By By ERIKA PICKLES / NIles Daily Star
BUCHANAN - The Buchanan varsity baseball team opened its season on Saturday hosting its own Buck Classic tournament.
The Bucks fell to Bronson in the championship game, 6-5
Buchanan met Eau Claire in the first game of the tournament and took the 13-0 win to advance to the championship game, while Eau Claire also lost in the consolation game.
The Bucks scored four runs in the first inning, followed by two in the second and seven in the third.
Jeremy Lucas was the winning pitcher for Buchanan with five strikeouts in three innings. Aaron Koziel took over in the fourth and Justin Helt finished off the first game to earn a save.
Jon Reinhardt was the losing pitcher for Eau Claire
Top hitters for the Bucks were Lucas and Helt, who both went 2-for-3 with a double.
Zack Harris of Eau Claire was the only batter with a double.
Bronson defeated Parchment in the second game, 8-3, to advance to the championship game against the Bucks.
Winning pitcher for Bronson was Kyle Williams. Aaron Shock was the losing pitcher.
In the consolation round it was Parchment, which took the 12-1 win over Eau Claire.
Mike Macroni was the winning pitcher for Parchment and Tyler Renberger was the losing pitcher.
The championship game remained close with both teams tied going into the eighth inning, 3-3.
Bronson was able to score three runs in the top of the eighth to put it up 6-3.
Buchanan scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but could not drive in the tying run.
Winning pitcher for Bronson was Trevor Ferry.
Losing pitcher was Kyle Tracey. Ray Payne and Lucas both pitched in the eighth inning.
Top hitters for the Bucks were Josh Wahlstrom, who went 2-for-3 with a double and a triple, Mitchell Plott, who went 2-for-4 and Justin Helt, who had a double.
The Bucks (1-1) travel to Bloomingdale Thursday for a doubleheader. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
Edwardsburg falls to Coloma
By SCOTT NOVAK
Niles Daily Star
EDWARDSBURG - For openers it wasn't bad.
Visiting Coloma edged Edwardsburg 12-10 in the championship of the Edwardsburg Invitational on Saturday.
Despite splitting games, Eddies coach A.J. Gaideski wasn't displeased with his squad's effort.
The No. 8 ranked Eddies won the opening game of the tournament against Jimtown, Ind, 2-1.
Coloma defeated Sturgis in the second game, 5-2.
In the consolation game, Sturgis edged Jimtown, 8-7.
Coloma outhit Edwardsburg 12-10 in the championship game.
The Comets led 1-0 after two innings of play, however, the Eddies tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third.
Edwardsburg took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning, however, Coloma exploded for seven runs in the top of the fifth to take a 6-2 lead.
The Eddies came back with two in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Comets' advantage to 6-4.
Coloma scored two more runs in the top half of the sixth, but Edwardsburg rallied to tie the game at 10-10 with a six-run bottom of the sixth.
The Comets scored twice in the seventh to win the tournament.
Ben Horton, Jeff Mortimore, Jim Archambault, Brandon Stapleton and Josh Teeter all had doubles for the Eddies.
Mortimore finished with two hits and Stapleton three hits.
Monty Ort (1-0) picked up the victory in relief of starter Jesse Johnson who worked five innings.
In the first game Edwardsburg scored a run in the third and one in the seventh to take a 2-0 lead on Jimtown.
Jimtown scored its lone run in the bottom of the seventh.
Zac Rooney, who had a double, a single and two RBIs, also picked up the victory.
Horton also had two hits.
The Eddies return to action on Monday, April 11 when they travel to Cassopolis for the Lakeland Conference opener.
The first game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
The Eddies will then tarvel to Vicksburg on April 12. The first game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.