By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
JUNCTION CITY - With so many few faces, it may take some time for fans attending Junction City baseball games to remember who is playing where.
With the graduation of six seniors that played an instrumental role in the Dragons winning a state title in 2014, as well as a run to the state semifinals in 2015 and a trip to the state finals last spring, Junction City has a plethora of new faces, but whether the Dragons are a young team or one with a wealth of experience, the expectations do not change.
"Our expectations no matter if we're young or old or what we lose is to win the last ballgame," said Junction City coach Joe Paul Hammett.
"That's our expectations again this year. We're definitely young, but we're talented in places. We've got some good ninth-graders coming up.
"Pitching is always the key, but as far as experience, we're very inexperienced, but I like what we have as far as the makeup of the team.
"I think we're going to take some lumps early, but I think if they keep progressing by the end of the year, we'll have a chance to do what we want to do. There's a lot of new faces, but some of them have been waiting their turn, some of them just got here, but they can still play a little bit."
The Dragons do have four seniors returning, and Hammett said they have done a solid job of leading the way for the younger players.
"It's really been going well for us," Hammett said. "We definitely got a lot of guys to replace. We lost six starters that were seniors that had contributed the four years, especially the last three. We've got a bunch of new faces. We've got a good core of seniors with Joe Lowe, Robby Roberson, Logan Disotell and Johnathan Hatley back.
"They've done a good job of leading the younger guys and showing them what we want them to do and how to do it. We're going to be young in a lot of spots, but the weather has been great, and we've had a lot more days out on the field. We've been able to scrimmage a little bit, and our pitchers have gotten a lot of live work, which is a plus for us."
Junction City also finds themselves in the unique spot of competing as a 3A school.
This season also marks the first time in nearly a decade that the Dragons will be conference rivals with Smackover, and Hammett said his team will face good competition in their combined district.
"I don't mind the new conference as far as who we're playing," Hammett said. "We play a lot of those teams every year non-conference wise, but we don't necessarily play them twice, so that's the only drawback for us because we like to travel all over the place and play. It's limited this year with 18 conference games, so we have only four non-conference, which Parkers Chapel and Taylor ate those up just because they're our rivals and we've always played them. I guess we got lucky in that the 4A teams play pretty good baseball, so it will be good competition for us. I think that's a plus."
The left side of the infield not only will be manned by a pair of underclassmen, but also by brothers.
Kristian Hodge, a sophomore, has a chance to play at third base after playing there on the JV squad as a freshman.
Senior Joe Lowe (.271 BA, 0 HR, 31 RBIs) also will be there at times depending on who is pitching, and sophomore Jack Smith could see playing time there or in the outfield.
At shortstop, freshman Keelan Hodge is expected to get the starting nod, and Hammett said the freshman is pretty sound defensively with a strong arm.
Robby Roberson, a senior, will spell the freshman when he is on the mound.
Junior Brock McGoogan is slated to play at second base after spending time between the field and the designated hitter spot last year.
Freshmen Tanner McLelland and Kelly Graves could see time at second base, and both were praised for their defense by Hammett.
Senior Logan Disotell (.300 BA, 0 HR, 14 RBIs) is scheduled to play at first base after being unable to play in the field last spring while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Ty Disotell, a freshman who is Logan's younger brother, can help out at first base.
Sophomores Bryce Ware and Charles Hoof also can play first base, as well as in the outfield.
One position where the Dragons have plenty of experience returning is at catcher.
Clay Jolley, a junior, had a solid sophomore season, and Hammett is counting on him to build off of last year.
“I think he’s one of the best catchers in the conference,” Hammett said. “He really came on last year starting around spring break, and he did a solid job. He’s a year older and a lot stronger.”
The outfield also has some new faces.
Ware is in the mix to play in left field along with Cody Lee, a sophomore who transferred in from Smackover, and Hammett said Lee has swung the bat very well in workouts.
Lowe and Roberson are in the mix to play in center field.
In right field, senior Johnathan Hatley and junior Tyler Lunsford are two candidates vying for playing time.
With so many new faces having the ability to play at different spots, Hammett said there will be plenty of movement early on in the season.
“We definitely have more than one guy at each position,” Hammett said.
“We’re going to play a lot of guys early just to see what we have and who plays the best.”
On the mound, the Dragons will be breaking in a new staff.
Logan Disotell, who is the most experienced pitcher on the staff, returns after not pitching a year ago due to his aforementioned rehab from Tommy John surgery.
“He’s going to lead the way for us for sure,” Hammett said of Disotell.
Lowe also will be counted on, as will Roberson, who Hammett described as not being overpowering, but has good control.
Ware is also working towards a spot in the rotation, and Hodge will be counted on as a freshman to pitch key innings for the Dragons.
“It’s going to be asking a lot for him to play short and then pitch for us too, but he’s definitely talented,” Hammett said of Hodge. “I think he can help us at both places.”
The new rules enacted by the Arkansas Activities Association regarding pitch counts also will have an impact on the staff.
“The pitch count rules are going to change the way you think about using people,” Hammett said. “Those six, seven, eight and nine guys that throw a little bit are going to have to come into games and sometimes give you an inning or two innings.
“Late in the year is when it will affect us more because we like to ride the hot guy. He maybe could throw on Monday and come back on Thursday, but now you have to wait until Friday, so it’s definitely going to play a part on who you pitch on Monday and Tuesday because if you have him the whole game, you won’t have him back until Saturday.
"It will definitely affect your rotation a little bit, but more than anything, you’re going to have to have more quality guys that can throw.”
For the Dragons to continue their winning ways, Hammett said the newcomers must step to the forefront.
“We’ve got to have a bunch of guys that are unproven step up and perform for us like we think they can,” Hammett said. “It starts with pitching.
"We’ve got to throw strikes, and we’ve got to play good defense behind the pitcher. Defensively, that’s where we try to be our strongest, and I think defensively we’ve got a chance to have a good ballclub.
"We’ve got to have timely hitting. If all of those things come together, and we keep getting better as the year progresses, I think we’ll have a chance to do something at the end of the year.”