By By TOM NYHUIS / Niles Daily Star
BUCHANAN – Prior to the start of the 2007 high school softball season Buchanan had high expectations of making another state tournament run. The Lady Bucks finished last season as a final four finalist and began this season ranked No. 3 in Division 3 pre-season poll.
Tuesday's season opener against Cassopolis quickly taught the Lady Bucks that touting the high ranking doesn't mean their team is invincible. The Rangers took a Lakeland Conference sweep on their home field coming back in the bottom half of the seventh inning of both contests for the shocking victories over the Lady Bucks taking the opener 6-5 and the night cap 7-6. "That was a great way to start," Cassopolis coach Randy Brooks said following his teams come from behind victories. "Not a perfect way to start but as far as competitiveness and battling back we just smashed the ball tonight. Against a team that was in the final four last year and ranked number three in the state and we pounded the ball and I'm very pleased, first game very pleased."
"I really think we are a pretty good defensive team," Buchanan coach Mike Welsh said following the disappointing loss. "But today we were terrible, we really were bad. I'm not making any excuses, Cass, they really swung the bats as good as anybody I've seen in some time. They deserved to win, they wanted it more than we did. If you don't close the door you don't want it."
Symone Pompey picked up the wins on the mound pitching a complete game in the opener and took over for Kayla Green in the seventh of game two to earn the victory. Ashley Pointer was tagged with both losses for the Lady Bucks. "Both girls are three year starters and they have been around a little bit and they worked really hard. I thought we kept the ball on the corners and changed speeds a little bit and kept their batters off balance," Brooks said.
In the season opener for both teams Buchanan got on the board first taking a 2-0 lead after scoring a single run in both the second and third inning. The Rangers scored their first run in the third to trail 2-1. In the fifth the Lady Bucks tacked on three more runs to take a 5-1 advantage. Seven errors in the game by the Bucks allowed the Rangers to get back into the game as they pushed three runs across in the sixth. Pompey held the Bucks scoreless in the final inning and the Rangers added two runs in the seventh for the win. Buchanan collected four hits and was aided by four Ranger errors in the game.
In game two the Bucks looked to be in the drivers seat to pick up the split, leading 6-2, and needed just three outs to seal the deal. Cass had other ideas as they plated five runs in the bottom of the seventh. The Rangers belted out 12 hits in the game. Nikitas Nelson recorded a inside the park home run in game two to help lift her team to the win.
"It's early and this is not the same team as last year. A lot of people had a lot of expectations for us," Welsh said. "Now reality hit us in the face and we will see how we respond."
Cassopolis will look to continue to ride the wave of Tuesday's wins this Saturday as they host an eight team tournament. Buchanan will travel to Otsego on Saturday for a tournament.
First game
Buchanan 011 030 0 – 5 4 7
Cassopolis 001 0032 – 6 8 4
WP – Symone Pompey (C) 1-0
LP – Ashley Pointer (B) 0-1
2B: Sam Vlacink (C), Nicole Green (C), Emily Phillips (C)
Second game
Buchanan 000 310 2 – 6 9 3
Cassopolis 1000 105 – 7 12 3
WP – Pompey (C) 2-0
LP – Pointer (B) 0-2
3B: Ashley Pointer (B), Holly Lucas (B), Becky File (C), Molly Vite (C)
HR: Nikitas Nelson (C)