The Lawrence Raiders celebrate a run by Ben Wilson as Salina catcher Tyler Burnett, left, looks on. The Raiders held off Salina, 17-11, after coming from behind to defeat Pittsburg, 13-12, Monday in Salina.

Salina ? The Lawrence Raiders sure have a flair for the dramatic.

It took two late-inning rallies for the Raiders to top Pittsburg and Salina in the Class AAA American Legion state tournament Monday at Dean Evans Stadium.

The Raiders lost an eight-run lead against Pittsburg, suffering an 11-run swing in the final three innings. They still rallied to advance to the championship game thanks to a four-run rally, capped by a two-run double by Travis Sanders, in the bottom of the ninth to win, 13-12.

“I kept seeing people getting on and getting walked, and I was thinking to myself, ‘I hope I just get up because I’m going to have a chance to win this game,'” Sanders said. “I got up, and coach (Shaun) Edmondson told us to take a pitch, and when I got up there I was like, ‘If anything’s good, I’m swinging.’ And I got a good pitch, and I was able to get it through the infield and win the game.”

Salina also attempted to make a comeback, scoring six in the seventh to tie it. The Raiders answered with a seven-run eighth inning and went on to win, 17-11.

“Two very fun, exciting baseball games, and I can’t wait for tomorrow,” Edmondson said. “We’re just a resilient team. … I got emotional after the game and am still emotional now. I think we all are. Everyone left it out on the field. By the end of the game, win or lose, we gave it everything we had, and fortunately we got the wins today.”

John Novotny was the spark in both Raiders rallies with a ninth-inning lead-off triple in the Pittsburg game and a lead-off home run in the eighth inning against Salina.

“Off the bat I knew it was a double automatically, and then I looked up around second. He tried to pick the ball up, and I saw him bobble,” Novotny said of his triple. “So I figured, if I’m going to go out, I’m going to go out with a bang. So it’s probably not the smartest thing to do, but you’ve got to put pressure on the defense, and it worked out, thankfully.”

Edmondson was wide-eyed when he was asked about Novotny legging out the triple.

“‘No. Please don’t.’ I threw up the stop sign and was begging him not to go there,” the Raiders coach said. “But he thinks he’s a lot faster than he really is. He said he hadn’t had a triple all year, and I was like, ‘Well, it’s not really the time for the triple.’ He has good baseball savvy and trusted his instincts there.”

Novotny combined for a cycle in the two games, going 5-for-10 with three RBIs and four runs scored.

The nearly six hours of play began to take its toll on the Raiders, especially catcher Patrick Johnson.

Johnson went 17 innings behind the plate before being replaced by Adam Emerson in the final inning against Salina.

It wasn’t just his time catching that finally caught up with him, but also the amount of time he spent on the bases. Johnson finished the day 4-for-7 with two doubles, four RBIs, four runs and was hit by a pitch in each of his final three plate appearances.

“It was a pretty long day, and we had to give it all we could to make sure we’d make it to tomorrow,” said Johnson, who walked with a bit of a limp. “State’s still in reach, and it’s a whole new game tomorrow. I just went out there and tried my hardest today and everyone else did too, and we ended up pulling it out.”

Drew Hulse went five impressive innings as the starting pitcher against Pittsburg, allowing one unearned run on three hits. Kyle Cross earned the win.

Hulse, however, still came away from Dean Evans with a win under his belt.

Hulse pitched the final 22â3 innings in the contest with Salina, giving up three earned runs and striking out two.

Edmondson will just piece his pitchers together for the championship game against the Falcons this morning at 10.

“Everyone’s kind of thrown quite a few innings, but every guy’s been gutty and throwing it all out there,” Edmondson said. “It will be a complete piece job. Drew will probably go an inning or two, (Caleb) Gress may go an inning or two, (Daniel) Green may going an inning, any arm we have.”

Lawrence Raiders 13, Pittsburg 12

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W-Kyle Cross.

Raiders highlights: Drew Hulse 5 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 K; Hunter Scheib 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, run; Travis Sanders 2-for-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Ben Wilson 1-for-5, HR; Johnny Novotny 2-for-4, 3B, RBI, 2 runs; Joe Kornbrust 2-for-4, BB, 3 runs; Patrick Johnson 3-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, run; Alex Hardman 2-for-3, RBI, 2 runs.

Raiders 17, Salina Falcons 11

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W-Hulse.

Raiders highlights: Scheib 2-for-3, 3 BB, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Sanders 1-for-4, 2B, RBI; Novotny 3-for-6, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Hulse 1-for-3, 3 BB, 3 runs; Johnson 1-for-3, 3 HBP, 2 RBI, 3 runs; Matthew Abel 3-for-6, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 runs; Kyle Cross 1-for-6, 2B, RBI.