Bob Jones bests Thompson in Game 1 of playoff tilt

Patriots narrowly lost in game 2, setting up a third game today at Bob Jones High School starting at 4:30 p.m.

MADISON – The Bob Jones Patriots took down Thompson 5-3 in the first game of a best of three series on Thursday afternoon.

It was a hot day that felt more like July than May as scores of baseball fans converged on the Bob Jones campus for this pivotal playoff matchup in the second round of the postseason.

There was a different energy around the ballpark with radio broadcasters behind home plate and extra radar guns in hand for the proceedings.

The crowd for the 4:30 p.m. game was so big that many fans just ended up standing around once the contest began.

The Patriots grabbed the lead quickly in the bottom of the first inning with three runs off of Thompson’s starting pitcher Wyatt Williams.

Bob Jones hitters Jacob Pearl, Braden Booth and Gresham Baker all reached home in the first to start the game off on a high note.

With a 3-0 advantage, Booth got to work on the mound, mostly cruising through the early innings with no real trouble.

I wouldn’t be until the top of the fourth inning that Thompson was able to generate some offense with two runs to trim significantly into the Patriot lead at 3-2.

A leadoff walk by D’Marion Terrell and a single by Ethan Crook would be driven by Ma’Kale Holden with his 2 RBI double for the Warriors in the fourth.

A key moment in the game was when Booth was able to pitch out of some serious trouble in the top of the fifth inning.

The Warriors had bases loaded with just one out and Booth struck out the final two batters to escape the fifth unscathed.

The game of baseball can be funny like how Booth pitches out of a jam and then in the bottom of the fifth comes up to the plate to lead off the inning.

The bottom of the fifth started with a home run by Booth that was crushed over the fence in center.

Baker followed that homer up with a double down the third base line and he would be plated by the catcher Zach Johnson’s clutch bat that came through for a second RBI in the game to make it 5-2 Patriots.

Thompson tried to mount a comeback in the top of the sixth with a solo run when Peryn Bland drove in Holden to make it 5-3, but that was all the Warriors would be able to add as Bob Jones closed out the seventh with Dylan Adkins and eventually Jack Shaw.

For more coverage of this series be sure to pick up a print copy of the Madison Record on Wednesday, May 8.