Raiders’ run done

Dream season ends with loss

? The Lawrence Raiders’ World Series season came to an end Sunday.

Sumter, S.C., scored the tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning and scored again in the bottom of the 13th to come away with a 6-5 victory, handing the Raiders their second loss of the double-elimination tournament.

“The opportunity of getting to the American Legion World Series is few and far between,” Raiders coach Troy Wingert said. “There are 5,400 teams playing American Legion baseball, and the Lawrence Raiders can say they’re one of the top six.”

Two teams were eliminated from the eight-team tournament Saturday. The Raiders eliminated Las Vegas, 9-8, Saturday after losing their opening-round game, 14-4, to Milton, Mass., on Friday.

Sunday, the Raiders snagged an early lead with a four-run fourth inning, in which Lorenzo Ricketts, Brian Heere, John Novotny and Patrick Johnson drove in runs. Ricketts and Novotny each finished with two hits.

Brett Lisher’s sacrifice fly drove in Tyler Knight in the fifth, giving the Raiders a 5-1 advantage.

Starter Travis Blankenship allowed four runs in six-plus innings, including one in the sixth and two in the seventh, but only two of those were earned – an error in the seventh facilitated a Sumter rally.

The Raiders committed four errors Sunday.

“It’s hard to pinpoint a reason we lost: an error here, and error there,” Wingert said. “One thing that I’m very proud of is that our kids went out there and competed on every inning and every pitch. That’s something we’ve been able to do all summer long.”

Daren Parker relieved Blankenship, allowing one hit and no runs in two innings. Raiders closer Max Ellenbecker pitched the final 41â3 innings.

Wingert said his pitching staff proved it belonged in the World Series.

“Other than opening night, our pitching staff has done a phenomenal job,” he said.

The Raiders had trouble enjoying the success of their season immediately after Sunday’s loss, but, Wingert said, that satisfaction would come in time.

“There are a lot of heads that are hanging pretty low right now, and obviously that’s to be expected,” he said. “I knew this was a very special group from the first day on the practice field. They come out and work hard and get along great with each other.

“Eleven of them are going on to play baseball collegiately, and I wish them the best of luck. If they don’t make it in baseball, they’re going to be great people in this world.”