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JOHNSON CITY — Before the season began, first-year head coach Justin Hite had a mission: restore the pride in Morristown East baseball.

Despite a season-ending 9-5 loss in the District 1-4A play-in game, Hite believes his team accomplished that goal both within the program and among those watching it.

At the heart of that was seniors Luke Miracle, Connor Southard, Austin Davis and Skylar Shelton, who played their last game in orange and black.

Though they won’t be on the field to see the fruits of where Hite expects his program to go, Hite said that he’ll remember what they did for the program forever.

“I told these four seniors that we know where this program is capable of going, and we’re going to get it there,” Hite said. “They’re going to be able to look back and say, ‘I built this foundation. I helped put the bricks down. I helped put the block for this foundation.’ And wherever this thing goes, they’re going to have a have a big say in that they did it.

“And the ultimate goal for high school sports is to hang the jersey up better than you found it. And these four seniors did that… They’ve helped restore the pride. And you come to our games and have alumni who are showing up. And that’s what we all have to understand. You have to do things the right way, and then the wins and losses take care of themselves. You know, so many times, we’re playing for the scoreboard. We got to trust the process, see it through, don’t waste at-bats, compete in every opportunity, and that’s what these guys did. And unfortunately, this game doesn’t always reward that. That’s what stinks about baseball sometimes, but these guys are starting to learn how to win, and we got to get over that hump and get through that door.”

West Ridge jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the third.

East was able to put in a run in the bottom of the frame with a Brody Martin single. However, an infield single and error with two outs led to another pair of Wolves’ runs in the top of the fourth for a 6-1 lead.

East didn’t back down and put in two runs in the bottom of the fourth as Parker Setsor scored on a dropped third strike, and Landry Winstead singled in a run shortly after to make it 6-3.

West Ridge slapped three doubles deep to left field, resulting in two more runs. Again East responded by way of a Brody Martin single and a Tucker Wyatt double that put two runners in scoring position. Setsor was able to send a sac fly that scored Martin, and Wyatt found home on the same play thanks to an error to make it 8-5.

However, a potential East rally ended there, and the Wolves put in another run in the seventh.

Martin, Setsor and Landry Winstead finished with two hits apiece in the loss.

The heart of West Ridge’s order wreaked havoc, with starting pitcher Ty Malak having four hits and throwing a complete game. Dale Martin and Tyson Jones also had three hits to make for a 16-hit night by the Wolves.

“We lost a better ball club today,” Hite said. “They swung the bats well; they had a great approach with two strikes. I mean, I think their three and four hitters, one went 4-for-5, the other one 3-for-5. So, I mean, they got production. They got production toward the bottom of the lineup. We made a couple of errors that really hurt us.

“But I saw some fight, and that’s ultimately what I’ve been preaching all year, you know, because kind of the M.O. has always been that East gets down, and then just kind of wilt a little. We fought back. And it’s tough with the season ending, and that’s what I try to tell those guys that whatever feeling they’re feeling right now, you know, all of us coaches, we’ve felt it. “You only get so many chances to play this game.”

The ‘Canes closed the season at 7-26 and now enter their first full offseason under Hite.

“We’ve got to get stronger,” Hite said. “We gotta get in the weight room in the fall, and we gotta really have a good summer. And, you know, just continue to build and I’ll be honest, sometimes our baseball IQ is not the greatest, and that’s on me. You know, we’ve got to go back and teach every aspect of this game. And I think once we learn that, just keep building.”