Thompson rebounds from season-opening loss to Spain Park with sweep of Saraland

Published 10:41 pm Monday, February 19, 2024

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Thompson Warriors faced early adversity in their first game of the season with a 10-3 loss to the Spain Park Jaguars on Friday, Feb. 16, but they responded in a big way in their final two games of the PBR Classic against the Saraland Spartans with victories in both games on Saturday, Feb. 17.

Both teams went scoreless in the first inning before Wyatt Williams hit a triple in the top of the second to set up an RBI groundout by Ashton Blair to put the Warriors on the board with a 1-0 lead.

It took until the top of the fifth for another run to be scored, but with the bases loaded and one out, Ma’Kale Holden hit a two-run single followed by a Tucker Arrington RBI double to make the lead 4-0.

Two batters later, Anderson Harris hit an RBI single to increase the lead to 5-0 after the top of the fifth inning.

Saraland capitalized on a pair of Warriors mistakes in the bottom of the frame to score two runs and cut the lead to three, but Thompson got out of the inning and kept the Spartans scoreless the rest of the way.

The Warriors then tacked on three more runs off a pair of RBI groundouts, first from Blair and then by Alex Jones to finish off the 8-2 win.

Blair earned the win with six innings and three strikeouts against two earned runs, three hits and two walks.

That six-run victory led to an even more dominant second half of the doubleheader where Thompson run-ruled Saraland with an 11-1 victory.

The Warriors got straight to it in the bottom of the first with a fielder’s choice from Holden that led to Peryn Bland scoring on an error.

However, the Spartans tied up the game shortly afterwards with an RBI single on the final play of the top of the second.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the frame, Bland cleared the bases on a three-run double off a line drive to center to bust the game open for Thompson and put it back in front with a 4-1 lead.

The Warriors added another run in the bottom of the third after Holden crossed home during a Jones fielder’s choice, making the score 5-1.

The next inning, Thompson plated four runs, first off an error, then off a two-run double by D’Marion Terrell and finally the ninth one from an Arrington sacrifice fly.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Warriors had a chance to put the game away on the run rule with the bases loaded and one out, and they did just that.

Jacob Winton grounded out to short to bring Jones home before Terrell shut it down with an RBI single off a fly ball to left field to end the game with an 11-1 score-line.

Terrell also earned the win with three innings of one-run baseball.

Thompson will return to the field on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. when it takes on Gardendale at home.

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