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Despite letting an early lead slip away, Morristown West still had a golden opportunity to walk it off at Wild West Park against reigning Region 1-4A champion Dobyns-Bennett.

The Trojans were back at the top of the order in the bottom of the seventh, and after Nate Ramsey singled in a run, West had the bases loaded and trailed by just one.

But the dream scenario never materialized, and the Trojans couldn’t bring the winning run home, falling to the Indians 9-8 and suffering a second straight heartbreaker in district play.

“I’m happy with the effort,” West head coach Justin Pickett said. “I thought they came out here, played hard, had good at-bats, especially late. We don’t ever quit, and it shows. We’re right there, just like we were at Science Hill there with a man on second base with two outs. Have an opportunity there. Heck, we had bases loaded today. With a base hit, it’s a walk-off. And those are the guys that you want up there, (Ramsey) is up there, Haydo’s (Wild) up there, (Connor) Rouse is up there. Those are the guys who have been hitting it. I mean, if we could do it all over again, those were the guys you want up here. So it sucks because it’s a loss, you know, these guys need a big win. They need a big win to boost some confidence.”

While Pickett doesn’t take moral victories, it was a big learning experience for the young Trojans, now 12-15 and 2-2 in District 1-4A. The Indians improved to 20-2 and stayed perfect in the district at 5-0.

“The more experience, the more opportunities, all that stuff comes into play,” Pickett said. “Because you’ve done it before, you’ve been in that situation before, and again, a lot of these guys are coming into these first-time situations. I mean, they’re high school kids, and the nerves get in there, and they either try to do too much, or they panic a little bit. With the experience comes staying calm, getting good pitches to hit, not trying to do too much and just hitting a ground ball through the infield.

“I’m not any kind of moral victory guy. Losing sucks. I mean, I hate it, but I mean, the kids played hard. It ain’t like we’re losing 15-2, I mean, these games are tight, and it’s one hit away from winning it. If you tell me, whether it’s Dobyns-Bennett or Science Hill, you put me in the seventh inning with two outs and the winning run at second base, I will take that every single time. You’re giving yourself a chance to win, and that’s all you can do, and that’s all you can ask for.”

D-B struck first in the opening frame, but Caleb Rodrick scored two off a single in the bottom of the fifth for a 2-1 West lead.

The Trojans then scored five more runs thanks to a pair of errors and singles from Rouse and Wild to lead 7-1, ending starter Kaden Cutlip’s evening in the process.

The Indians scored three with two outs in the top of the third, and West nearly broke the game back open in the bottom of the frame. With bases loaded, Wild drilled a ball to deep right field that seemed destined to go for a grand slam. Instead, the ball died in the outfield and D-B’s Andrew Reilly made an incredible catch at the wall to end the inning.

D-B tied it in the fifth and took an 8-7 lead in the top of the sixth and 9-7 in the seventh after taking advantage of some free bases.

“I thought early, we’re making some plays, we were playing really good,” Pickett said. “It’s just late — that fifth, sixth, seventh — you can’t allow any free bases, and it’s the walks, and that’s what hurts you. It’s one of those things, if you’ve been around this game, two-out walks or lead-off walks. If we don’t give the free bases there and just get the outs. We were up 7-1, so it sucks because we should have had that game, but there’s so much more game left. And that’s just to where as a younger team, you get up and you kind of stop doing what you’ve been doing. And if we had continued on early. I mean, who knows, we might have run-ruled.”

Ramsey, Rouse and Rodrick each had a hit and two RBIs in the loss. Levi Blair had a hit and two walks in the leadoff spot, while Wild also had a hit and RBI. The Trojans also drew seven walks.

Cutlip had two hits and three RBIs for the visitors, TJ Maxwell had three hits and three RBIs and Taylor Blankenship homered.

The two sides faced off in Kingsport on Tuesday evening, and Pickett hopes that his squad takes Monday’s loss as a lesson learned for the rest of the seasons, and especially tournament time.

“We’re getting there, but here’s the thing. When it comes to tournament time and your records 0-0, it don’t matter,” Pickett said. “It doesn’t matter what it is right now. And I mean, then you look back at the end of the year, look at all the losses to where it’s a hit here and there. I mean, I see it. So as long as we show up tomorrow with the same effort and attitude and energy, you know, we’ll be right there in the game. And that says a lot is because we are young, but they still come ready to play every single day.”