Tennessee HS Team Preview: Morristown West Trojans
January 14, 2025
The 2025 Tennessee high school baseball season is quickly approaching and, as usual, excitement is abound throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across Tennessee.
Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in Murfreesboro at the state tournament championships – but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams across the state as we preview individual teams across Tennessee. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews, eventually releasing our Preseason Power 25 rankings that’ll carry us into the opening week of action.
Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across the state. Each week we will be releasing our Players of the Week and updating the Power 25 rankings.
Our 2025 preseason coverage continues today.
High School: Morristown West High School
Head Coach: Justin Pickett
TSSAA Classification: AAAA
District & Region: District 2 + Region 1
2024 Record (Playoff Finish): 26-9 (Region)
ROSTER PREVIEW
+ No. Returning Positional Starters: 7
+ No. Returning Pitchers: 5
+ Key Returners:
- RHP Paxton Seal (2025, Walters State CC)
- RHP/CF Gavin Mitchell (2025)
- SS Charlie Dewald (2025, Tennessee Tech)
- RHP/OF Bryson Shepard (2025, Walters State CC)
- C Cody Blair (2025)
- OF Uriah Marsingill (2027)
- INF Connor Rouse (2026)
2025 OUTLOOK
+ Morristown West comes into the spring 2025 season off of a successful 2024 campaign. Playing in a strong 4A Region 1- District 2, the Trojans faced solid competition on the way to a 26-9 finish. However, it wasn’t all to be desired as they would go 0-2 in regional play, missing out on a deep post-season run. The Trojans had a lot of fire power last season scoring over 10 runs thirteen different times. Their pitching wasn’t bad either, holding opponents to 3 or less runs in twenty-five different games. It was just a matter of bad timing for the bats and their pitching to not show up in the way that they had seen throughout the season.
Leading into 2025 brings a lot of new motivation for the club itching to get past last season's unforgettable end. The group looks confident with 7 returning starters on defence with 5 key returning pitchers in fold. Walter’s State signee Paxton Seal will be a force on the mound and the plate coming off of a 8-2 record with 58 IP and a 1.56 ERA. He would go on to rack up 84 K’s and if he can lower his 21 BB, while keeping the same production, look for the Trojans to have an ace that can match up with anyone in a do or die game. Unsigned senior Gavin Mitchell will step into the number 2 role coming off just shy of 50 IP last season. He will need to miss more barrels as he gave up 47 hits last year, but if he can find a more consistent off-speed pitch, look out as the Trojans should have a strong 1-2 punch. Senior Walters state signee Bryson Shepard will probably step into more innings this season in a relief or spot starter type of role, while also bringing strong production in the top-half of the lineup. He is coming off of a .379 batting average, which includes 8 doubles, 3 triples and 3 HR’s, while also pacing the team with 30 RBI’s. Senior Tennessee Tech signee Charlie Dewald will be back with expanded opportunities coming off of a .316 batting average. He looks to be a leadoff candidate scoring 31 runs last season with 14 stolen bags. Unsigned catcher Cody Blair is a strong leader manning the back-stop and should move up in the lineup going into this season. Junior infielder Connor Rouse was someone that made a name for themselves last season as a sophomore hitting .296, albeit mostly singles. He will need to increase his slugging, providing a strong spark in the back-end of the lineup. Sophomore Uriah Marsingill had a lot of opportunities last season as a freshman hitting .290 with 4 doubles and 1 HR. Look for his power to increase as he continues to fill out his frame. Pitching and defense look strong in 2025. While the Trojans did lose two significant hitters in their lineup that have since moved on to college, the lineup looks to still be sufficient. Their totals runs may take a step back but look for their pitching to take a step forward.
Big things ahead for Morriston West that should lead their district this season with a strong chance to take it further in post-season play this year.
Find more information on Morristown West’s 2025 season below:
+ Find more 2025 team previews on our TSSAA Season Preview page
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