Taylor S, Shawna K (3 for 3 in the game), and Megan I scored in the bottom of the 1st to put Thunder in front -- Inferno battled to tie in the top of the 4th...

With 1 out in their final at bat, Lindsay W reached base on a walk, followed by a Kelsey M single to put 2 on base...Julie P then belted a 2-2 fastball in the left-center gap for a 2-run scoring double to win the game!!

     Hanover Thunder, playing their 1st tournament of the 2010 season - in their 1st full year at 16U -- played and won the 9th Annual NSA Crowne Plaza Invitational. A walk-off double (Julie P) in the first game of the season against the RBI Inferno, was followed by two shut-out wins against the VA Lady Pilots and the Rappahannock Rapids. The 3-0 pool-play finish allowed the Thunder to sleep-in and start elimination play at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
    After cruising to a 7-0 win against the Williamsburg Starz, the Thunder faced the Lady Pilots in the semi-final. The Thunder jumped to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st only to have the Pilots knot it at 3 in the 3rd inning. A Thunder game-winning RBI single by Taylor S (scoring Julie P) in the 4th was the difference in the 4-3 win. In the Championship game, the Thunder put things away early -- losing the coin flip, the Thunder played as the visitors, batting first -- on 7 hits, the Thunder batted 12 with each of the 1st 8 batters scoring runs to take a commanding 8-0 lead. The Thunder tacked on another 3 in the 4th to complete the 11-0 victory...

Shawna K and Courtney D singles were followed by a Shannon A double to pu the Thunder up early 2-0. A spectacular diving catch (doubling up a runner at 2nd base to end the inning) by 2nd baseman by Megan I helped thwart a bottom of the 1st rally by the Pilots. The Thunder added another 4 in the 4th to put the game away (hits by Kelsey M, Julie P, and a double by Courtney D) -- Shannon A pitched a shut-out which included 6 K's and only 1 walk.

The Thunder put things away early in the Championship game, with the first 8 batters in the line-up scoring in the 1st inning. They added another 3 in the 4th to wrap up the Championship -- Taylor S, Shawna K, and Julie P each had 2 hits. All Thunder players in the game scored at least 1 run with the exception of Lindsay W who went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI!

Kelsey M shut-down the Sting bats - giving up no hits and striking out 3 in 4 innings of work.

Shawna K and Courtney D scored in the 1st to put the Thunder up 2-0 - the Starz made it 2-1 in the 2nd, but the Thunder put up 2 more in the 3rd on Courtney D, Shannon A, and Megan I (double) hits and 3 in the 4th to close out the scoring on Kelsey M, Shawna K, Courtney D (triple), and Shannon A hits. Shannon A struck out 8 to earn the win.

Continuing the 1st inning scoring trend, the Thunder jumped up on the Pilots 3-0 after 1 inning -- Taylor S, Shawna K, and Shannon A scoring. The Pilots managed to tie the game at 3 after 3 innings. In the 4th inning, with 1-out, Julie P walked and ended up scoring the go-ahead (and winning) run after a Lindsay W double and Taylor S game-winning RBI hit. Kelsey M struck out 4 in 3 innings of work and Shannon A closed out the win with 2 hit-less innings.

The Thunder put up 11 runs in 3 at-bats to defeat the Rapids -- Shawna K (3 singles, 3 runs scored) and Courtney D (2 hits, 3 runs scored) led the Thunder bats. Kelsey M pitched a 4 inning no-hitter striking out 5!