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Thompson used a pair of dominant pitching performances from Ma’Kale Holden and Wyatt Williams and a game three comeback to sweep the three-game area series with Prattville. (For the Reporter/Jason Homan)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Thompson Warriors are off to a flying start in Class 7A, Area 5 play as they swept away one of their two new area foes in the Prattville Lions.

Thompson won all three games of the area series as they secured a 7-0 game one win on Tuesday, April 1 at Thompson High school before winning both legs of a doubleheader at Prattville High School on Thursday, April 3, a 3-2 win in game two before a 7-6 victory in game three.

In game one, the Warriors quickly loaded up the bases in the bottom of the first and took a 3-0 lead off a Ma’Kale Holden sacrifice fly, a Cooper Mills RBI single and a Gabe Romero sacrifice fly.

Davis Stallworth then reached off an error to start the bottom of the second before he stole second and came home off two sacrifice bunts for the 4-0 lead.

The next two innings came and went without a run, but Holden’s three-strikeout top of the fifth set up a final burst of offense in the bottom half of the inning. He reached off a lead-off walk before Mills was hit by a pitch, and an error off a Romero ground ball plated both runners.

That extended the lead to 6-0, and two batters later, Brody Sabo scored from third on a wild pitch to finish off the scoring in the 7-0 win.

Holden went the distance to take the win, striking out 11 batters in seven shutout innings while giving up just two hits and a walk. Wyatt Williams was the lone batter with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-4 with a run, but Holden was 1-for-1 with an RBI sacrifice fly and two walks.

Two days later, Prattville put up much more of a fight in a pair of one-run games.

After a lead-off double in the top of the first from Austin Barnett, he advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt before coming home off an RBI double from Williams to open up the 1-0 lead.

Sabo came in as the courtesy runner and quickly reached third on a balk, and he reached home plate on a two-out RBI single from Mills to double up the lead.

However, Thompson gave up what proved to be a costly lead-off single in the top of the second as the Lions runner worked his way around the base off a stolen base, wild pitch and a balk to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The second inning came and went without a run before an Anderson Harris lead-off double in the top of the third put the Warriors back in business. A ground out to second advanced him to third before Holden’s RBI single brought him home for the 3-1 lead.

From there, Williams settled into a groove on the mound, striking out 13 batters in a complete-game victory. The lone Prattville run after that was unearned after a lead-off walk turned into a run off an error shortly after.

The Lions could only muster one hit and one walk the entire game as Williams helped Thompson take the one-run win where he, Holden and Mills earned an RBI.

The Warriors got off to another strong start in the back half of the doubleheader as a one-out double from Harris in the top of the first turned into a Williams RBI double for the 1-0 lead.

However, the Lions took their first lead of the series in the bottom of the first, scoring off a pair of wild pitches and a sacrifice fly to take a 3-1 lead.

Thompson caught its own break in the top of the third when an error on a Barnett ground ball followed by a hit batter put two on with nobody out. While the next batter lined out, Holden didn’t miss his chance, taking an 0-2 pitch yard for a three-run home run to retake the 4-3 lead.

Prattville responded with a rally in the bottom half of the inning, starting off the frame with a pair of hits to get two runners into scoring position. The Warriors recovered with a strikeout, but an RBI single on the ensuing at-bat tied up the game at 4-4.

The next Lions batter was then plunked with a pitch to load up the bases, and that proved costly as a bases-loaded walk gave Prattville a 5-4 lead. That forced a Thompson pitching change, but the hosts kept the rally going with an RBI single for the 6-4 advantage.

The Warriors then stared down a two-run hole with four innings remaining, but Caden Wooten took control on the mound with 3.2 shutout innings, striking out five batters and allowing just two hits and no walks before coming out to start the seventh.

After a scoreless fourth, Thompson got another lead-off double from Harris before drawing two-straight one-out walks to load up the bases. With Sabo in to pinch hit, he singled to right to score two runs and tie the game up at 6-6.

Logan Watson then hit a bunt straight at the new Lions pitcher and not only reached base, he plated the go-ahead run to take the 7-6 lead.

That proved to be the winning run as the Warriors shut the door and saw out the one-run win.

Harris led the way with a 2-for-3 game with three runs while Holden earned three RBI on his three-run home run and Sabo plated two runs with his RBI single.

Thompson improved to 23-11 overall and 3-0 in area play with the wins and will resume area action on Tuesday, April 10 at 5:30 p.m. on the road at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa. The Warriors will then return home on Thursday, April 12 at 4:30 p.m. for the final two games of the series.

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