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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MURFREESBORO, Ten. – The Thompson Warriors traveled north over spring break to face some of the top teams in Tennessee and Illinois in Murfreesboro, Tennessee from March 25-27, and they added five more wins to their total as they went undefeated during the week.

On day one of the tournament, Thompson faced the Lake Zurich Bears at Siegel High School and got off to a strong offensive start.

The Warriors had a three-run first inning as Peryn Bland scored off a passed ball, an error allowed Drake McBride to score and Tucker Arrington hit an RBI single all before Lake Zurich recorded an out.

That 3-0 lead held through the second and third innings before Thompson pulled away even more.

After loading up the bases in the top of the fourth off an error, walk and a Hayden Craycraft single, Bland hit an RBI single to right to increase the lead to four.

The Warriors scored runs on the next two plays off a fielder’s choice by McBride and a bases loaded walk, taking the lead to 6-0.

In the next inning, an error allowed Thompson to score the seventh run of the game. That brought up Ashton Blair with two runners in scoring position, and he cleared the bases with an RBI double to increase the lead to nine.

Two batters later, a sacrifice fly brought another run home, and then two batters after that, D’Marion Terrell capped off the scoring with an RBI single to finish off the 11-0 run-rule win.

Carter Thompson took the win with three shutout innings, earning three strikeouts while allowing just one hit and one walk.

The next day, the Warriors traveled to Riverdale High School to face Illinois’ St. Charles North Stars ahead of their matchup with the Riverdale Warriors in the nightcap.

Thompson got the early edge with a two-run home run from McBride in the bottom of the first inning.

With a 2-0 lead in two, the Warriors went into the second inning and added another run to their total with a two-out RBI single by Ethan Crook.

However, the Stars equalized in the top of the third off a two-run RBI double followed by an RBI single, tying the game up at 3-3.

Ma’Kale Holden delivered an emphatic response to start the bottom of the third thanks to a solo home run that gave Thompson a 4-3 lead.

The back-and-forth continued once again in the top of the fourth as St. Charles North plated a pair of runs off a two-out double to retake the lead. It extended the lead to two runs after an RBI single two batters later to go up 6-4.

The Warriors quickly loaded up the bases in the bottom of the frame thanks to a walk, single and hit batter, and an RBI double by Crook gave him his second scoring hit of the game and Thompson a tied ball game.

After an intentional walk two batters later loaded up the bases, the Warriors avoided the potential double play situation and scored two runs off a wild pitch and sacrifice fly.

That gave Thompson the lead for good, and it extended the advantage to 9-6 in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double by Holden to add one last run before the end of the game.

Wyatt Williams took seven strikeouts in four innings in the win and Holden had five strikeouts and three shutout innings in the save.

That set the stage for a shutout victory over Riverdale in the second game of the day.

A two-out RBI single by Crook gave Thompson an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, and it extended that lead an inning later with another two-out RBI single, this time by Bland, to go up 2-0.

After batting in a run in the first inning, Crook brought himself home in the top of the third with a solo home run to increase the lead to 3-0.

Thompson then closed out the scoring an inning later as McBride hit the first pitch he saw for a bases-clearing triple, finishing off the 5-0 win.

Terrell pitched the full seven innings and earned the win, pitching a shutout while taking six strikeouts against two hits and three walks.

The next day, the Warriors combined for 25 runs in two games for a pair of dominant wins.

In the first game of the day against the Neuqua Valley Wildcats, Thompson started out the game with a run off a passed ball in the first inning and another off a sacrifice bunt in the second.

However, the pace quickly picked up as the Warriors plated 12 runs in the third. Five straight runners reached base to start the inning and get the momentum rolling for Thompson.

In all, it scored off a Crook RBI single, an RBI groundout, a Williams RBI single, a pair of hit batters, a Terrell RBI single and a Holden RBI double before Cooper Mills finished off the inning with an RBI single to increase the lead to 14-0.

Mills struck again in the top of the fourth with an RBI single to extend the lead to 15. While Neuqua Valley clawed back a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth, it wouldn’t be enough to avoid the run rule as Thompson won 15-2 in five innings.

Luke Reid earned the win with five strikeouts in three innings against just two hits.

The Warriors finished off the tournament with a shutout win over the Oakland Patriots.

They struck first in the top of the first off an RBI single by McBride to capitalize off a leadoff double by Bland.

That score line held through the end of the fourth inning as the Patriots couldn’t tie up the game and Thompson couldn’t pull away.

However, they added to that advantage in the top of the fifth and never looked back.

With two on and two out, Bland hit an RBI single to restart the scoring and set up McBride to score a pair of runs off an RBI double to increase the lead to 4-0. Two batters later, McBride scored off a balk to put his team up five at the end of the inning.

An error allowed the lead to become six in the top of the sixth, but the Warriors weren’t content with that and added four more runs in the final inning of the game.

Terrell hit an RBI double on the first batter that the Oakland pitcher faced, and two batters later, an error plated the eighth run of the game. Mills quickly followed that up with a two-run single to close out the 10-0 victory and an undefeated tournament.

Sam Cunningham earned the win with three strikeouts in one inning, while Blair picked up six strikeouts in three innings of relief.

Thompson will return after spring break with the first of nine area games to close out the season as the Warriors travel to Vestavia Hills on Tuesday, April 2 at 6 p.m.