GRAND RAPIDS — The Buchanan baseball kept its incredible season alive with a 7-4 win over the Lansing Catholic Cougars in the Division 3 state quarterfinals at Davenport University Tuesday.

The Bucks have one thing in mind this season — the state championship. Their passion was evident on Tuesday when they jumped out to a two-run lead in the top of the first, a lead that the Bucks would never relinquish.

After that both teams settled in and found their defensive grooves.

Kyle Leazenby pitched four impressive innings for Buchanan. He struck out four, and with a stout defense behind him, managed to hold the Cougars scoreless on six hits and one walk.

A couple of Bucks had huge games at the plate, with three players smacking triples with runners on base. Dalton Riddle tripled to score two, while Darren Schearer went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Bryce Vineyard went 2-for-3 with a triple.

The biggest bat for the Buchanan Tuesday belonged to Chad Adkerson.

Adkerson went 3-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs that helped propel his team to the Friday’s semifinals.

Riddle relieved Leazenby in the fifth but struggled to find his rhythm, a little. After giving up a run in the fifth, he began finding his mark, shutting the Cougars down in the sixth.

The barrage of hits from Buchanan kept pressure on the Cougars the entire game and Lansing Catholic was never able to crawl out of the early hole the Bucks put them in.

But, to their credit they never stopped trying.

In the bottom of the seventh inning with its season hanging in the balance, Lansing Catholic dug deep and put together a rally that gave the Bucks a scare.

The Cougars scored three runs, but were unable to overcome the five-run deficit.

Buchanan, ranked No. 3, will travel to Michigan State University to play No. 9-ranked Gladstone at 11:30 a.m. Friday in the semifinal. The winner advances to the state championship game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Buchanan’s fan group, The Herd, will be sponsoring a fan bus for anyone wanting to support the Buck. The bus will leave at 8:30 a.m. and tickets can be purchased for $8.

 

Division 3 Quarterfinals

At Davenport University

BUCHANAN 7, LANSING CATHOLIC 3

Buchanan                   200     012     2 – 7 9 1

Lansing Catholic        000     010     3 – 4 11 2

Kyle Leazenby, Dalton Riddle (W, 5); Nic Olson (L), Ryan Paul (2), Riley Creamer (7).

2B: Riley Creamer (L), Nic Olson (L), Jarrett Thomas (B), Darren Shearer (B), Gavin Morris (B)

3B: Max Zemke (L), Bryce Vineyard (B), Chad Adkerson (B), Dalton Riddle (B)

Varsity records: Buchanan 23-7, Lansing Catholic 22-12