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Baseball is an unpredictable game. Tuesday night at Morristown West was proof of that.

One day after being run-ruled in their season opener by Jefferson County, the Morristown West Trojans came out with something to prove as they looked to avoid an 0-2 start to the season against the Patriots.

By 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening, they sure had proved something.

For the second straight game, the Trojans came out firing in the first inning against Jefferson County. This time, however, they were able to sustain that momentum as they returned the favor by run-ruling the Patriots, 13-3 in five innings.

The victory over the Patriots was West’s first since 2019 when they defeated Jeff County three times during the season.

“That’s the most important thing, especially after yesterday,” West coach Justin Pickett said about his team being able to bounce back. “It was a new day and yesterday didn’t matter. We came out here with the same energy and found a way to get it done. The bats were there and we executed a lot better defensively. Today, we did everything right.”

While the bats were there for the Trojans, the pitching was as well. Sophomore Paxton Seal got the start on the mound for Morristown West and threw all five innings. Seal gave up three runs on seven hits but struck out eight and was in complete control throughout.

“I can’t say enough about Paxton,” Pickett said. “The dude is an absolute competitor. He gives you a chance to win in any game at any time. You want him to have the ball in his hands. We knew when we kept adding runs we were in good shape because he was on the mound.”

For Jefferson County, Tuesday’s game was a complete reversal from Monday’s. This time, the Patriots were the team that struggled to field the ball and were unable to get any sort of momentum going.

“It was really the same thing they went through yesterday,” Jeff County coach Zach Reese said. “We just couldn’t play catch and field balls. We struggled right out of the gate. Yesterday, they kind of handed us some things and today we did it for them. They hit hard balls all night. We just weren’t very good all the way around.”

The one bright spot for the Patriots came in the third inning. Trailing 4-0, Owen Grimsley and Drew Potts hit back-to-back singles before Beau Revord made it a one-run game with a three-run homer.

For Reese, to have a guy like Revord in the lineup that can change a game with one swing of the bat is crucial. However, Reese knows it will take more than just him to get things done this season.

“He got us back in there,” Reese said. “That’s what you expect out of him. We just didn’t have enough guys today do that. It’s awesome to have him. But it just kind of got out of hand after that.”

On West’s side at the plate, the bats were hot 1-9 in the lineup. Riley Short and Cody Blair led the way with Short having three hits, including a solo homer, and driving in four runs. Meanwhile, Blair had two hits and drove in five runs.

Other contributors at the plate for West were Tashawn Griffin with two hits and an RBI, Bryson Jenkins and Seal with two hits and Gracyn McClanahan with a walk-off RBI single in the fifth.

“For us, 1-9 we’re very capable of hitting like that,” Pickett said. “We’re just young right now and need to continue to be consistent. If we keep maturing as a ball club, we’re going to be a good team for a good period of time.”

For the second straight game, it was a quick start for the Trojans. After Seal worked out of trouble in the top of the first, the Trojans quickly put four runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning. Those runs came on an RBI single from Short and a bases-clearing double by Blair.

Following a scoreless second, Revord got Jeff County back in it with his three-run homer to cut the lead to one. While they didn’t immediately answer in the bottom half of the third inning, the Trojans would respond with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Short started it with a solo home run before a double steal scored another run. The final run scored on an RBI single by Blair that made it 7-3.

After another shutdown inning from Seal, the Trojans ended it in the fifth with six runs. Short started the scoring with a two-RBI single before Griffin walked with the bases-loaded to make it 10-3. Following a sacrifice fly by Blair and an error by the catcher that scored a run, McClanahan pinch-hit and delivered the game-winning RBI single.

For Pickett, it was nice to see his team continue to put up runs one day after struggling to score following a two-run first inning.

“I’ve learned over the years in this conference that there is never a safe lead, especially when you have a kid on the other team that can hit one out at any second,” Pickett said. “For us to keep adding on and keep the foot on the pedal, that was big.”

Both teams will be back in action this week for a handful of games. For Jeff County, they will travel to D-B tonight for another tough contest.

“It will be another good test for us,” Reese said. “We play for May. We’re just going to keep working and find out who the nine guys are. We’ll be fine and figure it out. You just don’t want to get beat like we did tonight. But it’s baseball.”

On the other side, West will be back in action on Thursday to take on Providence Academy at 5:30 p.m. at home.

“Because of what the guys have been through over the last couple of years, every win is a big one and we value that,” Pickett said. “But at the same time, you have to have the same mindset everyday you step up to play somebody. For us, we have to keep everything simple and keep the routine going.”

Alcoa softball scores eight in the sixth to get past West

Alcoa used an eight-run sixth inning on Tuesday evening to steal a win from Morristown West, 8-4.

Mikaela Olodey led the way at the plate for the Lady Trojans with two hits, including her second home run of the season, and drove in a run. Aviah Bunsic had two hits and two RBIs, as well.

Morristown West got the scoring started in the game in the third as Briony Bunsic reached on a fielder’s choice, and Aviah Bunsic drove her in with an RBI single.

In the fourth, West added two more runs as Olodey hit a solo home run and Kaylee Dyke singled to score Hailey Milton.

However, the sixth was where things fell apart as Alcoa scored eight times, with West committing four errors. West got one run back in the seventh as Aviah Bunsic doubled in Briony Bunsic, who doubled the batter before. However, that was all they could muster.

The Lady Trojans will be back in action on Friday and Saturday, taking part in the Science Hill Tournament in Johnson City.