photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Lawrence High's Johnathan Riggins (13) takes a swing during a game vs. Olathe South on April 4, 2024, at the Olathe District Activities Center.

Olathe – After leading by as many as eight runs, the Lawrence High baseball team squandered its early groove in a 16-15 loss to Olathe South in extra innings on Thursday at the Olathe District Activities Center.

The result came down to an interference call near third base following an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth that scrubbed what would’ve been the Lions’ (6-4) second out of the inning and recorded O-South’s game-winning run.

Senior reliever Kyan Guss, who replaced starter Brooks Jones (5 IP, 12 H, 9 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) in the sixth after the Falcons rallied back and knotted the score at 9-9, went 2 1/3 innings into extras and allowed seven more runs on seven hits and two strikeouts.

“We’re still shaking off the dust from the offseason,” Guss said. “We’re getting into it now, the offense is starting to heat up and I think we just need to keep our offense going.”

The Lions did, in fact, perform impressively at the plate, racking up 17 total hits and 12 total RBIs against four separate O-South arms. LHS senior Cale Paden opened the scoring with a three-run bomb over the center-field wall in the top of the first.

LHS’ lead escalated to 9-1 through the fourth on two errors, an RBI single by senior Austin Crawford, a sacrifice RBI by Connor Nowak and a fielder’s choice by Paden.

“I’m very pleased offensively,” LHS coach Brad Stoll said. “I thought Brooks did everything he could, we just did a lot of things that put us in a position to lose to a team that we should’ve beat.”

photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Lawrence High senior Kyan Guss takes a swing during a game vs. Olathe South on April 4, 2024, at the Olathe District Activities Center.

Lawrence High senior Cale Paden (5) celebrates with his teammates after hitting a three-run home run in the first inning of a game vs. Olathe South on April 4, 2024, at the Olathe District Activities Center.

Pulling itself back up, O-South rattled off eight runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the ballgame and briefly claimed a 10-9 lead in the sixth. The Lions answered in the seventh when Nowak sent a two-run shot over the right-field fence to put LHS up 12-10.

As the Lions and Falcons entered extras tied 12-12, LHS senior Sammy Stoll joined the home run club, giving the Lions a two-run lead in the top of the eighth, hitting a towering shot of his own over the fence. Nowak added another run on a fielder’s choice, putting LHS up 15-12 headed into the bottom half.

But it wasn’t meant to be. Guss fell victim to a leadoff triple in the bottom of the eighth, as the Falcons trimmed the Lions’ lead back down to one run with one out. A double brought the tying run to home plate with plenty of time left to stall the winning run, but an interference call was determined near the third base line and O-South was awarded its coveted final run.

photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Lawrence High senior Cale Paden rounds third base during a game vs. Olathe South on April 4, 2024, at the Olathe District Activities Center.

photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Lawrence High senior Brooks Jones unloads a pitch during a game vs. Olathe South on April 4, 2024, at the Olathe District Activities Center.

Asked about his decision to pull Jones for Guss in the sixth, Brad Stoll said his starter competed right down to the end and was showing positive signs “commanding the zone and spinning his breaking ball well” even after O-South stormed back.

“We’re struggling to deliver a knockout blow in those situations,” Stoll said. “At the end of the day, we just didn’t deserve to win that game, which is what’s most frustrating to me.”

LHS prepares for Wichita Heights on Saturday at Emporia State. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.

Box score

Lawrence 331 200 33 – 15 17 4

O-South 199 081 24 – 16 19 3

W – Noller; L – Guss.

Highlights for LHS: Crawford 3-5, 2 R, RBI; Guss 2-5, 2 R; Stoll 1-3, 2 R, RBI; Paden 3-4, 4 R, 5 RBI; Jones 3-5, 1 R, RBI; Nowak 3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI.