WETUMPKA – The Thompson Warriors' perfect season rolled on to an 11-0 record as MaxPreps' No. 4 team in the country with five-straight wins at the Wetumpka tournament.
Thompson defeated the Gulf Shores Dolphins 6-4 and Enterprise Wildcats 5-4 on Friday, Feb. 27 before beating the Southside-Gadsden Panthers 11-6, Saraland Spartans 3-1 and Houston Academy Raiders 3-0 on Saturday, Feb. 28.
The first game against Gulf Shores saw the Warriors load up the bases with three-straight singles to start the first, and Whitney Holtzapfel opened the scoring with a two-run sacrifice fly. Two batters later, Blakely Davis plated another run with an RBI single for the 3-0 lead.
That scoreline held all the way through the bottom of the fifth, when two one-out singles put the Dolphins in business. Gulf Shores beat the throw home to score the first run before a sacrifice fly cut the gap to 3-2. Autumn Ingle then came in to pitch and got the third out.
Thompson overcame a pair of strikeouts to start the sixth with a Mia Langston single to keep the inning alive. Kelsey Burden then scored a run with an RBI single to kick off a rally.
Krimson Calhoun singled to put runners on the corners for Morgan Adolphus, who took the lead to 5-2 with an RBI single. An error allowed Calhoun to come home and make the lead 6-2.
While a two-run double cut the gap in half in the bottom of the sixth, the Warriors survived the two-runner spot and took the win.
Burden and Calhoun were each 3-for-4 as Burden earned an RBI and two runs while Calhoun also had two runs. Bailey Holderfield took the win with two hits, two runs, one walk and three strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
In the second game against Enterprise, Thompson capitalized on an error to start the bottom of the second with a sacrifice bunt followed by a Josie Hamm RBI single for the 1-0 lead. However, the Wildcats equalized in the top of the third with a one-out double following a lead-off walk.
That set up Enterprise to strike in the top of the fifth with a solo home run facing a two-out hole, giving it a 2-1 lead.
The lead wouldn't last for long as Burden's lead-off single and stolen base turned into a run off a Calhoun single. However, an error in center allowed Calhoun to come all the way home and take a 3-2 lead for the Warriors.
While the next two batters got out, Kadyn Bush doubled to keep the inning alive ahead of a Davis RBI single for the 4-2 lead.
The Wildcats responded with a two-out rally in the top of the sixth, capitalizing on a bases-loaded spot to tie the game at 4-4 with a two-run single.
Thompson stayed alive in the bottom of the frame with a two-out single from Calhoun to put two on for Adolphus. She sent a 1-1 pitch to short and brought Lexi Kelley home for the walk-off win.
Calhoun finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run while Bush and Aubrey Bauer were each 2-for-3. Bush pitched all six innings and got eight strikeouts against five hits, four runs, two earned runs and five walks.
The next day against Southside, the Warriors quickly amassed a 5-0 lead in the top of the second. After a Bauer RBI single to open it, Hamm and Burden hit back-to-back RBI doubles to take the lead to 4-0, and Adolphus hit into a sacrifice fly to score the fifth run.
An error in the bottom of the second got the Panthers on the board, but Thompson got two more runs in the top of the third ahead of a two-run double from Langston to take the lead to 9-1.
Southside scored a run in each of the next two innings, first off a passed ball in the third and then off a groundout in the bottom of the fourth. That cut it to 9-3, but Thompson extended the lead to 11-3 in the top of the fifth off a Tanner Crook RBI single.
The Panthers would score three more runs down the stretch but couldn't close the gap as the Warriors won 11-6.
Burden and Crook each went 2-for-2 with Crook securing two RBI and a run and Burden earning an RBI and a run. Bauer finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run. Kelley took the win by not allowing an earned run in two innings.
Thompson quickly rolled to a 2-0 lead against Saraland thanks to a pair of first-inning RBI doubles from Holtzapfel and Bush. That lead held until the bottom of the sixth, when a bases-loaded, no-out spot allowed the Spartans to cut the gap to 2-1 off a sacrifice fly.
The Warriors got out of the inning with the lead though and restored its two-run lead in the top of the seventh with a Bush sacrifice fly to seal the 3-1 win.
Calhoun finished 3-for-4 with a run while Bauer was 3-for-3. Holderfield took the win with five innings of one-run ball against three hits, no walks and five strikeouts.
Bush then kept a shutout against Houston Academy, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out a pair for the complete-game win.
She got some run support in the top of the fourth thanks to a Davis RBI double followed by a Bauer RBI single, opening up a 2-0 lead. The next inning saw Burden reach base before stealing second and coming home off an error at home plate, capping the 3-0 win.
Burden and Bush each went 2-for-3 in the win with Burden adding in a run.
