Union County rivals face off in season closer .

PARKERS CHAPEL - It would seem that if opponents don’t get to Keelan Hodge in the opening inning, they may not get to him at all.

Six days after going the distance in a win at Smackover, Hodge combined with Joe Lowe and Logan Disotell on a one-hitter, as Junction City downed Parkers Chapel 11-1 in six innings in the regular season finale for both schools.

Hodge’s lone blemish came in the opening inning when the Trojans used a walk, an error and an RBI single by Jacob Hobbs to tie the game at 1-all.

The freshman also got help from his defense, which turned double plays in the third and fourth innings.

Hodge walked five and struck out six in four innings of work to pick up the win.

“Our pitchers did a good job of throwing strikes,” said Junction City coach Joe Paul Hammett. “We walked a few, but for the most part, we did a good job. We played good defense behind them. We turned two doubles plays, which was big for us. Just giving up one hit against those guys, you’re doing a good job.”

Matched up against fellow freshman Blake Wells, Monday’s contest served as the first of what could be several head-to-head showdowns

between the two during their careers.

However, Wells never could get on track against the Dragons (209), departing after surrendering four runs and two hits in three innings. The left-hander walked five and struck out five. He also hit two batters.

The Trojans’ defense also committed three errors during his stint on the mound, two of which helped open the scoring in the first.

Lowe reached on a throwing error after hitting a grounder to short and went to second on an errant pickoff throw.

A wild pitch allowed the senior to take third, and after a walk to Hodge put runners at the corners, Disotell opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly.

The Trojans (16-10) responded with their aforementioned run in the bottom of the first.

With one out, Trace Blaylock walked, and Carson Worthey reached after his grounder to second was mishandled for an error to put runners at first and second.

Hobbs then followed with a fly ball to shallow left that fell for a single to score Blaylock with the tying run.

A walk to Logan Selman loaded the bases with one out, but any hopes of a big inning were thwarted by Hodge, who fanned Thomas Hardy and Tyler Sanders to avoid further trouble.

Although the Trojans were able to get men on against Hodge and later Lowe, the first inning would be the extent of their scoring.

The freshman overcame a leadoff walk to Blaylock in the third by getting Worthey to hit into a 6-3 double play.

In the fourth, Hodge walked Hardy and Sanders with one out, but got Reece Griffin to bounce into a 1-5-3 double play.

Lowe took over for Hodge in the fifth and pitched around two walks and a hit batsman by retiring Selman on a ground out to shortstop.

“You’re not going to win any ballgames getting one hit. That’s a tribute to their kids, and a lack of effort on mine,” said Parkers Chapel coach Mark Looney. “Their pitchers did a great job, and we didn’t adjust. We had first and second twice early and hit into double plays. Kudos to their defense. They made the plays they should make.

“Then we had the bases loaded and one out, and we don’t scratch a run. We had the chance there in the first inning when we tied it, but we didn’t make anything happen there either. We just didn’t get the job done at the plate. Down the stretch, if you don’t get the key hits, you’re not going to advance very far.”

While Hodge was able to overcome a tough first, Wells could not.

The left-hander opened the second by hitting Bryce Ware with a pitch, but the freshman helped himself by picking off the Junction City first baseman.

However, Clay Jolley drew a walk and Jack Smith followed with a single off of third base to put runners at first and second.

Wells rallied back to strike out Charles Hoof, but Robbie Roberson was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Lowe walked to force in a run to give the Dragons the lead back.

The visitors tacked on two runs in the third to pad their lead.

With one out, Brock McGoogan reached after strike three wasn’t handled cleanly, and walks to Ware and Jolley loaded the bases.

Smith then hit a grounder to short that had the makings of being an inning-ending double-play, but a throwing error on the relay to first allowed a second run to score to make it 4-1.

Junction City scored a pair of runs in the fifth before breaking the game open with a fiverun sixth.

McGoogan drew a leadoff walk and Ware legged out an infield single to put runners at first and second.

A pair of wild pitches with Jolley at the plate allowed McGoogan to score, and Ware scored one out later on an RBI double by Smith.

Jolley had a two-run single and Roberson delivered a two-run triple to highlight the sixth.

“We got some timely hits with people on base,” Hammett said. “A couple of times, they gave us a little, but a couple of them were hit pretty hard. Any time you hit the ball hard, something good can happen. For the most part, we stayed back and hit the ball pretty good at times. Hopefully, we can continue that and carry it on into the district tournament.”

Roberson and Smith were each 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Dragons, who had seven hits.

Both teams will be idle until the semifinals of their respective district tournaments, which are scheduled for Friday.

Sheridan 13, El Dorado 1

EL DORADO - Tyler Cacciatori tossed a no-hitter for the Yellowjackets. The Wildcats (10-13) scored their lone run in the fifth.

Blake Cunningham reached on an error, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out by Noah Gaul.

Gage Otwell took the loss on the mound for the Wildcats.

Smackover 16, Hampton 2

SMACKOVER - The Bucks (15-13) closed out the regular season with a five-inning triumph over the Bulldogs.

Brennan McKnight went 3-for-3 with three RBIs for the Bucks.

A senior, McKnight had RBI doubles in the first and third innings, as well as an RBI single in the fourth.

Weston Smith highlighted a four-run third inning with a tworun single, while Nick Impson had an RBI double and Tucker Evans added an RBI single as part of an eight-run explosion in the fourth.

Evans went 2-for-4 the Bucks, while Cade Schibler had an RBI double in the first and Clay Stringer had a double to round out the Bucks’ attack.

Schibler picked up the win after allowing two runs (one earned) in two innings of work. He scattered four hits, walked one, hit a batter and struck out three.

Evans allowed three hits in two scoreless innings in relief. He walked one, hit a batter and struck out two.

Smith worked a scoreless fifth to close out the contest.