Salina ? No team wants to be the one responsible for ending a streak, and that includes the Lawrence Raiders.

This weekend in Salina, the Raiders will be attempting to capture the program’s fifth straight Class AAA American Legion state baseball championship.

“None of us really talk about it, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t any pressure,” infielder Travis Sanders said. “We’re going to go out there and play hard and hopefully come away with another state championship.”

The Raiders’ quest for No. 5 will begin at 11 a.m. today against Pittsburg at Dean Evans Stadium.

“We haven’t played very many early games, but I don’t think we’ll have a problem getting up for a state tournament game,” Sanders said. “So I think we’ll be all right and we’ll be ready to play.”

For four Raiders – Patrick Johnson, Kyle Cross, Daniel Green and John Novotny – playing before noon in the state tournament won’t be anything new. They played in last year’s championship game that began at 10 a.m.

“Early morning doesn’t bother me any,” Johnson said. “Normally, I’m up in the morning anyway. It should be fun. If they’re asleep we’ll get them, and hopefully we’re not coming out sleepy and coming out wide awake and ready to play.”

The Raiders swept through the rain-delayed zone qualifying tournament at Free State High’s field, outscoring opponents, 33-10.

“We’ve been pitching it really well,” coach Shaun Edmondson said. “We’ve been scoring a lot of runs and executing and doing a good job defensively.”

After opening the season with five losses in their first six games, the Raiders (27-15) will go into the state tourney on a six-game win streak.

“I think we are playing our best right now,” Edmondson said, “but you should be playing your best right now. It’s the end of the season and everything you’ve done to this point is to get you prepared to win right now.”

The AAA Legion state champ will qualify for the Region 6 meet Aug. 16-20 in Marshall, Minn.