Raiders tumble in semis
Pitcher fires no-hitter against Lawrence squad
After plating 25 runs in their first three games at the Al Ice Memorial Woodbat Classic, the Lawrence Raiders were shut out in a 6-0 semifinal loss Sunday to defending tourney champ Tulsa (Okla.) Memorial.
But breaking the goose egg was the least of their worries. The Raiders (16-3) fell victim to a sterling no-hitter thrown by Memorial lefty Jake Medlin at Hoglund Ballpark.
The loss snapped the Raiders’ 11-game winning streak.
“He had command of his fastball on the outer half, his curveball was breaking in, and he kept our guys off-balance the entire game,” Raiders coach Kevin Tucker said. “He was truly dominant.”
Then, in a redemption match against Topeka for the tournament championship, Medlin brought that same domination to the plate. He drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning for the Chargers and then put the game out of reach in the third when he tripled into the right-center gap in another bases-loaded situation.
Medlin drove in five of the Chargers’ runs in an 8-0 run-rule victory over Topeka 400 as Tulsa claimed its second straight Woodbat title.
In the day’s final game, Tulsa pitcher Steven Irvine kept the team’s dominance on the mound alive, allowing just one hit.
Medlin attributed the team’s overbearing to some extra cardiovascular activity.
“I think it was the running at two in the morning we had to do,” Medlin said of the disciplinary exercise the team did in the Hoglund parking lot early Sunday. “We were just ready to win.”
Ready was an understatement. They practically looked like professionals.
Against the Raiders, Medlin struck out eight batters, including a silencing of the top of their order. The Raiders’ one-two punch of Brian Heere and Tommy Fitzgerald, who combined to go 10-for-21 with eight RBIs and eight runs scored in the first three games, went 0-for-5 on Sunday.
Plus, the Chargers weren’t too shabby on offense, either. Aside from Medlin’s explosion in the second game, their three and four hitters, Irvine and Jeremy Guess, combined for five RBIs, three doubles and a triple.
The same Topeka 400 team pummeled Tulsa, 13-0, on Saturday, but it was not the same Tulsa team that showed up Sunday.
Medlin said they “threw them a lil’ bait” by playing mostly reserves Saturday when they found out they were in Sunday’s semifinals regardless.
The Raiders will play a doubleheader Tuesday at Olathe South then play host Wednesday to Topeka One.
The Raiders likely will get back to mashing the ball with bats that go ‘ping’ on Tuesday, but the wood bats were a good learning tool.
“It’s about development, and you know, if they want to play at the higher level, they’re going to have to learn,” Tucker said. “I’m sure they’re excited to get aluminum bats back in their hands, but it’s a good learning process.”

