Thunder Takes 1st in Slinger Tournament

                         The West Bend Thunder played in their first tournament of the year this past weekend in Slinger and came home with a first place finish. The team hit well, played solid defense and pitched great all weekend long. They started out with a win over Hartford in pool play and then had to face Merton in the 2nd pool game. Merton got out to a 9-3 lead but the team never quit and came all the way back scoring 9 times in the bottom of the fourth, 7 of which came after two were out in the inning. They held on for a 12-10 win and advanced to the Semi Final on Sunday vs. New Berlin Heat.

                  In one of the best played games by both teams you will ever see at the U10 level, the Thunder would prevail 8-2. Great defense by both teams and solid pitching kept the game close. Thunder led 3-2 after 5 innings of play, but a 4 run 6th gave the team some breathing room and the pitching and defense took them home from there. In a rematch of the pool play game, the Thunder would once again take on Merton in the championship game. Merton won 2 games already on Sunday to get to the championship game and was playing their 3rd game of the day. Pitching and defense was the story early for both teams and Merton led 2-0 after 3 complete. The Thunder finally broke through in the fourth scoring 5 times but Merton came right back with 2 of their own in the bottom of the inning and it was 5-4 thunder after 4 innings of play. The 5th is where the Thunder would pull away, sending 13 kids to the plate and scoring 9 times as they would go on to win 21-9. Both teams hit the ball well but in the end the Thunder were the last one standing.

                              Every single kid played their hearts out this weekend and it was a total team effort all weekend long. Umpires, opposing coaches and fans had nothing but great things to say about our team and the way we played all weekend long. The coaches are so proud of these kids and the effort they gave to bring home the championship. It was great baseball and a fun weekend for everyone involved