As far as Shaun Edmondson is concerned, Kyle Cross is the Lawrence Raiders’ 800-pound gorilla.

“I like him anywhere on the field,” said Edmondson, the Raiders’ first-year coach. “He is a baseball player.”

Cross had three hits, including a two-run homer, scored five runs and swiped five bases as the Raiders run-ruled the Oklahoma Spivey Stars, 23-13, Wednesday night at Free State High’s field.

Cross played nothing but left field for Firebirds in the spring, but the May Free State High grad has been playing third base lately.

“Third base is my favorite place on the field,” Cross said. “I haven’t played there since my junior year. I was a little rusty, but everything is coming back.”

Cross was charged with one of the Raiders’ four errors, but he more than made up for it by reaching base all six times he went to the plate. In addition to his fourth-inning two-run homer, Cross singled twice, was hit by a pitch twice and walked.

Then there were those career-high five stolen bases.

Lawrence's Adam Emerson slides safely back into first ahead of the throw to the Oklahoma Spiveys Stars' Zach Loshon. The Raiders outslugged the All-Stars, 23-13, Wednesday at Free State High.

“He’s not really that fast,” Edmondson said of Cross, “but he does a good job of reading pitchers and getting jumps, and he plays hard all the time.”

Lawrence's Joe Kornbrust slides into home to score one of the Raiders' 23 runs in a 23-13 rout of Oklahoma Spivey's Stars. Lawrence run-ruled the Oklahoma team Wednesday at Free State High.

For his part, Cross played down the base thefts.

“Their pitchers had high leg kicks,” Cross said, “and one of them was the tail end of a double steal.”

The Raiders, in fact, stole 14 bases. Leadoff hitter Matthew Abel added four thefts and Travis Sanders three.

Spivey’s Stars, an Oklahoma City-based team sponsored by former major-league infielder Junior Spivey, have spent the last three weeks barnstorming the Kansas City-Lawrence-Manhattan corridor and have played the Raiders seven times during that span.

The Raiders won six of the meetings. The only loss was a 13-3 decision in the Kansas State Tournament.

“They’re not necessarily a bad team,” Edmondson said of the Oklahomans. “They have some talented players. They run-ruled us that one game.”

In their defense, the Stars haven’t had their entire 26-man roster during their three-week northern swing. In fact, they had only eight players suited Wednesday night, prompting Edmondson to let them have assistant coach Paul Houle to complete their lineup. Houle played center field and went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base.

After dropping six of their first eight games, the Raiders (9-8) climbed over .500 for the first time.

“Our focus as a team has been to get better,” Edmondson said. “I think we’re making progress, but we have a ways to go.”

Next on the schedule is the four-day Al Ice Wood Bat Classic. The Raiders will open at 7:30 p.m. today against the Dodge City Rangers at Hoglund Ballpark.