Raiders rally, win coach’s final game

Lawrence advances with thrilling 9-7 victory in state tournament

? Reggie Christiansen couldn’t have asked for a nicer going-away present.

“That was probably my biggest win as a head coach,” Christiansen said. “We’re down seven late, and we came back. It was fun.”

Saturday night’s come-from-behind, 9-7 victory over Hays in the winners’ bracket of the AAA American Legion baseball state tournament also was his last as coach of the Lawrence Raiders.

Christiansen, who worked as an assistant coach at Kansas University last season, was hired as South Dakota State’s head baseball coach a month ago, and he has to report to work Monday morning.

After Saturday’s win, Christiansen told his players he would be driving to South Dakota today.

“It’s no surprise,” Raiders’ pitcher Aaron Madill said. “We knew it was coming. He did a great job. He made us about as good as we can be, and I wish him well.”

Assistant coaches Tim Hill and Pat Holmes will take over for the remainder of the state tournament.

“Coach C taught them well,” Hill said. “He’ll be sorely missed, but the beat will go on. We were glad we could do this for him.”

After six full innings, the Raiders looked dead in the water. They had been limited to five singles — two of them scratch infield hits — by Hays pitcher Justin Groff and were lagging 7-0.

At that point, Christiansen gathered his players in the dugout.

“We don’t do that much,” Christiansen said, “but I saw some guys dropping their heads a little bit.”

Madill, who had been touched for five of Hays’ runs in his six-inning stint, was out of the game when Christiansen made his rare late-inning short speech.

“Coach told us there were two ways we could go,” Madill said. “We can (urinate) down our legs and go home early, or we can battle back. We battled back.”

The Raiders made their first noise in the bottom of the seventh when five singles and an error enabled them to plate three runs against Groff.

In the eighth, ahead 7-3, Hays coach Lyle Befort went to his bullpen. Big mistake. Relievers Cody Zeman and Brock Nehls delivered five consecutive walks and suddenly the Raiders were down by just two runs.

“We gave our guys the take sign until they had two strikes,” Christiansen said. “I’m not a fan of doing that, but it worked.”

Moments later, Taylor Wilson singled up the middle off Nehls to plate the tying runs.

After clean-up hitter Tyson Corley fanned, Jake Hoover plugged the gap in right-center for a two-run double — the Raiders’ only extra-base hit among their dozen safeties — to complete the stirring comeback.

“I’d been missing my pitch all night,” Hoover said, “but I had my adrenaline going there.”

Grant Meisenheimer hurled a 1-2-3 ninth to save the victory for Joe Crane who had come in from shortstop to pitch two innings in relief of Madill.

“That was pure guts,” Madill said of his teammates’ late rally.

Hoover will come in from right field to pitch tonight’s game. Hoover is the Raiders’ No. 3 pitcher behind Tyson Corley and Madill, but Christiansen considers them all No. 1.

“Hoover’s just as good as Madill and Corley,” Christiansen said, “so I think we’ll be in good shape.”

Christiansen estimates he will have arrived in Brookings, S.D., by the time the Raiders play tonight, and he gave Hill only one directive before he left: call him.

“I’ll be glued to the phone,” Christiansen said.