Buchanan’s girls softball team remembered it all season.
Last year’s 1-0 loss to Parchment in the Division 3 regional semifinals stuck in their minds.
“We talked about how last year felt,” Buck coach Rachel Carlson said. “We weren’t okay with that. We worked all year to make ourselves better to avoid that.”
Saturday it paid off.
Districts:Edwardsburg softball knocks off defending state champ for district title
Fourth-ranked Buchanan got great pitching from Hailee Kara and another big day at the plate to capture its second Division 3 regional title in three years. The Bucks crushed Coloma 13-0 in the semifinals and then ousted Kalamazoo Christian 7-1 in the title game.
“It feels great,” Carlson said. “It’s a great group of kids. They blow me away. They have great ball sense, run the bases well and have been committed all year. And obviously we hit. We’re hitting the ball well, from top to bottom. And it all comes down to hard work. We’ve had ups and downs at the plate. We’ve had rough patches. But we haven’t been afraid to work on things that we need to change or fix. We’re not afraid to make those changes.”
Buchanan belted out 14 hits against Coloma and 13 against Kalamazoo Christian. The Bucks are now hitting .401 as a team and averaging 9.2 runs per game. Camille Lozmack, Caitlyn Horvath, Hailee Kara, Cameron Carlson, Hannah Tompkins and Aspen Berry each had two hits in the semifinal. Lozmack drove in three runs and Kara, Tompkins and Berry two apiece.
In the title game against Kalamazoo Christian, Lozmack, Horvath, Kara, Alyvia Hickok and Bailey Trail each had two hits with Carlson driving in a pair with sacrifice flies.
“And we’re playing team ball,” Carlson said. “We’re not afraid to bunt a runner to second to try and score.”
Consider some of these batting numbers. Pitcher Kara, a two-time All-Stater, is batting .512 with five homers and 57 RBI. She homered against Coloma. Center fielder Horvath is at .474, shortstop Hannah Herman, another two-time All-Stater, is hitting .460 with three homers and 43 RBI, catcher Aspen Berry is at .400 with four homers, first baseman Carlson .389 and third baseman Lozmack .375.
Kara and Lozmack have given Buchanan a solid one-two punch on the mound. The two combined on a three-hitter with seven strikeouts against Coloma. And Kara went the distance, scattering six hits. Only a seventh-inning homer by Ellie Hoeksema prevented another shutout. Kara is 22-3 with a 1.25 ERA and Lozmack 12-0 with a 1.76 ERA.
Throw in outstanding fielding (37 errors in 42 games) and the result is a 38-4 record going into Tuesday’s 4 p.m. quarterfinal game against Ravenna (35-5) at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids.
Buchanan has seven players, who were on the team’s Division 3 state runner-up in 2021 in Kara, Hickok, Tomkins, Sage Pruett, Lozmack, Herman and Lemon. That group has produced an incredible 106-16 record over the past three seasons.
“But we have some young kids who have stepped into huge roles,” Carlson said. “Horvath (a sophomore) has had a humungous year. Carlson (a sophomore and coach’s daughter) has hit the ball hard all year. And Aspen Berry (freshman) has been tremendous behind the plate.”
In the championship game, Trail’s RBI-single and Berry’s RBI-triple in the second inning gave Buchanan the only runs it needed. Carlson added a sacrifice fly in the third. Kara had an RBI-double and Carlson another sacrifice fly in the fifth. And Herman contributed an RBI-double in the sixth. A seventh run score on an error.
| K. Christian | 000 | 000 | 0 — | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Buchanan | 021 | 022 | x — | 7 | 13 | 1 |
Aubrey Herder (L); Hailee Kara (W)
2B: Hannah Herman (B), Camille Lozmack (B), Hailee Kara (B)
3B: Aspen Berry (B)
HR: Ellie Hoeksema (K)
Records: Kalamazoo Christian 19-18, Buchanan 38-4
| Coloma | 000 | 00 — | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Buchanan | 261 | 4x — | 13 | 14 | 1 |
Mady Hicks (L), Crisenbery (2), Mriyssa Nelson (2); Hailee Kara (W), Camille Lozmack (4)
2B: Mriyssa Nelson (C), Aspen Berry (B), Bailey Trail (B), Alyvia Hickok (B), Cameron Carlson (B)
HR: Hailee Kara (B)
Records: Buchanan 37-4, Coloma 13-11
Division 2 at Berrien Springs
▸Vicksburg 9, Edwardsburg 4: Edwardsburg couldn’t overcome a nightmarish first inning in falling to sixth-ranked Vicksburg in the Division 2 regional semifinals.
The Bulldogs scored four times in the first inning and were in complete control the rest of the way.
Losing pitcher Emma Denison had control problems in the first, which led to the big inning. After Maddison Diekman singled, Denison walked three straight batters to force in a run. She then hit the next two batters to force in two more tallies. A single by Kennedy Davis brought home the fourth run.
Edwardsburg closed to within 4-2 on Denison’s RBI-single in the first and Samantha Baker’s RBI-single in the second. But Emily Zemitans’ three-run homer in the third put the game away.
Sydney Klaer had three hits for Edwardsburg, which finished 30-8. Abby Bossler added two and Averie Markel slugged a two-run homer.
| Vicksburg | 403 | 002 | 0 — | 9 | 7 | 1 |
| Edwardsburg | 110 | 020 | 0 — | 4 | 9 | 3 |
Kennedy Davis (W); Emma Denison (L)
2B: Sydney Klaer (E)
3B: Maddison Diekman (V)
HR: Emily Zemitans (V), Averie Markel (E)
Records: Vicksburg 21-2-1, Edwardsburg 30-8
REGIONALS
Saturday, June 10
DIVISION 2
At Berrien Springs
Hamilton 4, Wayland 2
Vicksburg 9, Edwardsburg 4
Championship, Vicksburg 4, Hamilton 1
DIVISION 3
At Watervliet
Buchanan 13, Coloma 0
Kalamazoo Christian 11, Bronson 1
Championship, Buchanan 7, Kalamazoo Christian 1
QUARTERFINALS
DIVISION 3
Tuesday, June 13
At Gaylord
Gladstone (13-7) vs. Kingsley-Standish-Sterling winner, 5:30 p.m.
At Cornerstone University
Buchanan (38-4) vs. Ravenna (35-5), 4 p.m.
At Saginaw Valley State University
Cass City (16-4) vs. Laingsburg (35-6), 4 p.m.
At Wayne State University
Algonac (29-2) vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford (32-4), 4:30 p.m.
SEMIFINALS
DIVISION 3
Friday, June 16
At Michigan State University
3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
DIVISION 3
At Michigan State University
Saturday, June 17
5:30 p.m.