West picks up fifth straight district shutout in win over Jefferson County

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It was business as usual for the Morristown West softball team on Thursday evening.

Taking on Jefferson County, the Lady Trojans recorded their fifth straight shutout in district play and did enough on offense to take home a 4-0 win over the Lady Patriots.

With the win, West improved to 5-0 in district play. The Lady Trojans final district game is next Thursday against 4-1 Morristown East.

At the plate, Hailey Milton led the way as she knocked in two runs for West. Jaelyn McDaniel and Briony Bunsic knocked in the other two runs for the Lady Trojans.

In the circle, Briony Bunsic kept her district scoreless streak alive with a complete game shutout. Bunsic struck out 10. She has now gone 30 straight innings in district play without allowing a run.

“It’s good for us to continue to stay unbeaten in district play,” West coach Heather Kelley said. “Hailey Milton did a nice job for us tonight at the plate. She can really hit the ball and has a nice swing. I thought Jaelyn was good early on with her two hits and drove in that run. And Briony did her thing in the circle and did a nice job getting on base and driving home runs.”

For Jefferson County, they totalled six hits with Bella Watson, Faith Whited and Ava Garay each smacking doubles.

Tia Stewart got the start in the circle for the Lady Patriots and pitched a solid seven innings, allowing four runs on five hits. She struck out five.

Following a scoreless inning to start, West got on the board first in the second inning. Hailey Milton reached with one out on an error and moved to third on a single by Alexus Mullane with two outs. That brought up Bunsic who made it 1-0 with an RBI single. After Aviah Bunsic reached on an error, McDaniel made it 2-0 with an RBI single.

In the third, West added another run as Aubrie Messer walked, Kaylee Dyke singled and Milton grounded out but scored Messer to make it 3-0.

Jefferson County had a chance to cut into the lead in the fifth as Whited doubled and a hit by pitch put two runners on with two outs. However, Briony Bunsic got a strikeout to end the inning.

Building off that momentum, the Lady Trojans added their final run in the bottom of the fifth as Milton drove in Messer on an error.

The Lady Patriots final chance of the game came in the bottom of the sixth as Zoe Lawson singled, Garay doubled and Mercedes Randolph walked to load the bases with two outs. This time, Briony Bunsic got out of the jam with a flyout to left.

The Lady Trojans will be back in action this weekend for a tournament at Gibbs. Jefferson County will play Monday at Cocke County.

Baseball: Morristown West 16, Halls 13

Morristown West won a high-scoring affair on the road Thursday evening over Knox Halls.

The Trojans were tied with the Red Devils 8-8 in the sixth but scored eight runs and held on for the win.

Halls struck first in the game with five runs in the first, but West scored two in the second to make it 5-2. Those runs came on a Bryson Jenkins RBI single and a Paxton Seal RBI single.

Halls added a run in the bottom half of the second, but West took the lead in the fourth with six runs. Jordan Watson started it with an RBI single before Riley Short smacked a two-RBI single. Jenkins tied the game at six as he scored on a passed ball. Cody Blair then gave them the lead with an RBI groundout and the final run came as Seal scored on an error to make it 8-6.

Halls tied the game with two runs, but West struck for eight more in the sixth to put the game out of reach. Those runs came on a Tayshawn Griffin three-RBI triple, a Charlie Dewald RBI groundout, a Watson walk that scored a run, a Jenkins sacrafice fly, a Short sacrifice fly and a Seal RBI single.

Halls tried to rally with five runs in the seventh, but West shut the door to close the game out.

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