photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Lawrence High junior Vaughn Wells throws a pitch against Rockhurst on Friday, May 12, 2023, at Lawrence High School.

The Lawrence High baseball team came up just shy of Rockhurst in a 5-4 loss at home in the final game of the regular season on Friday. Since defeating Free State in last week’s City Showdown, the Chesty Lions (9-11) have dropped two in a row heading into the postseason.

Looking to junior Vaughn Wells for the start, LHS coach Brad Stoll was pleased with how Wells responded to a first inning that featured two errors by the Lions that ultimately helped Rockhurst take a quick two-run lead. Wells allowed five runs on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts through four innings on the hill.

“That’s frustrating and it’s not fair to Vaughn,” Stoll said of the first-inning mistakes. “To our credit, we came back, put up (three runs) right away with some really competitive at bats. Not clean start, and certainly not what you want next week at regionals.”

The Hawklets capitalized on LHS’ early miscues, jumping toward a 2-0 lead on RBI singles by Carter Graham and Nic Cipolla. With two outs and the bases loaded, Wells struck out Tyler Coffin to remove the Lions from the tough start.

LHS made up for its early troubles in the bottom of the first, taking a 3-2 lead on back-to-back RBIs served up by juniors Connor Nowak (2B) and Cale Paden. A base hit by senior Nathan Blettner loaded the bases with two outs, but a groundout by Wells capped the Lions at a one-run lead heading into the second.

Rockhurst’s lone hit in the top of the second came from John Diamond (2B), who didn’t advance any further than third. Retiring the side, LHS threatened to score when a base hit by Tyson Grammer landed Lions at second and third. Paden, trying to knock in his teammates, popped out to left field rendering the Lions runless in the second.

Lucas Redd’s leadoff pitch struck Blettner in the bottom of the third, with Blettner advancing to second on a passed ball during the next at-bat. A successful bunt by junior Koen Myers (1B) pushed Blettner to third, but a flyout by senior Brooks Jones cut LHS’s momentum short, once again.

A ground ball played in by Graham squeaked past LHS senior Jack Pfeifer for a game-tying RBI, knotting the Lions and Hawklets at 3-3 in the top of the fourth. Colton Wemhoff gave Rockhurst some cushion with a two-run RBI single for a 5-3 lead.

LHS registered one hit — a single by junior Sammy Stoll in the fourth — heading into the sixth inning trailing Rockhurst by two runs. The Lions bailed out reliever Jack Pfiefer, facing base runners at first and second, with a double play retiring the top of the sixth.

In the bottom of the sixth, Jones and junior Austin Crawford each picked up base hits to begin the side on a positive note. Next, Grammer hammered Jones home from third with an RBI double, trimming the score to 5-4 Hawklets heading into the seventh.

Pfeifer, giving up two hits in the top of the seventh, escaped the inning striking out Coffin and catching Cipolla heading for second base. Switching sides, senior Nathan Blettner doubled his way on base for the Lions, but Rockhurst closer Cole Stucky struck out junior Kyan Guss swinging to stall Blettner short of home plate at third.

Brad Stoll said their interstate opponents put on a good show under the leadership of coach Jim DeGraw.

“Rockhurst is traditionally one of the best teams in the state of Missouri,” Stoll said. “I love (DeGraw), he’s one of my closest friends in the game. To end the season with them in a clean game, you can learn from a loss and I think we got better competing against a team like that.”

Regional assignments are expected to be released by Saturday.

BOX SCORE:

Rockhurst 200 300 0 – 5 9 0

Lawrence 300 001 0 – 4 9 3

W — Redd; L — Wells

Highlights for LHS: Blettner 2-for-3; Grammer 2-for-4; Paden 1-for-4, 2 RBI; Jones 1-for-2, 2 R; Crawford 1-for-3, R; Nowak 1-for-3, RBI, R; Myers 1-for-3; Wells 4.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K; Pfeifer 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K.