Dragons win state championship

Special to the Democrat-Gazette

FAYETTEVILLE – Junction City Coach Joe Paul Hammett isn’t big on streaks, but he was more than willing to make an exception Friday.

The Dragons rode the arm of junior pitcher Keelan Hodge and got a huge run-scoring hit from sophomore Gabe Richard to beat Woodlawn 2-1 to win the Class 2A baseball state title in front of a spirited crowd at Baum-Walker Stadium.

“Just an all-around excellent high school baseball game,” said Hammett, whose team won its first state championship since 2014 while putting an end to Woodlawn’s bid at capturing a fourth consecutive crown. “Coach [Tommy] Richardson does such a great job with that program. In 2016, Woodlawn’s streak started by beating us 2-0 right here at Baum. Truth be told, this one started off the same way as that one did.

“But we started to calm down a bit as the game went on. We had that one big inning where we finally got the lead, and we were able to make it hold up because neither team was hitting the cover off the ball.”

Hits were hard to come by thanks to some timely pitching from both teams’ starters, particularly Hodge. The 5-foot-10 righthander threw three consecutive balls to start the game but eventually settled in to keep Woodlawn’s bats quiet for most of the way. Hodge gave up the 1 run while striking out 9 in 6 innings. He exited with 110 pitches thrown before giving way to senior T.J. Bale in the seventh.

“He’s been clutch all year,” Hammett said of Hodge, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. “Early on, he got too many 3-2 counts and that put his pitch total up high late. But you couldn’t ask for any more out of him.

“When we needed to get out of innings, he made the right pitches.”

Woodlawn (22-9), which had lost two previous games to Junction City prior to Friday’s final, got a workmanlike effort out of senior hurler Nick Maynard, who allowed 3 hits and struck out 2 in 4 innings. At one point, he retired 9 of 10 batters over the first three innings until the Dragons finally got to him in the fourth.

“He fought, as did all of my guys,” Woodlawn Coach Tommy Richardson said. “Junction City is a great team and is probably more talented than we are, but I’ve got a bunch of fighters. And when you’ve got a bunch of fighters, you’ve got a chance to win.

“We were right there with them and took a lead into the fourth inning. Nobody gave us much of a chance to get back here this year, and if it wasn’t for a hustle play there in that fourth, things just may have gone a little differently for us.”

The Bears grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning after freshman Parker Rotton scored on Garrett Cowart’s RBI-double. However, Woodlawn mustered just two hits after that, which enabled Junction City to hang around long enough to battle back.

“When you’ve got two teams that are as familiar with each other as we are, you’re going to have a tight game more times than not,” Hammett said. “We know each other pretty well. But we were finally able to put some runners on and string some hits together when we needed them, and that was the difference in the ballgame.”

No hit was bigger than the one delivered by Richard in the bottom of the fourth. Junior outfielder Tanner McLelland tied the game at 1-1 earlier in the frame when his sacrifice fly scored freshman Chase Wood. Three pitches later, Richard ripped a fastball down the left-field line for an RBI-triple that sent senior Charles Hoof home to give Junction City to lead for good. Richard may not have gotten a chance to put the Dragons out front if not for an unfortunate collision beforehand.

Woodlawn’s second baseman and rightfielder ran into each other while trying to catch a ball hit by Hoof. The clash proved to be pivotal because it saved an out for the Dragons, who followed up the play with backto-back outs, the latter resulting in McLelland’s RBI.

Hodge maintained the lead over the next two innings for the Dragons before Bale came on in relief to close the door on a mini-Woodlawn rally.

“We made the plays when we got the opportunity,” Hammett said. “This one is really special for me, personally, because of my seniors. They were here as freshman when Woodlawn beat us a few years ago.

“It’s a long way from Junction City to here, and that was a long quiet ride. But it’s because they were focused. They knew what was at stake, and I’m just glad we were able to end Woodlawn’s streak.”