Raiders explode for 46 runs, advance to finals

His jersey shed, his undershirt soaked through, his hair sweaty, Joe Kornbrust looked like he wouldn’t have any trouble sleeping Friday night.

“I’m worn out,” Kornbrust said.

Kornbrust and most of the rest of his Raiders’ teammates were all feeling a bit weary after they circled the bases for 46 runs in a pair of Legion Zone 2 Tournament baseball games at Ice Field.

The Raiders throttled Tonganoxie, 35-0, in the opener – yes, 35-0 – then dumped Atchison, 11-5, in the second game to advance to today’s 6 p.m. championship game.

How can a baseball game wind up with a 35-0 score?

Under Legion rules, all tourney games must go nine innings, unless another team is ahead by 10 runs after seven innings. It just so happened the Raiders were ahead by 35 runs after Tongie batted in the top of the seventh.

That’s right. The Raiders scored all of those runs in just six innings. They plated eight in both the third and the fifth frames and 13 in the sixth.

Some of the Raiders’ batting lines were eye-popping. Center fielder Matthew Abel was 5-for-7 with 7 RBIs. Right fielder Travis Sanders was 4-for-5 with 8 RBIs. Kornbrust, Aaron Rea, Jake Green, Clint Pinnick and Sanders scored five runs apiece.

“That was definitely something different,” said Kornbrust, the Raiders’ first baseman. “The most I’ve ever seen scored is 18, maybe.”

Nearly lost in the clubbing was Tom Schuh’s perfect pitching. The Raiders’ left-hander didn’t allow a base-runner, facing the minimum 21 batters and fanning 13 of them.

“I think that’s the first perfect game I’ve ever been a part of,” Raiders coach Shaun Edmondson said.

The closest Tongie came to a hit was a line drive by Jon Harris that left fielder Drew Hulse speared on the run in the fourth inning.

“If I ever pitched a perfect game before, I can’t remember it,” Schuh said. “I didn’t really realize I had one going until toward the end.”

If the Raiders don’t advance to next weekend’s State Legion Tournament in Pittsburg, Schuh’s perfecto may have been his last mound appearance because he was flying to Eugene, Ore., today for orientation at Oregon University and will miss the remainder of the zone.

Schuh is not going to Oregon on a baseball scholarship, but the Lawrence High grad says he may walk-on with the Ducks.

Kornbrust and Hulse wielded the big bats against Atchison. Kornbrust went 4-for-5 with a solo home run and 2 RBIs. Hulse, the No. 9 hitter, was 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including a bases-loaded triple in the third.

Ben Wilson blasted a two-run homer over the leftfield fence in the sixth and Rea had an RBI triple in the same inning as the Raiders pounded 14 hits against Atchison left-hander Matt Minnis.

“I think our bats are getting hot now,” Kornbrust said, “and that’s good because this is a big time for us.”

Atchison and Tonganoxie are scheduled to meet at 3:30 p.m. today with the winner ticketed to meet the Raiders at 6 p.m. If the Raiders win that game, they’re state-bound. If they lose, another game will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday.