Baseball is the focus, but Lawrence’s Raiders might have other things on their minds this weekend when they head to Omaha, Neb., for the American Legion College World Series baseball tournament.

“It’s just a lot of fun for the guys,” Raiders manager Carl Brooks said. “We’re going there to play baseball, but after the games are over, they can’t wait to get to the card table.”

With five games in three days, there won’t be a lot of downtime for the Raiders this weekend. Their hotel doesn’t have a pool, meaning any activity likely will involve aces and spades.

“Yeah, we’ll probably do a little of that,” Lawrence’s Derek Bailey said. “But we’re also going to play a little ball.”

The Raiders likely will face the best teams they’ve played this season when they take on five teams from in and around the Omaha area in the round-robin tourney.

Today, the Raiders (10-1) will take on Millard West at 3 p.m. before playing Omaha Northwest at 5 p.m., with both games played at Seymour Smith Park.

Saturday, Brooks said, could be the toughest day, because the Raiders will play their two toughest opponents in Papillion at 10 a.m. and Creighton Prep at 5:30 p.m., and both games will be played at their opponents’ home field.

Sunday, the Raiders take on Ron Calli at 10 a.m.

“We have the chance to possibly win them all,” Brooks said. “But we’ll have to play extremely well. I don’t think there’s a likelihood of us going 0-for-Omaha like we did two years ago.”

Last season, the Raiders took three out of five games in Omaha after going 0-for-5 the year before.

“We’re going to win them all,” Bailey said. “This is the best team we’ve ever had, and we’re going to go there and play like it.”

For the most part, that’s what the Raiders have done in their first 11 games — winning their first 10 contests by scoring nearly 10 runs a game.

But Thursday night the Raiders were on the opposite end of a rout, when Topeka ripped short-handed Lawrence, 11-1.

“All this is going to do is make us motivated to play are absolute best in Omaha,” Bailey said.

If that’s the case, Brooks said his players would have to concentrate more on the cause than cards.

“Yeah, I’ll have to watch them and make sure they get their sleep,” Brooks said. “These young guys can stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning and think they’ll be fine. They probably will, but I’ll need my sleep, and so will they.

“One things for sure, I’ll definitely be tired Monday, but it should be a lot of fun.”