Pittsburg ? Lawrence’s Raiders placed runner-up to host Pittsburg at the American Legion state baseball tournament.

The Raiders on Monday defeated Olathe South, 13-9, to reach the championship game series against Pittsburg. The host team defeated the Raiders, 14-6, in the final.

The Raiders allowed seven runs in both the first and second inning against Pittsburg before shutting down the home team.

Matthew Abel homered in a losing cause.

“We battled and competed hard,” Raiders coach Shaun Edmondson said. “It’s pretty emotional right now. We had a heck of a run losing the first game (of the tourney to Blue Valley Northwest), then coming all the way back (with wins over Ark City, Hays, BV Northwest and Olathe South). We kept competing. The score (in final) sounds a little misleading. We had them shut down. We left quite a few guys on base and couldn’t get them in.”

Aaron Rea had two doubles in the victory over Olathe South.

“It’s probably the best game we played all year,” Edmondson said. “The whole season we got better and progressed. A lot of guys made tremendous strides. We’ve got to move on, and it’s an end. It’s difficult now, but that’s part of it.”

The Raiders finished the season 33-19.