By Jackson Schneider
JUNCTION CITY, Kan - Following an outstanding weekend, the Junction City Blues are heading to the state tournament following a zone championship.
The Blues, who came from behind to defeat McPherson 12-9 on Saturday after a lengthy rain delay, utilized clutch hitting from Aidan Field and Cooper Bogenhagen in the sixth inning to take the lead, and Logan Lindsley would come on and retire McPherson in order to close out the win.
Sunday, the Blues shut out the Salina Hawks 10-0 to advance into Monday's championship. In that game, more clutch hitting came through for Junction City, as Michael Boganowski, Griffin Bohanan, Aidan Field, and Brock Bazan recorded RBIs in a run-filled 6th inning.
On Championship Monday, the Blues once again squared off with the Salina Hawks, who rallied to win the consolation bracket and earn their trip to the title game. Once again, Junction City would prove to be too much, as Levi Mehl started the game on the mound and kept the Hawks in check, allowing JC to jump out to the lead and ultimately win 14-3.
The victory in the championship pushes Junction City into the State Tournament at Salina's Dean Evans Stadium July 28th-31st. The tournament will be comprised of eight teams from across the Sunflower State, broken down into two pools of four. The winner of each pool will face off in the State Championship.