Brandon Thompson checked Ooltewah on five hits over six innings, drove in two runs with a double in the fifth and led unbeaten Bradley Central to a sloppy 9-6 District 5-3A cold-weather baseball victory over the Owls at A.C. “Bud” Ball Field on Monday.
The Bears (6-0, 3-0) and the Owls (4-4, 0-3) combined for nine errors in a game played in 43-degree temperature.
Thompson struck out seven and walked two and none of the runs charged to him were earned due to four errors.
Bradley got off to a fast start with four runs in the first inning.
Jake Presley led off with a walk, stole second and scored on Dylan Standifer’s hit. Kylar Lynn doubled in a run and Jeremiah Sims and Gunnar Norwood followed with RBI singles.
Standifer started the Bears’ fifth by reaching on an error. Lynn’s second double sent Standifer to third and Sims’ groundout scored the Bears’ sixth run. Caileb Reed reached on an error and courtesy runner Briar Lee scored on the play.
Norwood struck out, but reached on a passed ball and Thompson delivered his two-run double to cap Bradley’s scoring.
The Owls pushed across a run in the first inning and added two more in the third when Jake Sullivan led off with a single and Caleb Collins was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt and scored when Tyler Robertson reached on an error.
Ooltewah, which plays at Bradley on Tuesday night and will host its own invitational tournament starting Thursday, added a run in the fourth when Trevor Wiggs (0-2), the losing pitcher, reached on an error, went to second on another Bradley miscue and scored on Sullivan’s RBI single.
In the seventh, the Owls roughed up Bears reliever Charlie Hammonds for two runs.
Collins, Andy Reed and Robertson had successive singles to load the bases. Jordan Artime walked to force in a run and Sam Zettel’s singled scored the second run.
Boxscore
Bradley Central 410 040 0 – 9 8 4
Ooltewah 102 100 2 – 6 9 5
WP – Brandon Thompson (2-0); LP – Trevor Wiggs (0-2)
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)