After every 2007 regular season game – win or lose – Lawrence High baseball coach Brad Stoll emphasized that his squad would serve as a tough out for any team during the two-game regionals format.

Stoll’s words proved prophetic as the Lions defeated Washburn Rural, 17-7, and Free State High, 8-1, to advance to their first 6A state tournament since 2002.

“I’m pumped,” pitcher Daniel Green said. “That’s what we’ve been working for all season and all three years I’ve been here.”

Green, the team’s ace, will take the mound for Lawrence High’s opening round game against Olathe East at 4 this afternoon at Wichita’s Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

The senior also pitched during the teams’ previous game, a 6-5 loss in Olathe, on April 17. Green’s pitching and home runs by Daniel Parker and Tony Williams helped the Lions stake out a 5-1 lead, but the Hawks exploded for five runs during the sixth and seventh innings once Green left the game.

“We were in situation to win that game,” Williams said. “It just didn’t fall our way.”

This time, however, the seventh-seeded Lions will face the No. 2 Hawks and their No. 1 pitcher, Colton Murray. The junior – 7-0 with a 1.26 earned-run average – has struck out 56 batters in 39 innings. Murray has stifled batters with an upper-80s fastball and a nasty curevball-slider combo slurve, which has more depth than a slider.

“It’s an aggressive pitch,” Stoll said. “We’re going to see a quality arm right out of the chute.”

But the LHS hitters, led by power hitters like Nick DeBiasse and John Novotny, have performed better against flamethrowers than location-oriented, slow-armed pitchers.

“We hit velocity pretty good,” Stoll said. “We just tell our kids the harder they’re going to throw it, the farther we’re going to hit it. Our kids don’t get nervous about facing Division-I pitchers.”

Offensively Hawks first baseman Jason Miller, who will attend the University of Memphis next year, paces a potent lineup.

“They didn’t win 19 games just by rolling their jocks out there,” Stoll said. “There’s some talent there.”

The winner of today’s contest between LHS (13-8) and East (19-3) will play the winner of Wichita Heights (17-5) and Blue Valley West (14-8) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday followed by either a third-place or championship game later that afternoon.

No LHS player has reached the state baseball tournament before. The team’s 12 seniors, however, help compensate for that inexperience. Stoll also has phoned his mentor and friend, Free State coach Mike Hill, who guided the Firebrids to last year’s state title, two to three times a day.

Wichita will represent an unfamiliar stage for LHS, but a cocky braggadocio, which has characterized the team, should mitigate any jitters. The Lions’ defining win, a 14-7 victory against Omaha Creighton (Neb.) Preparatory School after falling behind by six runs in the fifth inning, showcased that demeanor.

“Our confidence level is at a point where no matter the situation in the game,” Stoll said, “we feel like we’re going to be in it.”