LYONS >> As Zack LaCrosse made his run around the bases, with his eyes on his deep ball the entire time, his hype squad in the dugout awaited him eagerly.

Though short of the traditional fence-clearing mark, the Lyons sophomore shortstop’s hit soared and rolled just far enough into center field. Count it — an inside-the-park home run. His teammates celebrated with a chant of “Ay! Ay! Ay!” to welcome him back from his effort, which was by far the most interesting part of the Lions’ three-inning, 20-0 home victory over Platte Canyon on Friday.

“I was just kind of looking for something down the middle, 3-0, and he gave me it right down the middle. It felt great to get a piece on it,” LaCrosse said. “I just saw the outfielder under-run it, and I was just thinking home run all the way.”

Everything else was a tale of two very differently-talented programs, with errors plaguing the Huskies all afternoon and the Lions abusing them at each and every opportunity. Junior starting pitcher Kaion Kishiyama, in his first-ever start on the mound, ended his glittering day with a no-hitter and five strikeouts.

It was quite the turnaround from the lone game he took a crack at pitching in last year. He came into Friday’s contest with just nine innings under his belt through his entire, two-years-and-change career on varsity.

“We don’t even got to talk about it, it’s all good,” he said with a laugh. “I was walking guys, and I wasn’t confident up there.”

Against the Huskies, Kishiyama was as cool as the drops that fell from the sky as soon as the game ended, while he and his teammates made it rain from the batter’s box. A centerfielder by trade, he stepped up to fill the void that Wyatt Waters left in his wake from last year.

The Lions graduated eight seniors and returned just four starters to this young squad.

“Going into summer last year, I knew I would want to throw this year, just because we don’t have many arms this year,” Kishiyama said.

“I knew I would have to pick that job up, and it felt really good to just kind of build some confidence today and get my arm loose and ready.”

He spent much of the summer locating his fastball and centering his mind on the mound. His performance provided a much-needed turnaround from the previous two matchups, during which the Lions suffered a 12-1 loss to Forge Christian and a 2-1 setback to Dayspring Christian Academy.

He’s not in the background anymore.

“He had his heart set on third base and ended up playing outfield last year,” his father, Terry Kishiyama said.

“He loved it, because he was part of an awesome team. Now, he’s pitching. He’s excited to contribute instead of just being a (designated hitter). He’s finally one of the guys on the team, so he’s pretty stoked about that.

“I think he’s just ready to step in. Through the competitive stuff, he played second base, third base, outfield — he caught a little bit. He can play anywhere. This year, he knows that they need him to pitch.”

The Lions, now 2-2, will return to the diamond for the third day in a row on Saturday when they whost Peyton.