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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – Patience paid off for the Thompson Warriors as they earned four runs in the final three innings to take down the Oak Mountain Eagles 5-0 in a road matchup on Tuesday, March 19 at Oak Mountain High School.

After a scoreless first two innings, a leadoff single by Alex Jones in the top of the third and an ensuing sacrifice bunt put a runner on second with one out for Peryn Bland.

Jones then advanced to third on a wild pitch, allowing Bland to bring him home off an RBI single and put Thompson up 1-0.

After a one-two-three bottom of the fourth on defense, Jones got on base again to start the top of the fifth, this time off a leadoff walk.

Following a groundout and Jones getting caught stealing, Bland and Drake McBride both reached off errors to put a pair of runners on base.

Those free baserunners paid off as D’Marion Terrell hit an RBI double to plate both runs and make the score 3-0.

Thompson didn’t allow a hit in the bottom of the fifth and got back to work in the top of the ensuing frame.

Tucker Arrington hit a 1-0 single to leadoff the inning, but the next two batters ended in outs to put the Warriors in a two-out hold.

That didn’t faze Jones as he hit an RBI single to bring the pinch runner Ben Ferrell home and increase the lead to four.

Cooper Mills then singled to keep the inning alive, and shortly after, Bland came up with a single of his own to reach base. An error on the throw advanced all runners, including Jones who scored thanks to the miscue and closed out the scoring for the 5-0 win.

Wyatt Williams went the distance with a complete-game shutout, taking eight strikeouts against just one hit and one walk.

Jones went 2-2 with a walk, two runs and an RBI to have a perfect day at the plate. Bland, Terrell and Ethan Crook all went 2-4 as Bland had a run and an RBI and Terrell batted in two runs.

Thompson and Oak Mountain will square off once again on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m., this time at Thompson High School.