Lawrence High senior Dominic Ostronic takes a swing against Harrisburg's Eli Kokenge during Friday's 11-1 loss on March 31, 2023 at Lawrence High School.

The Lawrence High baseball team took its third consecutive loss on Friday — this time falling 11-1 to Harrisburg on a windy afternoon at home.

The Tigers, who came all the way from South Dakota, tightened their grip on the Lions (2-3) in the fifth, crossing seven runs worth of insurance against senior reliever Jack Pfeifer to put the game away. Before the inning that sealed the Lions’ fate, junior starter Sammy Stoll allowed four runs on three hits. He left after three innings, finishing with three walks and three strikeouts.

LHS coach Brad Stoll said he anticipated a heavy batting day from the visitors.

“A team like that – they can rake,” he said. “I think we’re close. There are some really good pieces here. We’ve just got to figure out the right way to put them all together.”

The first inning was sluggish, with just two hits between both sides. LHS was unable to translate senior Dominic Ostronic’s leadoff single into a run. The Lions fielded two baserunners in the second on a pair of walks, but a groundout by junior Vaughn Wells squashed that scoring opportunity.

Ostronic, who finished 2-for-2 at the plate, is becoming a model batter for LHS, Brad Stoll said.

“Dom’s what you want from a leadoff hitter,” he said. “He’s locked in. If we get down to second base, our young guys need to watch him at second base because he works. He works to find a way to get to third. He’s always working; I couldn’t say enough good things about him.”

With the bases loaded in the top of the third, Sammy Stoll allowed four runs by the Tigers on a passed ball, a two-run RBI single by Palmer Boyd and an RBI single by Carter Hoffman.

Two hits for the Lions didn’t pan out, and a flyout by senior Nathan Blettner meant LHS was still scoreless heading into the fourth.

Harrisburg reliever Kason Syverson struck out Connor Nowak and River Lynch back-to-back, but the next three batters – junior Koen Myers, Wells and Ostronic – filled the bags with one out left in the bottom of the fourth. Syverson struck out LHS junior Brooks Jones to close the inning.

The fifth inning was the end for Lawrence, when the Tigers crossed seven runs to mount a commanding 11-0 lead, including a two-run RBI triple by Teigan Munce and triple by Maddux Scherer. The Lions’ lone score of the game came on an RBI single from Lynch before the game was ended by the mercy rule.

Now, after three straight losses, Brad Stoll said there are some tough lessons his group needs to learn.

“A lot of it’s self-inflicted,” Stoll said. “There’s a lot of things we’re doing to ourselves the last two nights that’s all fixable. I’m excited about what we can do with this group.”

Next up, LHS hosts Shawnee Mission East at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

BOX SCORE:

Harrisburg 004 07 – 11 9 1

Lawrence High 000 01 – 1 3 4

W – Eli Kokenge; L – Sammy Stoll.

Highlights for LHS: Ostronic 2-for-2; Blettner 1-for-3, R; Stoll 3.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 4 K.