Thompson beats UMS-Wright, Spanish Fort, Mobile Christian at PBR South AL Showdown

Published 9:24 am Tuesday, February 25, 2025

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Thompson Warriors kept rolling on with three wins in their four games at the PBR South Alabama Showdown on the Gulf Coast.

Thompson defeated the UMS-Wright Bulldogs 14-1, Spanish Fort Toros 9-2 and Mobile Christian Leopards 6-5 in the tournament while an 8-7 loss to Saraland was its only blemish of the tournament.

In the tournament opener against UMS-Wright on Friday, Feb. 21, a pair of errors gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the top of the first in Gulf Shores.

While the second inning came and went without a run, back-to-back singles led to a one-out RBI double for Ma’Kale Holden. Wyatt Williams then took the lead to 4-0 on the next pitch with an RBI double to left.

Two walks kept the inning alive for Austin Barnett, and after Williams scored off a passed ball during his a-bat, he plated a run off an error to make the lead 6-0.

The Bulldogs responded in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single following a one-out walk, but that was all the offense that they could muster.

Thompson started generating offense in the top of the fifth after the first two batters of the inning got out. A Logan Watson double followed by a walk allowed a run to reach off an error.

Two batters later, a Davis Stallworth single kicked off a lengthy scoring run, including runs off a wild pitch, a steal of home, a passed ball and a Sheldon Fausnight RBI single to go up 12-1.

Another walk loaded up the bases for Watson again, and he capped off the inning and the scoring with a two-run RBI double.

The Warriors then orchestrated a one-two-three inning to cap off the 13-run win.

Watson finished 2-for-2 with two RBI while Williams had two RBI and a run off a 1-for-2 mark. Ian Hillary got the complete-game win with seven strikeouts in five innings against one unearned run, three hits and two walks.

Thompson then finished the day with a matchup against Spanish Fort and got to work early. The Warriors took a 2-0 lead off an error after the first three batters of the game loaded up the bases.

The second and third innings came and went without a run, but a Collier Smith double and Gabe Romero single put two on for Brody Sabo, who plated the third run of the game. Two batters later, Cooper Fuller scored a pair of runners with a single before Ashton Blair took the lead to 6-0 on the next pitch with an RBI double.

However, Thompson got into trouble in the bottom of the fourth after allowing a single and a double to start it out. A passed ball led to another Toros run on a baserunning sequence two plays later to cut the deficit to 6-2.

The Warriors responded with a Romero RBI double in the top of the fifth. An inning later, they finished off the game with another pair of runs, first off a passed ball and then off a Holden sacrifice fly to seal the seven-run win.

Fuller led the offense with a 3-for-5 game with two RBI and three runs. Blair went a perfect 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs and an RBI, and Romero went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Williams took the win with eight strikeouts across 4.2 innings. He allowed just two runs, three hits and four walks in the process. Williams also secured two RBI at the plate.

The Warriors started out their Saturday in Orange Beach with a tight loss to Saraland in extra innings.

After going up 4-0 in the top of the second, the Spartans got on the board but remained behind by multiple runs. Thompson extended the lead to 7-0 in the top of the fourth but couldn’t add any additional offense after that.

Saraland scored two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings before tying the game up at 7-7 in the bottom of the seventh. The Spartans then walked it off in extras after loading up the bases off a hit batsman, walk and bunt before an RBI single to end it in the bottom of the eighth with no outs.

Holden went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run in the loss while Blair finished 2-for-4 with a walk, RBI and run. Tyler Specht also drew three walks.

The Warriors had a chance to respond to their five-game win streak ending with a matchup against Mobile Christian.

After two walks to start the bottom of the first, an error gave Thompson its first run of the game. Williams then hit an RBI single to take the lead to 2-0.

The Leopards got a chance to respond in the top of the third with a hit by pitch and walk to start the inning. While the Warriors turned a double play, Mobile Christian doubled on the next pitch to cut the deficit in half.

Holden kept the Leopards at bay until he exited ahead of the fifth inning. Two hits on the first three at-bats set up Mobile Christian to tie the game up off a groundout.

Thompson couldn’t respond at the plate in the fifth but got back in front in the bottom of the sixth. A one-out Williams double led to a Cooper Mills RBI single and a 3-2 lead.

However, the Leopards quickly loaded up the bases during the first four at-bats of the seventh. The Warriors then allowed a bases-loaded walk to tie the game before a wild pitch and RBI single put Mobile Christian up 5-3 going into the bottom of the seventh.

The Leopards opened up the door for Thompson to get back in the game. They walked five of the first six batters of the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 5-5 and put Romero up with the bases loaded and one out.

Romero hit a fly ball to left to score Josh Tuttle and clinch the walk-off win after the Warriors gave up a walk-off hit in the first game of the day.

Romero finished 2-for-2 with a walk and the RBI single. Williams went 2-for-3 with two RBI while Mills had two RBI in a 1-for-3 game with a walk.

On the mound, Holden earned seven strikeouts in four innings before exiting and earning a no decision. He surrendered one run, five hits and two walks. Blair worked around three runs, three hits and a walk in the seventh to take the win.

The 6-3 Warriors will be back in tournament action on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. at Jim “Peanut” Davenport Field when they face the Grissom Tigers in the first round of the Perfect Game High School Showdown.