Even without a whole lot of speed, the Lawrence Raiders were determined to perform like pests by playing small ball Thursday.

With the wooden sticks a requirement in the Al Ice Memorial Woodbat Classic, Lawrence coach Reggie Christiansen accurately assumed the four-day event wasn’t the time for the Raiders to swing their way out of a hitting funk. Instead, he had his team stick out the clubs and lay down bunts — many, many, many bunts.

It worked. The Dodge City Rangers were baffled, committed seven errors and fell to Lawrence, 9-3, on the first day of round-robin play at Hoglund Ballpark.

“If you look at our lineup, we’ve got some guys that clog up the bases a little bit,” Christiansen said. “They know that, and I told them if we’re going to win a state championship, we’re going to have to bunt the guy over and win 5-4.”

So Thursday served as a practice within the game. Everyone from leadoff hitter Ryan Engel to notable slugger Carl Lisher to nine-hole hitter Paul Metzler attempted to drop bunts against Dodge City. A couple of them went for hits, a few more counted as sacrifices and several were misplayed by the struggling Dodge City defense.

To add to the Rangers’ woes, Lawrence pitcher Spencer Chaney had a solid night on the mound. He struck out 10 batters on the night, effectively locating and mixing up both his fastball and breaking ball.

“He was working pretty well inside and outside of the plate,” catcher Chris Coleman said. “He came after the guys and got ahead in the counts. That’s what we need to do.”

Coleman gave his pitcher a cushion even before he reached the mound. In the top of the first, he laced a double to the gap in right-center field that scored Dominick Harrell. Two more Raiders crossed the plate in the first, and Coleman helped out again in the sixth by punching an RBI triple down the left-field line.

Players often need time to adjust to wood bats after using aluminum sticks almost exclusively, but Coleman didn’t seem to have problems.

Carl Lisher lays down a bunt for the Lawrence Raiders against the Dodge City Rangers. The Raiders relied on a bevy of bunts in their 9-3 victory Thursday at the Al Ice Memorial Woodbat Classic at Hoglund Ballpark.

“It feels good,” he said. “It’s like playing real baseball. Finally.”

In all, the Raiders stroked nine hits, including two each by Coleman, Lisher and Engel. And the double play, an Achilles’ heel for the team in recent weeks, was limited Thursday — they only grounded into one.

The Raiders will try to make it 2-0 in the Ice tournament with a 7:30 p.m. game tonight against Hays.

“Our side of the bracket is tough,” Christiansen said. “And any time you play in a tournament, you want to beat the host team.”