Junction City to face Prescott
Since early April, Junction City has been one of the hottest teams in the state regardless of class thanks to their 12-game winning streak.
But if the Dragons are to continue their season and qualify for the state tournament, they will need to knock off an opponent that has played the role of giant-killer in the recent past.
On Thursday, Junction City takes on Prescott in the opening round of the 4-3A Regional Tournament.
Game time is set for 10 a.m. at Horatio.
Junction City (25-7) is the No. 1 seed from the 8-3A, while Prescott (8-15-1) is the No. 4 seed from the 7-3A.
Three years ago, the Curley Wolves stunned Smackover as a No. 4 seed at the regional tournament at Norphlet, and while Prescott enters the postseason with a losing record, that mark is rather deceiving considering the 3A-4A District 11 blended conference is loaded with 3A heavyweights Horatio and Genoa Central along with defending 4A state champion Nashville and Ashdown.
“We’ve talked to our guys about Prescott,” said Junction City coach Joe Paul Hammett. “They play in a tough conference with Horatio and Genoa Central. In their 4A blended, they played Nashville, who is the defending state champion in 4A, so they’ve seen some good baseball. They’ll be ready to go, and we’ll have to be ready to go and play our best.”
Hammett said the Curley Wolves having been playing well down the stretch.
“Just getting some information and talking to some coaches from their conference, they finished fourth in the district tournament, but lately, they’ve said they’ve played pretty well,” Hammett said. “Even against Horatio, they got beat, but they didn’t make an error the whole ballgame, so they’re playing well defensively. They’ve got three of four guys they depend on as their top pitchers.
“They’ve got about four guys that swing the bat pretty good, and they’ve got a little speed that concerns us because they’ve got three or four guys that can run pretty good once they get on base. I think they’ve got 80 stolen bases on the year, which is a lot. We’ll have to be ready to play a good ballgame.”
The Curley Wolves are a senior-laden squad with nine on the roster with Timothy Hopkins, Eric Wingfield, Peyton Chandler and Thomas Muldrew leading the squad in innings pitched.
Chandler (2.10) and Hopkins (3.17) lead the team in earned run average, but given their depth, they won’t be lacking in options in determining who will get the starting nod.
Hitting-wise, Muldrew leads the team with a .333 average along with one home run and 16 RBIs, but where the Curley Wolves excel is on the basepaths.
Heading into the regional tournament, Prescott has stolen 80 bases as a team with Muldrew’s 16 leading the team.
Given those numbers, Junction City catcher Clay Jolley and whoever starts Thursday’s game will have to find a way to slow down Prescott’s running game.
“Clay has been our starting catcher for the last three years, and has a lot of experience,” Hammett said. “He does a great job of handling our pitchers
and keeping people from running. We feel pretty confident about Clay’s ability to throw runners out. Our main focus will be not just him, but our pitcher to make sure we do a good job of holding their runners on, especially those guys we know that like to run. We’ll vary our deliveries and not do the same routine over and over. Hopefully, they won’t get good jumps, and Clay will have a good chance of throwing them out.”
Keelan Hodge helped seal the Dragons’ repeat as champions of the 8-3A District Tournament by outdueling Smackover’s Noah Wilson with another terrific postseason performance.
The sophomore went the distance with a three-hitter, walked three and
struck out nine to lift the Dragons to a 4-1 victory.
During their winning streak, the bulk of the Dragons’ wins have been lopsided, and Hammett said his team can build off of Saturday’s win.
“Anytime you play somebody three times, and you’ve won the first two games, you’re a little concerned,” Hammett said. “We played Smackover and McGehee three times probably in the last three weeks.
“In the McGehee game, we jumped out of the gate early. Jack (Smith) hit the grand slam that put us up, and that helped us relax a little bit. The Smackover game was a good ballgame. Besides a deep fly ball in the first inning that popped out of the left fielder’s glove, they made every play and made two or three good plays, especially the infield.
“It was the first time we had seen the Wilson kid, and he did a good job
of keeping the ball down and limiting damage. We had seven hits, but they were strung out. At this time of year, you expect a ballgame like that, and I think that was good for us to have a close game.
“It was a 4-1 lead, and Smackover had the bases loaded with two outs and their leadoff up. He hit a ground ball to end the game, but we definitely needed a close game.”
If the Dragons are to clinch a spot in the state tournament, Hammett said his team must be ready from the get-go.
“We’ve got to be ready to play,” Hammett said. “It starts with our pitcher. He’s got to throw strikes and we’ve got to play defense behind him. We’ve got to hit the baseball and have some timely hits, big hits or whatever we need to move runners up. We’ve just got to do what we’ve been doing, and just do it a little better.”