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The schedule has not been kind to the Morristown East baseball team to start the 2023 season.

Just a day after playing powerhouse Bearden and falling 27-3, East took the field Wednesday against Grace Christian for their third game in as many days. And, while the ‘Canes eventually fell 10-6, the improvement from Tuesday to Wednesday was beyond evident.

“Overall, a lot of good things from this ballgame,” East coach J.D. Newsom said. “We played a lot better than we had to open the season. I am glad to see the improvement today from yesterday. We just have to come together as a team and play together and good things are going to happen.”

The ‘Canes actually led 6-4 in the game with two outs and nobody on in the sixth inning. However, a few hard hit balls coupled with errors by East proved costly, as Grace scored five in the sixth and one in the seventh.

“We just have to fill up the strike zone and play ball and let our defense work behind us,” Newsom said about the late inning struggles. “They got a couple hits, too. They still had to get us out after that, but I felt like we kind of pressed in the sixth and seventh innings. I was proud of the way our guys competed today, but we just have to find a way to play a full game and not just five, six good innings.”

Ethan Shockley got the start on the mound for East and was excellent through 4.2 innings. Shockley allowed four runs, three earned, but struck out five and worked out of trouble time-and-time again.

“Ethan was phenomenal,” Newsom said. “He was mad when I took him out, and I love that. That’s the competitive nature and fight that I want to see. It’s early in the season so we were on a pitch count, but he threw really well from start to finish.”

Brice Epps replaced Shockley in the fifth and threw an inning before Connor Southard and Skylar Shelton closed things out on the mound.

At the plate, the ‘Canes totaled nine hits. Shockley, Jonah Carden and Carson Winstead had two hits apiece while Winstead drove in two runs. Blake Creech also knocked two runs in. In total, six ‘Canes recorded hits in the game.

For Newsom, to see a complete effort from his lineup at the plate is encouraging and something that they can build off of.

“A lot of good things,” Newsom said. “Jonah (Carden) hit the ball hard. Eli (Seals) has been hitting the ball hard. Carson (Winstead) laid down a great safety squeeze for us and Lane (Grizzell) read it really well. We’re making solid contact, we just need to be able to drive those runs in. We struggled with that early in the game today.”

It was Grace Christian that got on the board first in the top of the first on a two-out RBI single. The ‘Canes had a runner on in each of the first three innings but could not score, and Grace capitalized on that with another run in the top of the fourth to make it 2-0.

However, East answered the bell in the bottom half of the inning as Carden led off with a double and back-to-back walks to Lane Grizzell and Creech loaded the bases. Southard put East on the board with an RBI fielder’s choice before Winstead tied the game with a bunt single that scored Grizzell.

Grace Christian retook the lead in the fifth with two runs, but East was there to respond again in the bottom half of the inning. Shockley led things off with a single before Epps walked. Carden got one run back the next batter with an RBI single and, after a groundout by Grizzell, Creech gave the ‘Canes a 5-4 lead with a two-RBI single, advancing to second on the throw home. East would get one more run in the inning on a Winstead RBI single to make it 6-4.

Unfortunately for East, that would be the last lead they would hold. Epps quickly got two outs in the sixth but a double, walk and two-RBI double tied the game. Southard entered after, and Grace Christian added three more on two RBI singles and an error.

The Rams got one more in the seventh and sat East down to end the game.

Weather permitting, East will be back in action on Friday to take on Upperman at Morristown West. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.

“I just want to see us continue to compete, see a little growth and play a complete game from start to finish,” Newsom said. “We’ve struggled with the big innings, and we have to have people step up and stop it. We’re going to find out who that is.

“I just want us to finish out the week positively. There were a lot of positives today. The loss hurts, but I am proud of our guys. They’re going to continue to get better.”