The FMS Rockets opened up their defense of four consecutive Mid-South Conference titles in style Tuesday, beating Westwood 7-1 in Manchester.

"It's always nice to get the first win of the season," said head coach Bart Joyce. "Westwood has a good team, but we managed to capitalize when we got the chance on the bases."

The Rockets scratched across a run in the top of the first inning as catcher Jacob Jones led off the game with an infield single.

Luke Cunningham hit a soft grounder that Westwood third baseman Andrew Brandon scooped up, and while hurrying his throw to get the speedy Cunningham, the ball sailed into right field, allowing Jones to come all the way around to score.

Solid starter

Forrest starting pitcher Jonathan Lykins began a solid performance with two strikeouts as part of a 1-2-3 bottom of the first inning.

FMS wasted a one-out hit and a stolen base by Jaylen Smith in the second as Westwood starter Jeremiah Franklin retired the next two Forrest batters to end the threat.

The pitching duel between Lykins and Franklin would continue as the game went to the top of the third inning when Forrest threatened again.

Marshall McKee led off the inning with a base hit to center and was sacrificed to second on a nice bunt by Alex Huey, but Franklin extinguished the threat with a grounder to first and an inning ending strikeout.

With one down in the bottom of the inning, Carlos Medina lined a base hit to right field.

Great defense

Medina was balked to second base, but was erased moments later when Jones gunned him down, trying to steal third, ending the Westwood threat.

"You have to play defense to win games and I'm proud of the defensive effort the boys gave last night," said Joyce.

Jones manufactured a run all by himself in the top of the fifth, reaching on a two-out error before swiping second and third base and scoring on a wild pitch, making it 2-0.

Lykins gave up a leadoff hit to Franklin in the bottom of the fifth, but the FMS eighth-grader retired the next three Westwood batters to end the inning and end his stint on the mound.

No walks

Lykins pitched five scoreless innings, struck out five, gave up just four hits and walked none in the season-opening win.

"Lykins pitched really well as did Jent and I don't think we had a single walk and as a coach that's all you can ask for in a pitcher," said Joyce. "Both did a great job and had a solid defense all night behind them."

In the top of the sixth, the floodgates opened as the Rockets scored four runs on three hits, plus three Westwood errors as they sent nine batters to the plate.

Smith and Jent had RBIs in the rally as Jent took over for Lykins on the hill in the bottom of the frame, while holding a comfortable 6-0 lead.

Franklin beat out an infield single with one out in the bottom of the inning and went to second on a wild pitch before scoring on the Rockets' only fielding miscue of the ballgame.

Final score

Jent came back with a strikeout to end the inning and FMS scored their final run of the contest in the top of the seventh.

Lykins drilled a leadoff hit to center field, stole second, went to third on a McKee groundout to shortstop, and scored on a fielder's choice RBI by Huey.

"We didn't have a ton of hits, but we did get some runs in when we got them on base," said Joyce.

In the bottom of the seventh, Jent slammed the door, retiring the side in order to end the game.

Next up

FMS will continue their defense of the title with a trip to Huntland on Thursday, before Monday's home-opener in Chapel Hill versus Liberty with game time slated for 5 p.m.

The Rockets have just five eighth-graders on the roster this season, but a talented group of 16 seventh-graders should be able to keep the championship train humming along.

"I don't really think about Conference championships right now, but I do know that we have a lot of work to do," said Joyce "I'm confident the kids will work hard and get better as we go towards our conference tournament."