Junction City takes on Fordyce on the baseball diamond.
JUNCTION CITY - Through the first month of the season, Charles Hoof has delivered timely hit after timely hit for Junction City.
On Friday, the junior delivered another, crushing a three-run homer as part of an eight-run first inning, as Junction City rolled to a 12-0 win over Fordyce in Class 3A-4A District 12 play.
The Dragons did all of their first-inning damage against lefthander Dearius Sledge, who fared well against the Dragons as a freshman last year, but was roughed up on Friday, lasting just one inning.
“The Sledge kid gave us trouble in both games last year,” said Junction City coach Joe Paul Hammett. “We came out of the gates hitting the ball pretty good, and Charles got the big lick. We got eight on him right off the bat and took him off the mound. That was the key to it, because last year, we scored three and four against him the whole ballgame. We’ve been hitting the ball pretty well all through the lineup the last two weeks. Hopefully, we can continue to do that.”
In delivering their first-inning knockout blow, the Dragons (12-6, 4-1) sent 13 men to the plate, scoring five of their eight runs before making their first out.
Bryce Ware drew a leadoff walk and stole second to get into scoring position.
Clay Jolley followed with a bloop single to right-center to put runners at the corners, and Keelan Hodge opened the scoring with an RBI single to left.
With runners now at first and second, a wild pitch with Brock McGoogan at the plate moved the runners up a base each.
McGoogan then hit a flare to shallow left that fell for a run-scoring single to make it 2-0.
That set the stage for Hoof, who drilled Sledge’s 3-2 pitch over the fence in left for a three-run blast to give the Dragons a 5-0 lead.
Dating back to Monday’s win at Monticello, Hoof’s home run gave the junior his sixth straight hit in as many at-bats. After going 4-for-4 with four RBIs against Crossett on Tuesday, Hoof drove in four more runs against Fordyce (1-8, 0-4), giving him nine RBIs over his last three games.
“We didn’t get him until late because of basketball, but I had him during the fall, and I could really see the confidence and the progression as far as just swinging the bat,”
Hammett said of Hoof. “I thought once he got in a groove this spring, he would really be able to help us, and he has.
“He’s got super-quick hands, but good hand-eye coordination. With two strikes, he probably hits the ball better than anybody we’ve got. The home run came with two strikes. He’s a good contact hitter, plus on top of it, he’s got tremendous power. Confidence-wise probably more than anything has helped him get to where he is right now.”
The Dragons then started their rally anew thanks to a miscue by Fordyce’s defense.
Jack Smith reached on a two-base error after his fly ball to right was dropped, and the junior went to third on Tanner McLelland’s ground out.
A second error allowed the Dragons to pad their lead, as a throwing error on Ty Disotell’s grounder to shortstop allowed Smith to score to make it 6-0.
Disotell went to second on Cody Lee’s ground out to third, and back-to-back walks to Ware and Jolley loaded the bases.
After driving in a run with a base hit in his first at-bat of the inning, Hodge ripped Sledge’s first pitch to the gap in left-center for a two-run double to give Junction City an 8-0 lead.
Lost in all of the offense was a dominant pitching performance by Hodge.
The sophomore surrendered consecutive singles to Sledge and Colton Musgrove to start the first, but struck out the side to end the threat.
The Redbugs would not have another baserunner the rest of the way.
Hodge finished with eight strikeouts and didn’t issue any walks over four scoreless innings.
Ware struck out the side in the fifth, giving the duo a combined total of 11 strikeouts.
“Keelan was sharp and Bryce finished it up,” Hammett said.
Junction City scored four runs in the third to cap the scoring in the contest.
Hoof drove in his fourth run of the game by hitting into a force play, and Smith added a two-run double to highlight the frame.
Hodge helped his own cause by going 2-for-3 with three RBIs, while Jolley went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and McGoogan finished 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Dragons, who had nine hits in the win.
Junction City will play at Crossett on Monday.