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Hanover Thunder Fastpitch Softball!! |
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Thunder Pride... |
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Thunder Blue knocks off #1 Seed, falls to tough competition... |
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Thunder Blue spent a week in Orlando, visiting Mickey and playing in the 2007 USSSA Fastpitch 12U-B World Series. During the week of July 23, Thunder Blue competed against 46 of the top teams in the United States in the 12U-B tournament held at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex (and Osceola Complex) in Orlando. The Thunder was placed in a 5 team bracket which included games against the Ohio Wave, the Arkansas Xtreme Base Burnerz, and Florida Pace Patriots (the bracket also included the Biloxi Red Storm). In the first game of the tournament, the Thunder Blue dropped a close game (2-0) to the Ohio USSSA State Champion Wave team. Taylor D and Sarah B combined to allow only 5 hits in the 7-inning game. Unfortunately, the Thunder lost one of their best players for the remainder of the tournament when shortstop Lacie M fractured a finger on a fielding play early in the game. 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. In the final game of pool-play, the Thunder started strong, posting 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning, but eventually fell in extra innings (international tie-breaker) 4-3 to the Florida Pace Patriots. Lynnse C had 2 hits for the Thunder. After taking a 3-1 lead after 2 innings in the 1st game of double elimination on Thursday, the Thunder imploded in a disastrous 3rd inning — giving up 9 runs (on no hits) to the Beach Bay (Ill) Thunder. The game ended after 4 innings, 12-3. In the final game of the tournament, the Thunder battled hard, but were done in by a 5-run 5th inning from the Oklahoma Lady Lunatix. The Thunder led 4-1 heading into the 5th inning. Although finishing with a 1-4 record, the Thunder proved that it was a worthy competitor against some of the best teams in America. Take away a couple of tough innings on defense and the Thunder had the potential to make a good run...3 of the teams the Thunder faced finished in the top 10 (Ohio Wave finished 5th, Arkansas Burnerz and Oklahoma Luntatix finished tied for #9). Overall, the experience gained will pay dividends as Thunder Blue heads into the Fall season and prepares for a successful 2008 — and maybe another visit with Mickey in 2009!
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Tough Competition—Info on Teams Played: |
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Thunder Pics: (contact Ms. Didlake for info on additional digital pics) |
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Thunder Thanks: |
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« A special “thank-you” to all those who contributed to making this memorable trip possible… ¨ Richmond East Moose for their tremendous financial support... ¨ Mark B for his coordination and preparation efforts... ¨ Karen B for the unbelievable amount of time spent procuring rooms, putting together informational notebooks, and many other tasks to make this come together... ¨ Kenny W for procuring a trailer to haul all the Thunder gear… ¨ Kendra M (and many others) for the awesome “goodie bags”… ¨ Kerri C for her continued support of Thunder softball including her help at practices leading up to the tournament... ¨ Billy C and Rick M for organizing and running the very successful golf tournament that helped contribute a lot of $$ to the cause... ¨ Rick and Shari D for continuing to provide miscellaneous equipment/gear (and overall support)... ¨ All the dads (and Brad D) for helping warm-up the girls before the games and helping with practice… ¨ Auguste R (and family) for joining the team on late notice... ¨ All the families and friends that continue to support Hanover Thunder softball...
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