Hanover Thunder Fastpitch Softball!

Thunder Pride...

Blue Top 10 for 2007!

                      The proud Thunder team regrouped and came back strong to pick up the 3rd place prize with a hard fought win over the Force.  Shawna K and Lindsey W made incredible back-to-back line drive catches in the final inning to help preserve the win (6-5).

                      Brianna J, Ashley B, and Shawna K helped the Thunder put up 4 runs in the 2nd inning of the 1st pool-play game against the Colonial Height Blitz and then held on for the 4-3 win.  Ashley B came up big again in the next game against the Wakefield Hornets — she contributed the game winning RBI in the top of the last inning to cap a 2-run inning that put the Thunder up 7-6 (final score).  Shannon A struck out 3 for the 5 inning win.  In the 3rd game of the day, against the Virginia Batbusters, the Thunder held a 4 to 2 lead going into the top of the last inning — however, the Batbusters pushed across 3 runs to take a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the final frame.  Brianna J set things up with a bunt single to put 2 on-base.  After a couple of walks (including a game tying bases-load walk), Lindsey N provided the final blow with a game winning RBI single to left to secure a 6-5 win!

4.   Third Place Thriller!

« Thunder defeat Force 6-5 with solid bats and stellar fielding...

7.  Good Teams Win Close Games!

« Playing in their final 2007 tournament at 14U level, the Thunder win 3-straight 1-run games in pool-play...

5.  A Santa Claus Victory!

« Thunder ensures there will be no “Blue Christmas” with victory in Mechanicsville parade...

2.  End of Summer Blowout!

« 5 straight wins earned the Thunder the top prize — the weekend included a fun River Celebration at the Caler’s...

10.      Blitz v. Thunder compete in one of the best Games of the Year!

« Extra inning affair full of excitement...

8.   Classic against the Classics!

« Defensive gems highlight tie with Virginia Classics...

6.   Thunder Beat the Best at Disney!

« The Arkansas Xtreme came in as the top seed (of 47 teams) in the bracket, but the team from Hanover came out on top on the field...

1.   Queen of the Hill Silver—Long Day!

« Thunder Pride...

9.   Halloween 2007, “It’s Electric!”

« Every year, at the end of October, the farm comes alive — a late night visit to an old prisoner torture house brought out the worst...

3.  Dirty Dozen!

« Blue Battles for 1st Crown of 2007...

           Thunder Blue captured their 1st tournament Championship of 2007 in the Softball Nation Dirty Dozens tournament played at Dumbarton.  In pool play on Saturday, the Thunder rolled past the Northern Neck Rage and Force before dropping a 4-2 game with the Yorktown Revolution.

           On Sunday, the team pounced on the X-Treme Fury winning 17-2 before running into another Thunder squad from Louisa.  The hot bats continued as they moved into the Championship game with an 18-0 victory.  In the finals against the Riptides, the Thunder put up 8 runs in the 1st two innings and held on for an 8 to 4 victory.

           The tournament win, the first for 2007, followed two 2nd place finishes and a 3rd place finish in their prior 3 outings.  The team has an overall 18-7 record for the year.  Congratulations to all the girls for the their hard-earned success!

           Thunder Blue traveled to Tappahanock the weekend of September 22-23 to play in the 4-team USSSA OutRAGEous End of Summer Blowout.  The tournament is sponsored by the Northern Neck Rage — playing in the 12U group against the host team, the East Coast Diamonds, and the Vienna Stars, the Thunder posted 5 straight wins to earn the tournament title…

           In pool-play on Saturday, the Thunder cruised to an 11-1 win over the East Coast Diamonds — scoring 6 in the first inning and another 4 in the second to put the game away.  In the second game of pool-play, the Thunder scored in each of the 3-innings played against the host Northern Neck Rage to get a 6-1 win.  In the final game on Saturday, the Thunder clinched the #1 seed going into Sunday with a 7-0 win over the Vienna Stars.

           On Sunday, the Thunder scored 4 runs in each of the 3 innings played against the Diamonds (final score 12-1) to move to the Championship game against the Vienna Stars.  In a tough 7-inning battle, the Thunder put up 4 in the first and maintained the lead in the hard-hitting, good fielding game to earn the 5-2 victory and 1st place in the tournament…

                      On Sunday, in the Quarterfinals, the Thunder jumped on the Evergreen Lady Eagles, scoring 4, 2, and 6 runs, respectively to cruise to the 12-0 win.  The game set-up a re-match in the semi-finals with the Glen Allen Blitz.  In one of the most exciting games the Thunder has ever played in, the Blitz did just enough to win 11-10 in 8 innings (including 2 extra innings of international tie-breaker).  The loss put the Thunder in the 3rd place game against the New Kent Blast which the Thunder was able to win 8-1.

           Thunder Blue played 6 consecutive games on Sunday in high heat and humidity — winning 5, including 4 consecutive games to take the Silver championship!  After going 3-3 in pool-play Friday & Saturday at RF&P park, the Thunder squeaked into the Gold bracket (10th seed).  The tournament featured 19 teams from around the state with the top 10 competing in the Gold bracket and remaining teams in the Silver.

           After advancing to the quarterfinals, the Thunder dropped a close game to the Virginia Classics (eventual Gold bracket champion) — after the tough loss, Thunder character and determination propelled the team through the Silver bracket (4 games) for the championship.  Thunder coaches and supporters were exhausted and thrilled, but mostly proud of the nearly 9 hours of the team’s effort in extreme conditions on Sunday and 12 total games played over the 3 day tournament!

           Thunder Blue beat the Smashing Apples, Hampton Roads Vipers, and Riptides to set-up a match-up with the Force which Thunder Blue won 3-2!

           In one of the most competitive tournaments of the season, the Thunder won 3, lost 1, and tied 1 game to earn 3rd place.  On Saturday, in pool play, the Thunder posted wins against the Hampton Road Vipers (4 to 1) and Lady Eagles (8 to 6) with Sarah B on the mound.  In the middle game of the day, the Thunder played the Virginia Classics to a 2-2 tie behind the pitching of Taylor D — would have been a loss if not for the spectacular catch by left fielder Madison C in the final inning.

             In the quarterfinal matchup on Sunday, Thunder Blue scored 4 in the 3rd inning to move past a strong Northern Neck Rage team.  In the semi-final, a 4-run inning by the Blue Angels proved to be the difference as the Thunder fell 5-1.

           Once again, the Thunder proved that it can play with some of the best 12U teams in the state.  Congratulations to all the girls for their continued success (as a result of their hard work).  The Thunder will play in the state USSSA tournament next weekend.

                      In the second game of pool-play on Tuesday, the Thunder faced the #1 seed in the tournament, Arkansas Xtreme Base Burnerz.  In a very exciting game, the Thunder put up 4 runs in second and 3 runs in the 3rd (and another in the 4th) while the Burnerz put up 1 in each inning of the 5-inning game — the result, an 8-5 Thunder victory.  Lindsey N pitched 5 innings (5 Ks, 5 hits) and added 2 hits at-the-plate, while Madison C (3 for 3, 2 runs) and Auguste R (2 for 3, HR, 2 RBI) helped power the offense.  Thunder defense was also solid, getting inning ending double-plays in both the 3rd and 4th innings.

 

Looking forward to a Happy New Year in 2008...