Raiders fan

To the editor:

May I add one more sports accomplishment to Ryan Wood’s 2006 top 10 sports stories?

The Lawrence Raiders baseball team qualified for and played in the American Legion World Series Aug. 18-22 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This team is sponsored by Dorsey-Liberty Post 14 of the American Legion and the Breakfast Optimists. The Raiders were one of eight teams in the World Series. They placed sixth in the series after losing to Milton, Mass., defeating Las Vegas and losing to Sumter, S.C. The Raiders were only the fourth Kansas team to reach the World Series in 80 years of American Legion baseball.

The Raiders qualified for the World Series by winning the American Legion Regional Tournament Six against six other state champions July 28-Aug. 1. They defeated Minot, N.D., Aberdeen, S.D., and Eden Prairie, Minn. They lost to Rapid City, S.D., but defeated Rapid City twice, including the championship game.

Prior to these tournaments, the Raiders won the Kansas State Championship in Salina. This was the fourth consecutive year that the Lawrence Raiders won the state title.

The boys on this team have represented Lawrence with honor. The boys are from both Free State and Lawrence high schools, which shows that members of these two schools can join together and overcome the strong rivalry of the two schools to become one with fine representation of Lawrence.

Legionnaires and Optimists are proud of this team and believe that they also should be included in a list of top sports stories of 2006.

Alan Fisher,

Lawrence