The Jefferson County Patriots will head out on the road to face off against the Morristown-Hamblen East Hurricanes at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Jefferson County was handed a 12-run loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Friday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Southeastern, sneaking past 4-2.
Olivia Mottern spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on three hits. What's more, she gave up only zero earned runs, the fewest she's had over her last seven matches.
McKaylee Hobby
| 03/28/25 vs Southeastern | 2 |
| 03/20/25 vs Mercersburg Academy | 1 |
| 03/11/25 vs Grainger | 1 |
| 03/03/25 @ Seymour | 1 |
| 05/02/24 vs Knoxville Catholic | 1 |
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on McKaylee Hobby, who scored a run while going 2-for-2. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in doubles (two). Zoey Horton also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Morristown-Hamblen East). They put the hurt on Cosby with a sharp 12-0 victory last Friday.
Ella Wampler made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out nine over four innings pitched. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 5.6 strikeouts per game. She was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Harmony Sullivan was incredible, going a perfect 4-for-4 with two triples, three runs, and one double. Another player making a difference was Hudson Cloninger, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Morristown-Hamblen East kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Cosby didn't got any hits.
Jefferson County now has a winning record of 8-7. As for Morristown-Hamblen East, their win ended a four-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-4.
Everything went Jefferson County's way against Morristown-Hamblen East when the teams last played back in May of 2024, as Jefferson County made off with a 16-0 victory. Will Jefferson County repeat their success, or does Morristown-Hamblen East has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
