Spurred by a three-run fifth inning to create plenty of breathing room, the Thunderbirds kicked off their Class 2A state title defense with a victory over the Hornets on Wednesday night.
Tumwater used four pitchers in the non-league contest at home and all recorded multiple strikeouts and combined for just four walks. Karlson got the win off three innings of work with four K’s of three-hit ball.
A run apiece in the opening two bottom-half frames gave the Thunderbirds an early cushion. It added three more in the fifth all off RBI doubles from Thompson, Marson and Womach.
Enumclaw didn’t go down easily behind two runs in the sixth, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the rally and the Hornets didn’t get a runner in scoring position in the final inning.
Marson and Crawford slapped two hits each with Marson driving in two runs for the Thunderbirds.
