Junction City cruises past Carlisle
By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
Terrance Armstard/News-Times
A job well done: Junction City's Jack Smith (14) congratulates Chase Wood (12) after he scored a run during the Dragons' 8-2A game against Harmony Grove during the regular season. On Thursday, Smith belted a home run and drove in three runs to lead Junction City to a 9-0 win over Carlisle in the opening round of the 2A State Tournament at Mountain Home. Junction City will play Salem in the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. today
Hodge
McLelland
If there were any questions about Keelan Hodge going into the state tournament, the junior answered them emphatically on Thursday.
Coming off of Saturday’s start in the finals of the regional tournament where he recorded just one out, Hodge rebounded with a dominant outing, racking up 13 strikeouts en route to a one-hit shutout, as Junction City downed Carlisle 9-0 in the opening round of the 2A State Tournament.
The Dragons (27-8), the No. 1 seed from the South, advance to face Salem, the No. 3 seed from the North who moved on with a 10-8 win over Hector.
Game time for Friday’s quarterfinal matchup is set for 3 p.m. from Mountain Home.
The win is the seventh straight for the Dragons, who have won 19 of their last 21 games.
Carlisle (17-12), the No. 4 seed from the Central, saw their season come to an end.
Hodge walked one, and the lone hit he allowed was a double in the second inning.
The junior also got plenty of help from his offense.
The Dragons scored three runs in the first to give Hodge an early lead that he would not relinquish.
Jack Smith belted a solo home run in the sixth and singled home two runs in the fourth to finish with three RBIs.
A senior, Smith’s tworun single gave the Dragons a 6-0 lead.
Tanner McLelland had three hits and drove in two runs for the Dragons, while Charles Hoof had a double, a single and two RBIs.
T.J. Bale and Gabe Richard each had a single and an RBI for Junction City.
Bryce Ware had a double and Hodge added a base hit to round out the Dragons’ attack.