By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

Callaway High’s Tanner Thompson tried not to make things too complicated Friday against Manchester.

“I just wanted to throw strikes and try to shut them down,” said Thompson, a junior right-hander.

Thompson worked quickly, he used three pitches, and he put the ball over the plate.

Using that recipe, Thompson pitched six shutout innings in a 5-0 Region 5-AA victory.

Thompson gave up just two hits and one walk, and he struck out six.

Senior Taylor Kenerley pitched a perfect seventh to preserve the victory.

Since a season-opening loss to Heard County, the Cavaliers (6-1) haven’t lost, and they improved to 3-1 in the region.

Manchester came into Friday’s game 4-1 in the region.

The Cavaliers lost a huge group of seniors from their 2008 team, and nearly every starter this season is a new one.

“We’re getting better every day. We’re working hard,” Thompson said.

Callaway head coach Dusty Hubbard was impressed with his junior pitcher.

“He did a great job,” Hubbard said. “He walked one guy. That’s a key. The thing he does a great job of is, he works real quick. He’s probably going to get good defense when he does that. I don’t think we had an error.”

The Cavs didn’t have many hits, but they made the most of their chances.

“I thought we did the small things well. We ran the bases pretty well and we put pressure on them,” Hubbard said. “It was kind of the way we win a lot of games. Right now, we’re not blessed with many guys that can step up there and mash. We try to scrap and make outs tough.”

Quay Boddie singled and later scored in the second inning, and the Cavs added two more runs in the third.

Kenerley led off with a single, and he came around to score when Manchester’s third baseman was unable to handle a hard-hit ball by Dominique Smedley.

Thompson followed with an RBI single, and the Cavs were up 3-0.

Callaway plated two insurance runs in the sixth, even though they didn’t get a hit in the inning.

Smedley reached on an error leading off, and after stealing second, he went to third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch.

Chaz Bowles walked later in the inning, and his pinch runner - Jacob Bonner - eventually scored when Boddie reached on an error.

Whatever hopes the Blue Devils had of a comeback was quickly dispelled by Kenerley, who struck out two of the batters he faced in the top of the seventh.

Callaway returns to the field on Tuesday when it hosts Pike County, which leads the region with a 5-0 record.