (7-13) on May 7, earning a 7-5 victory in extra innings. They were down to their last out and trailing by a run before senior Cooper Karlin hit a game-tying double.

“We’ll face a pitcher who one-hit us for five innings before he got pulled because of a high pitch count,” Hill said. “(Tanner) Kleinsasser is one of the better pitchers in the league. He has been since he was a sophomore. Olathe North is a tough draw. You’ve just got to beat who’s in front of you.”

Free State’s softball team will also open regionals today, facing Topeka High at 4:45 p.m. at the CBAC in Olathe. If the Firebirds win, they’ll play top-seeded Olathe Northwest (18-2) or eighth-seeded Junction City (7-13).

The Firebirds won five of their last seven games in a seven-day span, which they hope will give them plenty of momentum heading into the do-or-die portion of their schedule.

“This is what we play for,” FSHS coach Lee Ice said. “As I told the girls, the first 20 games sets you up for the last two. You win two games, and you meet your ultimate goal as far going to the state tournament. We’re all excited about it.”

The Firebirds (12-8) haven’t faced Topeka (11-9) this season, and they’re hoping that plays to their advantage.

“It’s easier to play better when you don’t know about them,” senior Emily Bermel said, “because you’re not scared, but you won’t overcompensate, and you’re not too cocky about them, too. It’s nice that we don’t know much about them, and hopefully we can just come out and play our game.

“I feel like we have a chance to go to state again if we stayed focused and play like we have been recently. I’m just excited to see what happens.”