Storybook ending: Dragons seniors deliver Class 2 title

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KQTV) -- A storybook ending for four Mid-Buchanan softball seniors as the Dragons won the program’s first state title in more than 45 years over the weekend.

“It’s a crazy feeling. You never think you’d be here, and I’m just really proud of my team and how we all work together,” senior Ellason Lisenbee said.

But the journey to the state title was anything but easy. There were big wins and tough losses along the way.

“We always wondered how it would feel to take first. We walked in and we always, we came here the past three years and this time we went in first and so we got it. We work hard in practice and we just earned it,” Zuzu Kountz said.

This season marked the Dragons’ third straight trip to Springfield for the state tournament. In 2024, Mid-Buchanan finished second. It was disappointing to come so close, but a 33-5 record and a runner-up finish still ranked among the best seasons in school history.

Then came last year, another trip to state. The Dragons won their final game of the season, the third-place game. Another strong year at 32-8, and a third-place finish, still chasing that state championship.

Which brings us back to this past weekend. With just four seniors, the Dragons shut down a then-undefeated Marceline team in the semifinals on Friday. And on Saturday, with all the pressure to finish the story with a state title, this group wrote the chapter it dreamed of.

Those four seniors ended their high school careers with the biggest win of all, capping off an incredible four-year stretch including 123 wins and just 24 losses, with four district titles and three state appearances, including a second-place finish, a third-place finish, and now the biggest— winning the Class 2 state title, 10-6 over Chaffee.

“This group has worked so hard for where we are now, and it’s just fantastic to see where it’s all paid off,” coach Regan Nash-Archdekin said.

This team put its name in the record books forever as state champions, and as the program’s first title team since 1980.