Thunder take host tourney title

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

It’s becoming an annual rite of passage in Strathmore. Just as the ice melts and grass begins to green, the Thunder Fastball Tournament is the first welcome sign that summer is on its way.
What made the seventh annual installment of the tournament even sweeter this year was seeing one of the host teams lifting the trophy once all the dust had settled.
The U16 Strathmore Thunder rode a third inning hit parade to a 12-5 victory over the Sherwood Park Storm May 6 at the Ag Society Diamonds.
“Once the girls saw that pitcher one time through, they got their timing down and figured her out,” said Thunder Head Coach Vince Olson.
With one out, the rally began with an Isabella McIntyre double, followed by a Justine Larson single, a Natalie Funk base knock and pair of singles from Lauryn Dirks and Ainsley Olson.
Even though Kate Messom struck out on four pitches, the rally didn’t stop there. The Thunder rattled off seven more hits and earned a bean ball by Darian Breaker to turn the tables and grab an 11-4 lead.
“They are a mature group that doesn’t panic when they are down a couple of runs. They have been in this position before and know that it only takes one inning to turn things around,” said Vince.
The Thunder needed a nail-biter to advance to the finals. They trailed 4-3 to the Nosecreek Chaos in the bottom of the seventh.
Leadoff walks are the ultimate rally starter and usually find a way to come around to score. Breaker got things going in the seventh with a four-pitch walk and advanced to third on a double by Emma Goldade. Funk was up at the dish and smoked a ball down the line that was bobbled by the third basemen long enough for Funk to leg it out and for Goldade to cross home for the 5-4 win.
“Winning the home tournament is always a great feeling. We had great crowd support all weekend and I can’t think of a better way to start our season off than with this win. Hopefully it gives us some momentum moving forward into the summer,” said Vince.
The Thunder also picked up a 4-2 victory of the Red Deer Rage and cooked the Olds Pistols 9-2 May 5. The Thunder used a four-run fourth inning to down the Storm in the tourney opener May 4.
Not too long ago, there was some serious concern that the tournament was going to be cancelled due to poor weather and sloppy field conditions. Thankfully, the weather took a turn for the better and extensive labour hours went into getting the diamonds ready for game shape.
“The tourney went smooth and was a great time for everyone. We put a lot of work in last week to help out the people at the AG Society to get these fields ready and it was worth it. It paid off and now we can have teams playing here every night,” said Thunder President Lanky Johnson.
Other than the U16 club, the three other Strathmore teams all enjoyed success at the tournament.
The U12 Thunder were eclipsed for the second time in the tournament by the Calgary Kaizen 12-6 in the semifinal May 6.
The Thunder opened the tourney by beating the Adrenaline 13-8 May 4, but lost their second game to the Kaizen 17-13. They closed out the round robin slate by losing 14-4 to the St. Albert Angels.
The U19 Thunder were clipped 12-5 by the Melfort Spirit May 6. The Thunder were 2-1 after the round robin stage that saw them pick up wins over the Cobras 8-6 and Spirit 6-2, but lost to the eventual champion Red Deer Rage 6-5 May 5.
The U14 Thunder opened the tourney with wins over the Calgary Adrenaline 10-8 May 4 and 9-7 over the Red Deer Rage May 5. They closed out the round robin by getting thumped by the Sherwood Park Storm 15-5. In the semis, the Thunder were bested by the Rage 9-8 to end their tourney bid.
The annual Thunder tournament was the biggest fastball event this season, as no local teams will host provincial tournaments. Now, the teams will pick up play in their Calgary league, compete in tournaments throughout the season and take another swing at provincial titles later on in the summer.