Two teams that are rather familiar with one another will collide with their seasons at stake.
A month ago, Murfreesboro and Junction City met with the Rattlers coming away with a 12-9 victory.
Today, the schools renew acquaintances in the opening round of the 2A South Regional Tournament at Horatio.
Game time is set for 3 p.m.
The Rattlers (23-2) are the 7-2A’s No. 1 seed, while Junction City (14-13) is the 8-2A’s No. 4 seed.
The offenses were in control in the first meeting, but that probably won’t be the case with Murfreesboro ace Alex Bailey likely to oppose Gabe Richard, who has thrown two no-hitters this spring, including one in his last outing against Fordyce in the district tournament that clinched the Dragons’ 15th straight trip to the regional tournament.
“Neither one of us threw our top pitchers, so they’ve seen us and we’ve seen them,” Junction City coach Joe Paul Hammett said of their first encounter. “They’ve improved and we have too. It was sort of a slugfest, so I don’t expect that to be the case Thursday. We don’t want to get into a hitting contest with Murfreesboro. Hopefully, our pitcher is on and we play a little defense behind him. The Bailey kid is as good as advertised, fastball around 84, 85, with a curveball, slider and changeup with it. They’re pretty tough when he is on the mound for sure.”
The Rattlers have lost only two games this spring. They fell to Parkers Chapel in their season opener and to Horatio during league play.
They avenged both of those losses, winning at Parkers Chapel two weeks ago to snap the Trojans’ nine-game winning streak, as well as beating the Lions in their last two meetings, including a 5-4 win in the district final over the weekend.
“They definitely deserve their ranking, the No. 1 seed out of their conference,” Hammett said. “They’re pretty strong one through nine, and they’ve got the key ingredient in pitching. They’ve only lost a couple of games, so we’ll definitely have our hands full.”
Junction City usually has a spot in the regional tournament locked up by finishing first or second in the conference, but the Dragons had to win two games to keep their season alive.
They did just that, dispatching Spring Hill before topping Fordyce in the quarterfinals to advance.
“I think for the guys more than anything,” Hammett said of the importance of making it to the regional tourney. “It’s been a tough year for us, especially compared to where we usually are. They have continued to work and it paid off here at the end, giving us a chance to go to the regional. We’ve been playing better lately. We were a couple of plays from beating Woodlawn in the semifinals, so we’ve gained a little confidence and hopefully that carries over to Thursday. We have seven seniors and they definitely didn’t want to end the year without getting the chance to go to the regional and win a game and go to the state tournament.”
Junction City usually enters postseason tournaments with a bull’s-eye on its back as the favorite, but this year, the Dragons were the No. 5 seed in the district tournament and are the No. 4 seed for the regional tournament, and that has helped keep the team loose.
“That may have helped us a little bit even going into the district tournament, because normally, everybody expects us to be a one or a two seed going into the regional,” Hammett said. “You expect to win. The other teams definitely get up and play their best. Hopefully, that helps us a little bit. Murfreesboro has got a good club, but at the same time, we’ve got a lot of guys that not necessarily have played, but they’ve been there before and been in big games. Hopefully that pays off because even though we’re a four seed, if you can beat the one seed, then you’re sitting in a pretty good position.”
Playing four games in four days in most cases can take a toll on a pitching staff, but the Dragons got four straight complete games from Coyt Sellers, Richard, Trey Walker and Jacob Orr in the district tournament.
“As the year progressed, our pitching staff has gotten better,” Hammett said. “I was really surprised that we had four guys go the distance, but we definitely needed them. That goes back to scheduling during the year for us because somewhere along the way, I try to get us a tournament or three games in a row like the format is for the regional and state tournament. You’ve got to have at least three, really four to win a state championship now because you’re going to have to use that many to get there. It definitely was a plus, like I told my pitchers, ‘We pitched good enough to win, we just didn’t play good enough.’”
If the Dragons are to upend the top-seeded Rattlers, Hammett said pitching and defense, as well as getting an early lead would be key factors.
“It’s definitely going to start on the mound,” Hammett said. “Gabe Richard has been solid all year, and he has to throw strikes. We’ve got make some plays behind him, just routine plays and at times we’ve had trouble doing that. If we can do that and scratch a few runs early, I like our chances as good as anybody’s. We’re not trying to beat them 10 times, we’re just trying to be better than them for one game.”