By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
THREE OAKS – One thing was certain and obvious at Saturday's Division 3 District softball tournament – the Buchanan Bucks were ready to play ball.
Pumped up and ready to play, the Lady Bucks were fired up and had nothing but winning on their minds.
Buchanan earned its second straight district title and will head to Berrien Springs on Saturday for the regional tournament, where it will face Kalamazoo Christian at 10 a.m.
The Bucks opened the day with a 3-0 victory over conference champion Brandywine in eight innings and sent Bridgman packing in the final game with a 10-0 win.
The Bees claimed a 6-2 win over Berrien Springs in 10 innings during the first semifinal game of the day.
Against Brandywine, it was a pitching showdown between Buchanan's Ashley Pointer and Kendra Zache of the Bobcats. Zache struck out an impressive 18 batters and walked just one. Pointer ended the day with 17 strikeouts.
Buchanan's bats got moving in the top of the eighth. Taylor Krumrie reached base on a single and advanced to second on a Brandywine error. Emily Ross darted toward first base and was safe when Bobcat pitcher Lauren Kachur lost the ball on a wild pitch. That's when Jayme O'Bryant stepped to the plate and rocked a triple to the outfield, sending in Krumrie and Ross. Alexis Lenox then brought O'Bryant home after hitting a single.
The Bobcats, who end the season 25-9, finally got two outs, and had an unsuccessful offensive performance.
Against Bridgman, Buchanan quickly showed why they were able to claim the title.
Scoring two runs in the opening inning, the Bucks added five runs in the fourth and three in the sixth.
Courtney Miller, O'Bryant and Lenox all had two hits for Buchanan.
Division 3 District Tournament
Championship Game
Buchanan … 10
Bridgman … 0
Buchanan 200 503 – 10 10 5
Bridgman 000 000 – 0 2 3
WP – Ashley Pointer (17-10) and Emily Ross
LP – Miranda Strefling and Heather Svoboda
3B: Courtney Miller (BU).
Records: Buchanan 23-12, Bridgman 13-25
Buchanan … 0
Brandywine …. 3
Buchanan 000 000 03 – 3 6 1
Brandywine 000 000 00 – 0 5 2
WP – Ashley Pointer (16-10) and Emily Ross
LP – Kendra Zache (25-8) and Lauren Kachur
2B: Angela Newman (BR)
3B: Jayme O'Bryant (BU)
Records: Buchanan 22-12, Brandywine 25-9
Bridgman … 6
Berrien Springs … 2
Bridgman 000 010 100 4 – 6 7 4
Berrien Springs 200 000 000 0 – 2 8 7
WP – Miranda Strefling and Heather Svoboda
LP – Kelsey Shembarger, Lyndsey Shembarger (10) and Samantha Carbajal.
2B: Allie Mojsiejenko (BR), Samantha Carbajal (BER)
Records: Berrien Springs 24-15, Bridgman 13-24.