By By TOM NYHUIS / Niles Daily Star
BUCHANAN - What could be better then playing softball on a near perfect spring day. How about a doubleheader Lakeland Conference sweep?
For Buchanan, (2-0) opening day was extra kind to the Lady Bucks. Not only did they have excellent weather conditions to play in, but they also picked up a pair of Lakeland Conference victories.
To begin the season it's a great confidence builder, especially for a team that only starts three seniors and one junior.
The Bucks rolled to a pair of five inning victories over River Valley, 14-0 and 12-2, smashing out 28 hits in the two games.
The Lady Bucks lone junior, pitcher Ashley Pointer, recorded the victories on the mound.
"I felt Ashley pitched well," Bucks coach Mike Welsh said after the sweep. "She was gone all last week to Washington with a school trip and didn't get any practice time so I thought she did good today." Pointer finished the day with 16 strikeouts in her 10 innings of work and allowed only five hits and giving up only four walks.
Buchanan got on the board early in game one putting up a three spot in the first inning.
"We played small ball to start and we ran aggressively. When you do that you make the other team make mistakes. We have lots of speed so we will be able to do lots of stuff. I feel confident with any of the 13 kids I have on this team. This was a good opener and will boost their confidence a lot," Welsh said. "We have a tough schedule the next couple of weeks so we will see where we are at after that. Tonight, we bunted the ball well and had some good defense."
Buchanan flexed its muscles in the fourth inning on the second game as freshman Jayme "Snookie" O'Bryant smashed a line drive shot to straight away center for a solo home run.
O'Bryant also added a pair of singles and a double to her opening day offense. Senior Hayley Burks finished the day with four hits, two being doubles. Buchanan finished the day with seven doubles.
Senior Chenai Marker cranked out four singles for a four hit day.
For the Mustangs, Krista Anderson took the opening game loss giving up 15 hits and four walks. Maggie Housman was tagged with the loss in game two after giving up 13 hits and walking four.
Buchanan will travel to Otsego on Saturday for the Otsego Invitational.