photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence pitcher Keira Norris throws a pitch in a 2-1 win over Shawnee Mission East on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Shawnee.

SHAWNEE — Shawnee Mission East scored first in Thursday’s softball game against Lawrence, a home run to left-center field in the bottom of the sixth. Despite playing well, the Lions suddenly trailed late.

“We just had to keep our heads up and keep it locked in the game,” catcher Addie Foley said. “We can’t get our heads down, because that really fails us in the end.”

The Lions didn’t blink. Instead, the team ended the inning and scored runs in back-to-back frames to complete a 2-1 comeback victory, the first win of the season for Lawrence.

“It’s huge to get the monkey off your back,” Lawrence coach Michael Byrn said. “We were going to learn a lesson one way or another.”

Lawrence has a young team this season, but when they needed to make a play, the Lions got it done, giving them something to grow from.

The Lions had a slow start offensively, including two strikeouts in their first three at-bats in the top of the first. The Lancers had more success getting on base in the bottom of the first with two singles, but pitcher Keira Norris responded with three strikeouts to end the inning.

“It felt better than the other games this season,” Norris said. “It gives me more confidence going into the next game, knowing that I can do it.”

Norris finished with 17 strikeouts in eight innings, while allowing nine hits and no walks.

Lawrence struck out twice in the second, while Norris threw three of her own in order in the bottom of the second. The Lions had the same luck in the third, while the Lancers hit a single and a double with two outs before Norris struck out a batter for the final out, leaving two runners in scoring position.

Center fielder Lucy Juelsgaard got the first hit of the game for the Lions on a double to right field with one out. She was caught stealing on the next at-bat, but third baseman Violet Koehn doubled right after. Koehn was left stranded after a flyout to left field ended the half-inning.

The Lancers started the bottom of the fourth with a single, but the Lions retired the next three batters. Foley singled in the top of the fifth, but her courtesy runner, Lucy Godfrey, couldn’t get off the bag. Norris and the Lawrence defense kept the Lancers hitless again in the bottom of the fifth.

Lawrence put back-to-back hits together in the top of the sixth as Juelsgaard and Koehn both singled, but a strikeout in the following at-bat left the two stranded. Shawnee Mission East proceeded to take the lead with a home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth.

“If you don’t do your job early, one swing of the bat can change the game,” Byrn said. “It almost happened.”

Norris threw three strikeouts in order to close out the inning with the Lions trailing. Needing a run to stay alive, Foley doubled to left field with one out. Left fielder Julia Norris doubled right after, bringing Godfrey home as a courtesy runner. Back-to-back strikeouts prevented the Lions from taking the lead, but the Lions pushed the game on.

“If someone hits it, we feed off that energy,” Foley said. “We do better.”

Keira Norris started the bottom of the seventh with a strikeout, but the Lancers hit two singles to get runners on base. Julia Norris caught a flyout for the second out, and Keira Norris threw another strikeout to send the game to extra innings.

Shortstop Zoey Barber reached first base on an error and ran to second base on the play. After a flyout, Koehn got her third hit of the day, a single, to third baseman. Barber proceeded to steal third base, and on a sacrifice fly, Barber ran home to give the Lions the lead.

“I always know when Zoey is on base, something good is going to happen,” Keira Norris said.

Shawnee Mission East singled to start the bottom of the eighth, but a groundout to Keira Norris followed by two strikeouts ended the game with the Lions winning 2-1.

“We’ll practice hard tomorrow,” Byrn said. “I’m really happy. You’ve got to enjoy the wins, too. We’ve grown, and we’ve gotten better.”