Dragons shut out Marceline, advance to Class 2 state title game

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KQTV) -- The Mid-Buchanan Dragons girls softball team will play for the Class 2 state championship on Saturday.

The Dragons (22-6) defeated Marceline (26-1) 7-0 on Friday in the Class 2 semifinals.

Mid-Buchanan scored a run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead on the Tigers. In the third, the Dragons added two more runs to make it 3-0.

Mid-Buchanan’s bats added three runs in the sixth, including a solo home run by catcher Zuzu Kountz, to push the lead to 6-0. The Dragons scored again in the seventh for the 7-0 final.

Mid-Buchanan’s pitching duo of junior Paisley Meyer and senior Dru Pearson shut out Marceline and held the Tigers to four hits. Meyer pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing one hit, one walk and two strikeouts. Pearson finished with 3 1/3 innings of three-hit ball and seven strikeouts.

At the plate, Meyer had three hits, one RBI and a run scored. Keithley Black, Ellason Lisenbee and Kountz each had two hits. Kountz added an RBI and a run scored. Lisenbee scored two runs, and Black added an RBI.

Mid-Buchanan will look to win the program’s first state championship since 1979 when it faces Chaffee at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Killian Softball Complex in Springfield, Missouri.