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The Thompson Warriors secured the area championship with three wins over Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County, capping a 9-0 run through area play in emphatic fashion. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALABASTER – The Thompson Warriors entered the Class 7A, Area 5 tournament without a blemish on their area mark, and that’s exactly how they left it.

Thompson secured the area championship with three wins, including a 16-6 win over the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats in the championship game on Saturday, April 26 at Veterans Park in Alabaster.

In the first game against Hillcrest, the Warriors fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first off a dropped third strike. The Patriots then stacked three-straight singles to double up their lead, but Thompson scored 11 unanswered runs after that.

The Warriors loaded up the bases in the bottom of the inning off two walks and a single. Kadyn Bush was then hit by a pitch to score a run, and two batters later, Hannah Hobbs plated two runs with an RBI single to take a 3-2 lead.

Morgan Adolphus then walked to load up the bases before Jillian Kato took the lead to 4-2 with an RBI single of her own.

Aubree Hooks increased the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the second with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly that scored Kelsey Burden from third.

The Warriors got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the third, and after not scoring in the home half of the inning, they hit a pair of bombs in the fourth.

After singles from Burden and Aubrey Bauer, Olivia Tindell launched a three-run jack to take the lead to 8-2. While the next two batters got out, Hobbs singled to keep the inning alive long enough for a two-run home run from Adolphus for the 10-2 lead.

Bush finished off the 11-2 victory with an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.

Tindell finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs, Burden was 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs and Hobbs went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run.

Bush took the win in the first two innings. One of the two runs she faced was earned, and she didn’t allow any walks despite facing four hits. Autumn Ingle got four strikeouts in 2.2 shutout innings.

The next game against Tuscaloosa County, Thompson got two on with one-out hits from Bauer and Tindell. Bush cleared the bases with an RBI single to open up a 2-0 lead.

The Warriors maintained that two-run lead through the next three innings before the Wildcats cut it in half with a one-out RBI single in the top of the fifth.

Whitney Holtzapfel restored the two-run lead on the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth as she made it a 3-1 game with a solo shot.

Burden singled ahead of a pair of outs on back-to-back pitches, and Bush took the first pitch she saw for an RBI single for the 4-1 lead. Kato singled after a pitching change ahead of a Hobbs first-pitch RBI single that took the lead to 5-1.

Blakely Davis kicked off the bottom of the sixth with a single, but the next two Thompson batters got out. Bauer doubled to score Burden and get in position to come home off a Tindell two-run home run, which finished off the 8-1 win and punched a ticket to regionals in emphatic fashion.

Bush finished 3-for-3 with a walk three RBI, Tindell was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs and Bauer went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Tuscaloosa County then fought back and reached the finals where it quickly took a 2-0 lead off a sacrifice fly and an RBI double in the top of the first.

Thompson immediately rallied with an RBI single from Bauer on the second at-bat for the home side, and the next two batters reached to load the bases. Hooks then flew out to plate a run, but the ensuing batter lined out for the second out.

That’s when the Warriors strung together four RBI singles from Adolphus, Davis, Holtzapfel and Burden to take the 6-2 lead.

However, the Wildcats got two aboard with one out and resumed the scoring with an RBI double. A walk forced a pitching change for Thompson, but two RBI singles in the next three at-bats erased the lead and tied the game at 6-6.

The third inning came and went without a run from either team, but the Warriors put their foot on the gas to finish off the win in the final three innings.

With two on and one out in the bottom of the fourth, Lexi Kelley retook the lead for good with an RBI double on the first pitch she saw. Two batters later, Adolphus plated two runs with a double ahead of a Davis RBI single that put Thompson in front 10-6.

The Warriors then got a big two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth, loading up the bases on two singles and a walk. Just like the second inning, Adolphus, Davis, Holtzapfel and Burden hit four-straight RBI singles, with Davis’ leading to two runs, to increase the lead to 15-6.

Tindell then sealed the run-rule win with a solo shot on the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth, clinching the area title with the 16-6 win.

Davis was a perfect 4-for-4 with four RBI and two runs, Adolphus finished 3-for-4 with four RBI and three runs, Burden went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run and Holtzapfel had a 3-for-4 day with two RBI. Bauer, Tindell, Bush and Kelley each had two-hit games.

After struggling to find their form in the circle early, Kelly took command with 4.2 shutout innings and allowed just two hits and no walks to take the win.

Thompson improved to 39-4 with the three wins and will head to Sand Mountain Park in Albertville for the Northeast Regional on Monday, May 5 as the No. 1 seed out of Area 5.

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