So far this summer, Lawrence Raiders coach Kevin Tucker couldn’t have asked for much more from his red-hot pitching staff.

He has seen a no-hitter from lefty Max Ellenbecker, a pair of two-hit shutouts from Travis Blankenship and consistency from Jake Hoover, Will Falk, Matt Wingert and Grant Meisenheimer.

In a way, they’ll get a tiny break this weekend at the Al Ice Memorial Woodbat Classic.

That break will not come from the level of competition, which is quite daunting, but instead by taking the aluminum bats out of hitters’ hands.

“With an aluminum bat, you can get away with hitting it off the end of the bat or getting jammed,” Tucker said. “The circumference of sweet spot is only 10-12 inches (with wooden bats). It makes you swing at better pitches, and you’re not going to get rewarded by getting jammed.”

The Raiders begin the four-day tournament at 7:30 tonight against Arkansas City at Hoglund Ballpark. Pool play continues Friday and Saturday, with the seventh-place game, fifth place game, semifinals and championship game played Sunday.

However, the Raiders will be without Ellenbecker and his sore left arm. That leaves Hoover, Falk, Wingert and Blankenship.

Hoover showed some serious guts last weekend, helping the Raiders win the Lawrence Invitational on the mound and with some clutch hitting.

In last year’s tournament, Lawrence went 2-1 and placed fourth via tiebreaker after Sunday’s games were rained out. All three teams placing above the Raiders in 2004 – Ponca City, Okla.; Tulsa (Okla.) Memorial; and Claremore, Okla. – are back this year.

“I’m assuming not only they’re good teams, but also very competitive,” Tucker said.

Some of his players know at least one of those teams first-hand.

Six of the Raiders who competed for Free State High this spring took on Claremore High in the Four-State Festival in April. That meeting resulted in a 4-0 Claremore victory in which the Firebirds only mustered two hits.

Claremore’s American Legion squad coming to Lawrence this weekend features 13 players from that team that held the No. 2 ranking in Oklahoma’s Class 5A standings. Claremore will not face the Raiders until Saturday night in pool play.