It’s not the Lawrence Outlaws’ hitting, pitching or defense that may play the biggest part in this week’s Legion zone tournament.

Instead, coach Ryan Goodwin’s psyched about the competition or, rather, the way it’s set out.

“I think we got a tremendous draw,” Goodwin said.

The Outlaws, 15-23 overall, are the fourth seed in the American Legion AAA Zone I Tournament held at Blue Valley District Athletic Complex in Overland Park. They play fifth-seed Shawnee Mission Lancers today at 6 p.m. With a win, they’d play top-seeded Gardner, 19-6, Wednesday at 6 p.m.

That means the Outlaws would avoid the two teams Goodwin considers the tournament favorites O.P. #370 Jaguars and Olathe East Hawks until Thursday’s semifinals.

If everything works out.

Goodwin considers the Outlaws to be as talented as any team in the tournament, but their inexperience shows at times. Early in the season, they had trouble hitting and on defense. Thankfully, both have improved the past month.

“At times, we look like we could beat the Raiders (Lawrence’s ‘A’ Legion team),” Goodwin said. “But other times, the Bandits (the 16-and-under team) could beat us.

“The biggest key for us is we’ve got to execute the bunting game and running game. We do that, and we’ll do well.”

The Outlaws biggest key remains their pitching.

Unlike the Raiders, who have one guy they consider an ace, the Outlaws have three aces. Sheldon McGuire, who has five of the team’s 15 wins, gets the starting nod today. Matt Lane and Dominick Harrell will go Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Goodwin expects good things out of those three, who have been solid throughout July.

Lawrence also has been cruising the past two weeks, winning seven of its last eight games though Goodwin says it was the easiest part of the schedule. Still, his team’s confidence should be high.

“I feel like we got ourselves prepared well the last two weeks,” Goodwin said. “We’ve just got to make sure we get through game one.”

Goodwin really believes his team has a shot at winning the zone, despite its youth and seeding.

“We’re a very talented team, but we’re very young,” Goodwin said. “It’s taking them a little bit of time to come around, but if we show up, play hard and do the little things, we’ve got a good chance.”