Lawrence Outlaws coach Brad Romme knows his young team will face some difficult challenges at the Baker Classic tournament this weekend.

The toughest of which might be rolling out of bed this morning.

The schedule-makers did the Outlaws no favors, penciling the team in for its first game at 9 a.m. today against the Midwest Rebels.

“It’s never, never easy to play games that early, but that’s the baseball schedule we’ve got so we have to go with it,” Romme said. “Hopefully our eyes will be wide open and ready to go.”

The Outlaws will follow with an 11:30 a.m. matchup against Mac-N-Seitz – an academy team run by former Royals Mike MacFarlane and Kevin Seitzer – in the second of a guaranteed five games during the three-day weekend.

“We’ll see some really good teams over the next two days,” Romme said, “and should have all the baseball we can handle.”

The team will be eager to pick up its first victory of the year after getting off to a rocky start Tuesday. The Outlaws were swept at home by the Stilwell Tigers, 13-3 and 9-3, in their opening games.

Still, Romme said the progression of his players would be more substantial for his young team over the course of the season.

“We want to win as many games as we can, but developing players will be more important than wins and losses,” Romme said. “That’s not to say we’re not going to try to win, because success breeds success, but we might put kids in difficult spots that will better us in the future. Development will be more important than anything.”

Many of the Outlaws are younger Free State High players looking for experience to aid them in next year’s high school season. That includes catcher Andy Petz, who Romme said has established himself as the team leader through the first two games.

The junior-to-be also has gained responsibilities in helping to manage the game from behind the plate.

“He’s calling his own pitches now, and he’s done a great job of that, even in the last two games we lost,” Romme said. “The recipe to calling a game is remembering what swing a kid had three or four at-bats later. He will only get better doing it for us all summer.”

Free State teammates Nick Ayre and Kyle Cross will start the first two games on the mound for the Outlaws and will be the main pitchers used this summer. They will have the opportunity to fill some of the pitching holes left by graduating seniors of this year’s Class 6A state tournament team.

“Some of these guys are looking for a big summer and then bigger things next year,” Romme said.

After Friday’s games, the Outlaws will face the Johnson County Hornets at 2 p.m. and the Wichita Metros at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Gardner-Edgerton High School to finish pool play.

Sunday’s games will be determined based on the results of the first two days.

“It’s not ideal,” Romme said of the early games, “but we’ve got to hook it up whether it’s early or at night.”