Thunder strike 5th

Times Reporter   

 

The Strathmore Thunder U18 Fastpitch ladies traveled to Richmond, British Columbia for the Western Canadian Championship from August 8-11; finishing 2-4 in round robin, the Thunder placed fifth in Western Canada.

“All teams and games were fairly even, outside of Manitoba who were no doubt the top team there,” said Strathmore Head Coach Lanky Johnson. His team needed just one more win to be able to move into the final four playoff round.

“Each game did come down to which team got the key, big play to ignite the team,” he said. “Unfortunately in a couple games we did not get the timely play or break when needed.”

Their first game, on Thursday, was a loss to South Delta 10-4. Both teams had nine hits, but Strathmore could not manage to bring them to home plate. Morgan Ackerman of the Thunder had two RBI that game, and Alyssa Lavallee contributed the same to the Thunder’s next game later that day against the Earl Grey Heat. It was a close matchup in the first few innings, but the Thunder lost their hitting power near the end, and lost 10-6.

Friday showed promise to be a new start for Strathmore; they won their first matchup 7-6 over Cordova Bay with a late game double in the last inning. Again, Lavallee had two RBI, while Kirstyn Johnson had four strikeouts, and pitched all seven innings. Four hours later, the Thunder were mercied by Kindersley, Saskatchewan 13-6, and produced nine errors. In Strathmore’s last game Friday, Manitoba blanked them 12-0.

Saturday, Nicole White led the team with three RBI for a close 8-7 victory over the Richmond Islanders. Strathmore took the lead early, and though it juggled back and forth, they held off the home team in the bottom of the seventh. Their final season record was 16-20-1.

“The girls did play hard throughout and really deserved a better record than what it was in the end,” said Coach Johnson. ”They did make some exceptional plays that were very impressive to watch.”