Baseball Game Preview: Junction City Dragons vs. Harmony Grove Hornets

Junction City is a perfect 3-0 against Harmony Grove since April of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Dragons will head out on the road to take on the Hornets at 5:00 p.m. Harmony Grove took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Junction City, who comes in off a win.

Junction City is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They were the clear victors by a 16-0 margin over Hampton on Tuesday. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded the Dragons with their most commanding win of the season.

Jaxon Temple

Batters Struck Out

04/15/25 vs Hampton	9
04/01/25 @ Poyen	9
03/25/25 @ Haynesville	8
03/21/25 @ Woodlawn	7
03/13/25 @ Taylor	6
+ 3 more games

Caden Sims and Jaxon Temple were a major factor while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Sims pitched 1.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Temple struck out nine batters over 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and only one walk). He has become a key player for Junction City: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least eight strikeouts, but 4-9 otherwise. At bat, Sims scored two runs while going 1-for-3, while Temple scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-1. Those two runs gave Sims a new career-high.

In other batting news, Graden Hanry was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3. Junction City is 3-1 when Hanry posts two or more runs, but 3-9 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Cameron Davis, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.

Junction City always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .531. They are 4-1 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.

Meanwhile, Harmony Grove unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Monday. They came up short against Genoa Central, falling 16-2. Having soared to a lofty 16 runs in the game before, the Hornets couldn't push the score so high this time.

Harmony Grove's defeat dropped their record down to 10-8. As for Junction City, their record now sits at 6-10.

Everything went Junction City's way against Harmony Grove in their previous meeting back in March, as Junction City made off with a 12-5 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Dragons since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.