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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

OXFORD – The Thompson Warriors found some struggles on opening weekend, losing 8-6 to Central-Phenix City and 9-4 to Bob Jones before beating Spain Park 9-1 at the PBR Kickoff Classic in Hoover.

However, they bounced back with two wins at Choccolocco Park in Oxford on Monday, Feb. 17, first over Georgia’s Haralson County Rebels by a score of 23-7 and then a 5-4 win over the Oxford Yellow Jackets.

First against Haralson County, Thompson loaded up the bases in the top of the first with two walks and a hit batsman. A passed ball and a two-run RBI single from Wyatt Williams gave the Warriors a 3-0 lead that they would not relinquish.

RBI doubles from Cooper Mills and Austin Barnett kept the offense going with the fourth and fifth runs of the inning. Three batters later, a sacrifice fly brought Collier Smith home to give Thompson a 6-0 lead with two outs.

A walk kept the inning alive for Ma’Kale Holden to drive in two runs off an RBI double and cap the inning with an 8-0 lead.

However, the Rebels took advantage of pitching miscues to score their first two runs of the game and then cut the deficit to 8-4 off a single and a groundout.

Luck came back around for the Warriors as they recovered from an opening pop-out with a walk and a hit by pitch before an error took the lead to 9-4. A walk loaded up the bases again and allowed Ashton Blair to hit an RBI single, Cooper Fuller to reach home off an error and Williams to get another RBI single to put Thompson up 13-4.

The Warriors loaded up the bases again to start the third and benefitted from a walk and three hit batsmen with the bases loaded, putting them up 17-4. A fielder’s choice on the next play increased the lead to 18-4.

Haralson County drove home two runs in the bottom of the third, but Thompson had a three-run inning in the top of the fourth with a hit by pitch and a Logan Watson two-run double.

The Rebels cut that 21-5 lead to 21-7 in the bottom of the fourth, but RBI singles from Hayden Craycraft and Davis Stallworth finished off the run-rule win in the top of the fifth.

Barnett and Joshua Tuttle each finished 2-for-3 as Tuttle earned one run and Barnett had two walks, three runs and an RBI. Williams went 2-for-2 with his pair of RBI singles, plating three runs.

Craycraft touched home five times in a 2-for-3 day with two walks while Stallworth had two RBI and three hits in a 1-for-1 game with one walk.

Andersen Todd earned the win with four strikeouts in two innings despite giving up five earned runs off one hit and five walks. Fuller had three strikeouts in two innings of relief against no earned runs.

Thompson finished the day with a thrilling game against Oxford.

With two on and two out to start the first inning, Mills hit an RBI single to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. That led to three straight walks which extended the lead to 3-0.

From there, it was a defensive duel until the bottom of the fourth when a hit batsman and a walk gave Oxford two on with one out.

A passed ball put the runners on second and third, and while the ensuing at-bat ended in a pop-out, the next pitch brought a bases-clearing single from the Jackets to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Thompson immediately responded in the top of the fifth as Holden and Williams singled off back-to-back pitches. With two on and nobody out for Mills, he ripped a double to left to plate both runners and increase the lead to 5-2.

Oxford benefitted from a pitching change and kept the Warriors scoreless from there, and in the bottom of the sixth, a two-out error put Oxford back in it by making it a 5-3 game.

The Jackets then hit a lead-off single in the bottom of the seventh, and after a balk advanced the runner to second, two groundouts brought him home to make it a one-run game. However, small ball came back to bite the Jackets as the next batter grounded out to end the game.

Mills was the only Thompson player with a multi-hit game as he finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run.

Ashton Blair picked up the win with two strikeouts in 3.2 innings against two runs, two hits and three walks, and Wooten earned the save by allowing just one hit and one run in the seventh.

The 3-2 Warriors will now head to the PBR South Alabama Showdown to face UMS-Wright, Spanish Fort, Saraland and Mobile Christian from Feb. 20-22.