News-Times Staff
For the third time since 2014, Junction City will be playing for a state championship.
Ty Disotell went the distance with a four-hitter to lead the Dragons to a 3-1 win over Horatio in the semifinals of the 2A State Tournament Saturday at Mountain Home.
“I’m happy for my players and coaches. They have put in a lot of work to get us to the finals,” said Junction City coach Joe Paul Hammett. “Now we hope to finish the season by obtaining our team goal of coming out on top in our last game.”
The Dragons (29-8), the No. 1 seed from the South, will face a familiar foe in the title game in Woodlawn, the No. 3 seed from the South who held off McCrory 7-6 to reach the state finals for the fourth consecutive year and will be seeking their fourth straight title over two classes (1 in 2A, 2 in 1A).
The schools have met twice this year with Junction City winning both meetings.
In their conference meeting last month at Junction City, the Dragons beat the Bears 7-0 in a game that was called after five innings due to rain.
The squads met last weekend in the semifinals of the regional tournament with the Dragons winning a 1-0 thriller behind Jack Smith’s walk-off single in the seventh and a two-hit shutout by T.J. Bale.
The two teams played for the state title back in 2016 with Woodlawn edging Junction City 2-0 to begin their run of state championships.
The Dragons did all of their scoring in the third.
Kelly Graves was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and the Dragons loaded the bases after Bryce Ware singled and Keelan Hodge was hit by a pitch.
Smith then brought home Graves on a sacrifice fly to left, but on the throw to the plate, Ware tried to advance to third.
A wild throw into left field allowed Ware to score to make it 2-0, and Hodge later scored on a passed ball to give the Dragons a 3-0 lead.
Disotell made the lead stand up by shutting out the Lions (18-12), the South’s No. 4 seed, until the seventh.
Horatio had the tying runs on at first and third when Disotell recorded the final out on a popup to shortstop to seal the Dragons’ victory.
Disotell, who allowed just one hit over four shutout innings out of the bullpen in the Dragons’ win over Parkers Chapel in the regional final last Saturday, issued only one walk while striking out eight.
In addition to Ware’s single in the third, Smith and Tanner McLelland had singles for the Dragons.