U18 Girls Thunder to compete in Western Finals

Times Reporter   

 

Though they originally had beaten the Red Deer Rage in round robin play 12-4, the U18 Girls Thunder fell behind in the provincial final 7-1. With their silver win this past weekend in Leduc, the Thunder will advance to the Western Canadian Championship in August, taking place in Richmond, B.C. 

The girls waited for the final for four hours, having received a bye in the second round, beating Irma 8-1 in the first.

“The sitting and waiting for the final did us more harm than good,” Coach Lanky Johnson said. “To go with the fact we already knew we had qualified for the Western Finals, it did take a little steam from the girls entering the final game for gold.”

The Thunder had a three-way tie after the round robin with Red Deer and Irma, but Strathmore was seeded first after tie-breaking rules. Red Deer defeated Marwayne and Irma to draw the Thunder in the final.

Jessica Murphy led team batters with an average of .429; Megan Lecavalier, Alyssa Lavallee, and Kirstyn Johnson all hit over .300 as well. The latter had been out of play since May 18, and provided a key spark with her return to the team.

A couple of players from the eliminated provincial teams will be added to Strathmore’s roster to bulk up before the Western Championship. The team will now resume league play in Calgary, and prepare for the tournament in Richmond.