By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

ALABASTER – After dropping a tough 3-0 area decision to No. 6 Tuscaloosa County, Thompson took back to their home field on Thursday, April 6 in dominating fashion against rival Pelham.

Thanks to 11 first-inning runs and 12 hits in the game, the Warriors were able to pick up a rather dominating 13-2 win in five innings to improve their overall record to 17-7-2.

This is a Thompson team that started the season 14-4, but has fallen into a drought of more average play against some really tough opponents going 3-3-2 over their last eight games. A dominating performance like this where their pitching and bats are both clicking on the same night can grow their confidence immensely as they look to finish the season off strong and get back to their impressive ways.

The Warriors started the first inning with a single before two hit batters in a row loaded the bases for Madison Bubel. Bubel took the fifth pitch she saw in a 3-1 hitters count and drove it to center field for a double that drove in two runs.

Kelsey Edwards followed with a deep bomb over the left field wall to clear the bases and bring home three runs as Thompson found themselves up 5-0 through five at bats.

They put together three more doubles and four more singles the remainder of the inning to drive in six more runs as they took that profound 11-0 lead after one.

The way Thompson’s pitchers were hurling the ball, that cushion ended up being more than enough for the win. Pelham put up one of their two runs in the top of the third, but Thompson answered back with two in the bottom half of the inning thanks to their fifth double of the game from Kennedy Foote.

The Panthers added one run in the top of the fifth, but with the Warriors up 13-2, that wasn’t enough to keep the game from ending due to the run rule.

Edwards, Foote and Lauren Haskins all went 2-2 in the game, while combining for eight RBIs, three doubles and seven runs scored. Kindall DeRamus also had a nice game going 2-3 with two runs scored and one RBI.

Two different Warrior pitchers combined for the dominating performance in the circle. Heaven Rodgers got the start and went four innings allowing one hit and one earned run while striking out two. Macie Crumpton came in for relief and allowed two hits and one earned run.

Thompson will take on Oak Mountain, Helena and Tuscaloosa County next week as they continue playing some of the best teams from around the state.