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The Nationals and the Blue Jays converged at Popkin Field on Friday night in the Championship game of the Morristown Parks and Rec minors division.

The Nationals emerged the victors, edging out the Blue Jays 7-5. When the two teams met in a scrimmage before the season, Nationals coach Cole Draughn said his team wasn’t as prepared as they were today.

“We’ve had a lot of practice and we’ve grown as a team,” said Draughn in the postgame. “We scrimmaged that team earlier in the year and they kind of took it to us, so we’ve had a lot of hard practices and that’s what’s got us to where we are today.”

The Blue Jays took the plate first. Tanner Epps got the start on the mound for the Nationals, and his back was against the wall early. Following a triple from Blue Jays catcher Tyson Busler, Bryce Hasselbusch’s RBI groundout put them up 1-0.

Following that RBI, Epps proceeded to face 10 consecutive batters without allowing a hit, including six strikeouts.

An RBI single from Jacob Speck in the first got things started at the plate for the Nationals, and crafty baserunning from Jase Ellison and Cooper Padgett gave them the 3-1 lead after two.

A great play from Jaxson Draughn at short in the second helped them achieve and hold that lead going into the third.

The bats really started going for the Nationals in the third, racking up four consecutive hits, scoring three off of RBI’s from Speck and Braxton Draughn, bringing the score to 6-1.

“I told them before the game, you’ve just got to be confident going into the box and be ready to go,” said coach Draughn. “If we put the ball in play enough, you give yourself chances to win. You just have to be confident and ready to swing.”

A double play from Jaxson Draughn in the top of the fourth held the score at 7-2 entering the fifth.

“He made a couple really nice plays,” said coach Draughn of his son’s standout performance. “He had one ball hit extremely hard at him, made a big out there, then had a big double play. He knows the game well and understands what he needs to do with it in all situations. I’m really proud of him.”

Things began to come unstuck for the Nationals in the fifth as Epps maxed out his pitch count. Jaxson Draughn took the mound in the middle of the inning, and the Blue Jays cut the lead to 7-5 off of yet another monster hit from Tyson Busler. Busler drove in two runs and then came in to score himself and cut the lead to two. 

However, the following batter hit the ball directly at Jaxson Draughn, who collected his poise and the ball at once and threw the ball to first to end the game and the season.

“We’re out here to play baseball, to have fun, and most importantly to honor and glorify God,” said Cole Draughn. “And we took that approach as a team this year, and I think he’s rewarded us for it.”

The Nationals end the season as champions.