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Morristown West exploded for seven consecutive hits and scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning and went on to a 7-1 triumph over cross-town rival East in the District 2-4A championship game at J. C. Wild Park.

Those five runs gave the Lady Trojans a 6-0 lead and that was more than enough for district player and pitcher of the year Briony Bunsic who was also named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Bunsic took a perfect game into the fifth inning and wound up with a three-hitter as the Lady Trojans upped their record to 21-10.

Coach Heather Kelley’s club will now play host to Dobyns-Bennett on Monday in the first round of the Region One Tournament. It will be the same two matchups as last year as East, now 14-18, travels to District One champion Daniel Boone on Monday.

West collected 11 hits in the game with Bunsic leading the way with three. Kaylee Dyke and Aubrie Messer added a double and single each and both knocked in two runs as did Mikaela Olodey.

Freshman Hannah Hall broke up Bunsic’s shutout with a leadoff home run in the sixth inning and also added a single in the seventh. Fellow freshman Jaycee Hamilton’s double was the only other hit for the Lady Hurricanes.

Kylie Rader was the starting and losing pitcher. She gave up an unearned run in the first before the big second inning. Rader wound up going three innings and pitched to one batter in the fourth. Ella Wampler came on in relief and blanked the winners the rest of the way.

Coach Kelley said, “God has blessed us with a great group of girls.

“I can’t say enough good things about Bri for pulling through and pitching with a broken finger and doing what she had to do to help the team. I’m super proud of her but really this was a total team win.

“Everybody chipped in offensively and it was truly a team win.” Kelley continued, “You know, we’ve talked a lot about being good teammates and trusting each other and building each other up. I thought that really showed tonight. The win wasn’t about ‘me’ for anyone and we were obviously focused on the team aspect and each other.

“I’m really proud of the kids. They are just great kids and really talented softball players.”

The coach also talked about another district championship being really nice and said, “To get to host the first round in the region is huge for us. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

East’s Sydney Davis said, “It was just like Tuesday when we let them have one big inning and that inning beat us.

“We didn’t show up and hit the ball tonight and you have to hit to win.”

A pair of East errors and a hit by Messer allowed the Lady Trojans to grab a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

Bunsic led off the third with a single and her sister Aviah followed with another hit. Jaelyn McDaniel singled to right but Bri Bunsic was thrown out at the plate.

Dyke then stroked a double to score two runs and Messer also doubled to score another. Hailey Milton singled and Olodey singled across both runners to make it 6-0.

Bri Bunsic doubled to lead off the fourth and Wampler came to the mound. She retired the first two she faced but Dyke singled in the final run for the Lady Trojans.

Bunsic was perfect through four frames before Hamilton led off the fifth by smacking a double over the left fielder’s head. However, Bri retired the next three to keep East off the scoreboard.

In the sixth, Hannah Hall slugged her third home run of the tournament to get East on the board and Bunsic issued her only three walks of the game before coming up with a strike out to get out of trouble.

West left runners on second and third in the sixth but couldn’t score.

Bunsic struck out the first batter in the seventh and got the next to ground out before Hall had a single. The final out came on a ground out to the pitcher.

ALL-TOURNAMENT:

Bri Bunsic (MVP), Kaylee Dyke, Jaelyn McDaniel of West; Hannah Hall and Ella Wampler of East; Tia Stewart of Jefferson County and Emily Maples of Sevier County.

DISTRICT AWARDS

Player of Year: Briony Bunsic of West; Offensive Player of Year: Ella Wampler of East; Defensive Player of Year: Jaelyn McDaniel of West; Pitcher of Year: Briony Bunsic of West; Newcomer of Year: Jaycee Hamilton of East; Coach of Year: Matt Carter of Jefferson County.

ALL-CONFERENCE

Aviah Bunsic, Mikaela Olodey, Kaylee Dyke of West; Keeley Shisler and Zoe Shelley of East; Aubrey McBride, Tia Stewart, Mercedes Randolph of Jefferson County; Emma McClure, Jocelyn Headrick of Sevier County.