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SEVIERVILLE – Jefferson County knew that Saturday’s District 2-4A Championship against Sevier County was going to be a tough task.

The Smoky Bears won their first two games of the tournament earlier in the week and had saved starter Drew Mattox to go on the mound in Saturday’s game. Meanwhile, the Patriots had to climb their way out of the loser’s bracket and were running thin on the mound.

Despite a solid effort from freshman Brody Carr on the mound, the Patriots bats were quieted early by Mattox. A three-run inning and a five-run inning were more than enough for the Smoky Bears, taking an 8-1 win to earn the District Championship.

Jefferson County still moves on to the Region 1-4A Tournament where they will face Science Hill in the double elimination tournament.

“We knew what we were into,” Jeff County coach Zach Reese said. “We knew where they were at and where we were out. Brody competed. He gave us a chance early on. But (Mattox) is just that good. He hadn’t thrown in well over a week so he was well rested. You have to play near perfect with him out there.”

Carr started things strong on the mound, getting two strikeouts in both the first and second innings. In the third, Sevier County got to him for a double. After a balk moved the runner to third, an error scored a run. The Smoky Bears picked up two more runs in the inning on Carr and then scored five in the bottom of the fifth.

Despite the run total, Reese was proud of his freshman’s effort on a big stage.

“He was awesome,” Reese said. “We threw all our guns, and we thought he would be the best option to go out there and compete and he did that. It says a lot about him. He’ll be good in the future.”

At the plate, Drew Potts led the way with two hits and an RBI. Potts drove in Maddux Rogers, who tripled in the sixth inning. Other hits for Jeff County came from Landon Thomas and Briley LaRue.

Thomas was a bright spot for the Patriots all tournament and pitched a scoreless inning on Saturday. He was named to the All-Tournament team.

“He’s been good all year,” Reese said. “He’s been steady. He waited his turn. I love him, he went through a lot. He didn’t play as much until this year, and he’s been in there everyday. I think a lot of him as a person, student and athlete. He’s been a guy we can count on. He was really good this week.”

Making the All-Tournament team along with Thomas were Rogers, Beau Revord, Drew Potts and Cole Woolard.

Despite the loss, the Patriots are guaranteed at least two more games with a new double elimination format for the region tournament. The Patriots will take on Science Hill in the region semifinals, while Sevier County will take on Daniel Boone.

Knowing this new format was beginning this year, Reese prepared his team during the regular season. The Patriots played Sevier County five times, Science Hill once and Daniel Boone twice. Jeff County actually defeated Science Hill earlier in the season.

“I know we have three good baseball teams with us,” Reese said. “We try and schedule in the regular season who we think we’re going to play. The Science Hill game will be completely different than the first time we saw them, with us seeing their top arm this time. We’re just going to go up there and see what happens. At the end of the day, we’re playing in May. We’ve given ourselves a chance and are one of 32 left. We’ll see what we can do now.”