By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Mid-Buchanan trailed 1-0 at the end of the first inning and then again 2-1 at the end of the second.
The Dragons (10-4) took the lead for good in the top of the fifth and never looked back, as Mid-Buchanan beat Lafayette 5-2 on Monday at Dave Polsky Field at Heritage Park in St. Joseph.
Mid-Buchanan loaded the bases in the top of the second and got their first run on the board, thanks to an RBI single to center by sophomore Morgan Marshall.
After getting no hits in the third or fourth inning, Mid-Buchanan swayed momentum in its favor in the top of the fifth, scoring two runs on three hits, including a two-run RBI double to right by junior Emma Lisenbee, giving the Dragons their first lead at 3-2.
"They started out a little slow today," Mid-Buchanan coach Megan Wyatt said. "This is a good win for us."
Lisenbee also pitched the full game in the circle, striking out eight and allowing just one earned run.
"The first half of the game, we started off pretty slow," Lisenbee concurred. "I think as our bats started coming around, our energy started coming around, too. That's when we started doing better and performing better."
Mid-Buchanan added to its lead with two more runs in the sixth. Sophomore Kaleigh Strong and senior Taiylor Harrington each had RBIs to give the Dragons some insurance.
Lafayette (2-3) was held to just two hits over the game's final four innings, and never got multiple base runners on base after the second.
"I thought our defense started off pretty strong and it carried through the game," Lisenbee said. "My defense backed me up. It was an all around pretty solid performance."
Mid-Buchanan has now won four of its last six games, and owns signature wins over teams like Lawson (9-1), St. Joseph Central (6-3-1), Benton (9-2) and Plattsburg (7-3). A Cameron tournament championship got the ball rolling in late August, and the Dragons are hoping for bigger achievements moving forward.
"We have a tougher schedule for this reason," Wyatt said. "We want to be able to face the tougher teams when it's important. We feel like toward the end of the season, a tougher schedule helps us out to be prepared to face that better pitching."
Mid-Buchanan hosts Lathrop Thursday. Lafayette is home to St. Pius X Tuesday.
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