The Raiders' Jordan Guntert (6) tries to avoid the tag by Eudora's Brian Kindle. The Raiders routed Eudora, 9-0 and 12-2, on Tuesday at Free State High.

Lawrence's Matthew Abel connects on a single in the Raiders' doubleheader sweep.

Raiders pitcher Caleb Gress delivers against Eudora. Lawrence run-ruled the Cardinals, 9-0 and 12-2, on Tuesday at Free State High.

Lawrence Raiders head coach Shaun Edmondson faced a familiar foe, the Eudora Cardinals, Tuesday night.

“You know all their tendencies,” said Edmondson, who helps coach Eudora High during the school year. “You know everything they do well, everything they do not so well, and you kind of know what to expect. So it’s kind of an unfair advantage.”

The Raiders also had the advantage of superior hitting and pitching and used both to defeat Eudora, 9-0 and 12-2, in two run-rule-shortened contests at Free State High’s baseball field.

The Raiders were supposed to play a doubleheader against Coffeyville, but flooding prevented Coffeyville from making the trip. Coffeyville’s coach called Edmondson on Monday morning.

“He said, ‘Unless we’re sending him an ark, he’s not getting out of there,'” Edmondson said.

Lawrence did not require any divine intervention to win both of Tuesday’s games. During the second victory, Ben Wilson provided the initial offense, launching a fastball over the center-field fence. The home run marked Wilson’s second American Legion homer of the year and plated Hunter Scheib.

Premature Independence Day firecrackers reverberated as Wilson rounded the bases.

“I did hear that,” Wilson said. “That was pretty cool.”

Triggered by a Kyle Cross triple, the runs mounted in the third inning.

Edmondson instructs his players to work the count, but Cross anticipated the first-pitch fastball.

During the same inning, Wilson doubled, and John Novotny, Joe Kornbrust and Alex Hardman singled to give the Raiders a 7-1 lead.

Lawrence drew four walks in the next inning as part of its five-run outburst before reaching a 12-2 lead.

The Raiders (15-10) started slowly in the first game, scoring no runs and notching zero hits during the first two innings before igniting for six runs in the third.

“We just need a little spark to get us going,” Cross said. “Once someone gets a big hit, a little stolen base or something to that extent, the fire starts.”

Scheib doubled to drive home Matthew Abel for the first run. The Free State senior then scored on a wild pitch. Cross would score in the same way, and Wilson, Novotny and Drew Hulse walked in consecutive at-bats.

The fourth inning, Lawrence’s last turn at the plate, went down in the same fashion. Abel and Scheib reached base by walk, and Wilson was hit by a pitch. Because of six walks, six wild pitches and three errors, the Raiders scored nine runs on just four hits.

No one better exemplified that on-base efficiency than Patrick Johnson, who reached base during all six of his at-bats without recording a hit in the two games.

The Raiders also received good pitching. Caleb Gress threw two scoreless innings for the Game One win, and Daniel Green did the same during Game Two.

Despite their strong outings, Edmondson adhered to his prepared strategy of letting Kornbrust, Hardman and Hulse pitch in relief. Because rain recently canceled three games at the Bartlesville Tournament, the Raiders’ arms needed the work.

“I just wanted everyone to get a feel on the mound,” Edmondson said. “I wanted a couple of other guys to get innings, but it wasn’t happening today. Our offense was too productive.”