The Junction City Blue Jay baseball team opens their 2015 season with a doubleheader at Garden City on Friday.

New head coach Drew Biery noted his team has been practicing together for three-and-a-half week and are ready to play somebody else. “I think our kids have done a great job for three-and-a-half weeks of preparing for Garden City.”

One of the challenges Junction City will face is a five-hour bus ride. They will depart JCHS at 6:30 a.m., stop in Great Bend for batting practice and lunch, and then travel on to Garden City where the doubleheader begins at 3 p.m.

Biery said his team will be competitive. “That’s one thing that I’ve really harped on our kids this three weeks. We’re going to compete, and I think that’s one thing that we’re going to be really strong on.”

Amir McFarthing will pitch the first game for Junction City, and Tate Zimmerman will be on the mound in the second game for the Blue Jays.

As a player, Biery was a four-year letter winner at Kansas State and a standout infielder. He later spent three years playing in the San Francisco Giants minor league organization.