Thunder-struck gold!

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore Thunder U21 fast pitch team won the gold medal as provincial hosts, edging the Calgary Xtreme 5-3 in the final on July 12 at the Strathmore Agricultural Society diamonds.
Going into the final, the girls had a 3-1 record but started off the game with a five-hour rain delay. That, however, did not seem to faze the team as they started off with two quick runs in the first inning.
They were able to tack another one on in the third before the Xtreme got one back in the fifth to make it 3-1.
After trading a couple of runs in the sixth and seventh inning, strong defensive play was all the Thunder needed to preserve the win.
“Kirstyn Johnson pitched six strong innings for the win, Libby Wheeler supplied relief in the seventh inning,” said head coach Lanky Johnson. “Centre fielder Jordan Mitchell (and) shortstop Jessica Murphy both made great defensive plays in the late innings to prevent any scoring.”
Johnson added that what made it a successful weekend was the fact the bats were going and producing runs.
“Over the weekend, (the team) batted around the .400 mark and when you have that it makes things easier,” he said.
The Thunder squad will now prepare the Junior Western Canadian Championships in Surrey, B.C. from August 6-9.
For the Strathmore Thunder U16 team, the end result was not as exciting as they had hoped, as the tournament hosts were plagued by inconsistancy.
Assistant coach Daren Kennett thought if they did not have as many slow starts and dug in more they might have been playing for a medal.
“We’ve got to play better in all aspects,” said Kennett.
He thought the girls competed hard all weekend considering the teams they played against were from their regular season league.
“All the other teams we played, played really well,” said Kennett. “There was no easy ride. Everybody came to play and it was a tough competition.”
The girls were able to put it together and got their lone win in the last game.
Kennett suggested that they might play a few games next year in preparation for provincials.