TOPEKA — Like his Shawnee Heights counterpart, Emporia High’s Jacob Loucks was pitching a nearly flawless gem for 4 2/3 innings. Then Heights made a couple of tiny cracks, busted out the hammer and smashed the jewel into a thousand pieces, and everyone there knew that Emporia High’s turnaround season was about to end.
An emotionally devastating three-run homer by Tyler Baker turned a 1-0 game into a 4-0 game, and Shawnee Heights scored six runs in its final two times up to beat Emporia 7-0 in the first round of Regionals on Tuesday at Seaman High School. Emporia fell short of its preseason goal of 13 wins, but the Spartans finished with an 11-10 record after winning just nine games in the past two years combined.
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