There were a few surprises in store for the Lawrence Raiders at Ice Field on Tuesday night, but the day’s big shocker came off the diamond.

That’s when Lawrence coach Kevin Tucker informed his team that the American Legion zone tournament the Raiders had been preparing for next week in Pittsburg had been moved a week ahead of schedule.

“I’m definitely more comfortable with the schedule the way it originally was,” said Tucker, whose 27-6 squad scored a pair of victories – 11-2 run-rule, and 2-1 – over Topeka Post 74 on Tuesday in its last preparation contests before postseason play begins at 8 p.m. Friday, when the second-seeded Raiders square off against top-seeded Ottawa.

“But we’ll take the cards we’ve been dealt and move on. Our team is much more than capable of overcoming this setback.”

Friday’s winner will play Overland Park at 11 a.m. Saturday. A loss to Ottawa would knock the Raiders into a 3 p.m. game against the Pittsburg-Olathe East loser in the double-elimination tournament.

Lawrence Raiders infielder Tommy Fitzgerald gloves a grounder against Topeka 74 during the first inning of the first game of the Raiders' doubleheader sweep. Lawrence won, 11-2 and 2-1, on Tuesday at Ice Field.

Tucker said the most frustrating aspect of the change was that his club would be unable to play three of the five tune-up games it had scheduled this week.

“We were definitely hoping to have those dates there to knock off any rust and make some last-minute corrections, but I think we’re more than ready,” said Tucker, whose squad just last week was on a 12-game win streak.

“If we can continue to play against the baseball like we have this last month and not get caught up in any of the other distractions, than we should be all right.”

But it’s not quite that simple for the Raiders.

After all, they are the two-time state champions.

Lawrence third baseman Cory Cooper throws to first base for a force out against Topeka 74. The Raiders swept a twinbill Tuesday at Ice Field.

“Yeah, but you can’t win state until you get past zone, so we’ll all be fired up when Friday comes around,” said Raiders pitcher Travis Blankenship, one of five Lawrence pitchers to take the mound against Topeka Post 74.

“I wanted to make sure all of them got a chance to throw a little bit tonight,” said Tucker, whose team will take today off before coming back for a workout Thursday, then a morning practice Friday before it leaves for Pittsburg.

In their first game Tuesday, the Raiders certainly looked solid, smashing 10 hits to earn the five-inning, run-rule victory.

But the second game was a different story.

The Raiders managed six hits, but had to earn each of their two runs – including Lorenzo Ricketts’ game-winning single in the seventh.

Jake Hoover – who improved to 5-1 with the win and likely will get the start Friday night – led off with a single. After the Raiders’ first out, Tyler Knight’s grounder moved Hoover to second, where Ricketts brought him home with a sharply hit single.

“We didn’t quite play as well as we wanted to,” said Brett Lisher, who recorded two of the Raiders’ hits in the nightcap. “But we were able to do enough to win, and that’s something we’ve been good at all year. Hopefully we can continue to do that throughout the weekend.”

While Lisher admitted there was some pressure to try to win another title, he said after the initial shock of learning the new zone date wore off, the team would head into the weekend ready to go.

“It’s not as if we’re not ready, it’s just a little tougher to try to get everything on the same page when something like this happens,” Lisher said. “But as far as the guys are concerned, we’ve been playing really well as of late, and I don’t think we’ll let that change now.”