Sevier County takes pitchers duel over Morristown West
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Unbeaten Sevier County scored a pair of runs in the top of the third inning and then rode the pitching of left-hander Brady Scott the rest of the way in a 2-1 triumph over Morristown West Tuesday night at Trojans Park.
Scott gave up a home run by Bryson Jenkins in the bottom of the sixth but gave up only two other hits in a standout pitching performance. Scott walked only one and struck out a whopping 17 Trojans including four in the bottom of the seventh.
Scott’s mound performance spoiled another solid pitching start by West sophomore Paxton Seal who also threw a complete game. Seal gave up five hits, walked only two and struck out nine in suffering the loss.
It was the seventh victory for the Smoky Bears who are now 2-0 in District Two 4-A play. The Trojans sank to 1-6 for the season and are now 1-3 in the district.
Scott was also the only player to get two hits for Sevier while leadoff man Knox Kremblas doubled in both runs with no outs in the third. Mason Ellis and Christian Hoffman had the other hits for the Bears.
Jenkins also had a first-inning single for the Trojans with a single by Tashawn Griffin the only other hit with that coming in the fifth.
The Trojans had chances off Scott but couldn’t cash in. West had runners in every inning except the third and left a runner on second in the first, fifth and seventh.
West had two runners in the same inning only once with that coming in the fifth. However, the final out of the frame came when a runner on first was picked off by catcher Bridger Hamilton .
Scott was in control other than those chances. He struck out at least two batters in each inning but the fourth.
Sevier County coach Casey Taylor said it was a big win for his team. “Scott threw really well for us. He’s been around for us a while and has thrown a lot of innings for us. With him, what you see is what you get. He’s a true competitor and he’s a winner.
“We’re off to a good start to the season and this was a really good test for us,” Taylor added. “To come up here and win knowing we’re going to get Paxton on the mound. We’ve got a lot of respect for him. He’s a good young arm that’s going to be around for a long time.”
The coach said, “We left a lot of runners on tonight but a good arm will do that to you. We couldn’t get a two-out hit to extend an inning. We had chances to bunt runners up and maybe score them but we couldn’t do either one.
“It was a good atmosphere here tonight and was good for both our teams moving forward.”
Taylor talked about the Trojans. “They have a lot of positives going on up here. But I hate what they’re going through with their arms right now. They need to get some people healthy. If they had everyone out here it changes the whole outlook of this district.”
West’s Justin Pickett was disappointed with the loss but said, “We’re competing all the time. We were right there in this one up to the end despite not hitting the ball very well.
“Their pitcher threw the ball great and that’s what they know they’re going to get when he’s on the mound,” Pickett said. “Paxton also threw the ball great. That’s back-to-back great starts for him throwing really, really well.
“Of course, we want to be on the other side of that the win. We kept scratching and scratching and had a bonehead baserunning mistake. Those things can’t happen.”
The coach continued, “It’s just some little things we’re going to get fixed. It’s still early in the season and we haven’t hit the panic button or anything.
“We just have to continue to play, continue to work and continue to get better,” Pickett said. “We’re going to Gulf Shores on Monday and we’re excited about that. It’s gonna be fun and the weather is gonna be great.
“Hopefully, we can take all the positives and learn from the negatives and go down there and get on a streak and come back home and see what we can do.”
Pickett closed, “We’ve already improved a lot in the seven games we’ve played and we’re going to continue to get better. It’s hard to get anything done when you have 17 strike outs like we did today but I’ll give credit where it’s due. That’s a good arm and he knows how to pitch.”
West threatened first when Jenkins had a high chopper over the third baseman’s head for a hit and moved to second on a wild pitch. But Scott fanned the next batter to escape.
In the Bears’ third, Hayden Parrish reached on an error and moved to second on an errant pickoff attempt. Karson Martin walked and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Kremblas then ripped a double into the gap in right-center field to score both runners.
Sevier had another chance in the fourth with runners on second and third with nobody out but Seal worked out of it. He registered a strike out and got the next man to pop up to second.
Out three came as shortstop Charlie Dewald went behind the second base bag to take another hit away from Kremblas.
The tying run was on second base when the final out of the game was recorded. Scott struck out the first man in the seventh and then fanned the next one also but the ball bounced away from the catcher and he threw it into right field in trying to get the batter at first.
Obstruction was called on the first baseman on the play and the runner was awarded second base. However, Scott fanned the next two batters to end it.
Jefferson County 11, Morristown East 1
Jefferson County struck early and often on Tuesday evening as they swept a two-game series from Morristown East.
The Patriots were led in the game by Beau Revord, who struck out seven in 3.1 innings of work. Revord also hit a two-run homer in the first inning.
The ‘Canes got hits from Isaac Greene and Jonah Carden.
Jeff County struck first with five runs in the bottom of the first. East responded with a run in the second as Carden singled and then scored on an error.
However, the Patriots scored four in the second and two in the third to up their lead to 11-1.
Morristown East will be back in action on Thursday as they play at Claiborne at 5:30 p.m.
Jefferson County will be back in action on Saturday to play East Robertson (10 a.m.) and Knox Catholic (2:30 p.m.) in the Smoky Bear Invitational at Sevier County High School.

