Thunder holds On For Exciting 2-1 Win over Germantown!!

       On a wonderful night for baseball, the Germantown Warhawks and West Bend Thunder played a league game down at beautiful Helfaer Field. This was the fourth meeting between the two teams with the Thunder winning two of the first three. All games were tough battles and this one was the best of them all. The Thunder started the evening with a 2 game lead in the state league standings. Germantown was looking to close the gap to 1 game and put some pressure on the Thunder while the Thunder were hoping to expand their lead to 3 games and win the season series vs. the rival Warhawks. This game was one of the best 10 year old games you will ever see and umpires agreed.

       The Thunder started out the game with back to back singles by Sam Geldnich and George Seaman and seemed to be in business right away in the top of the first. But some confusion with a sign led to a caught stealing of 3rd base and a pass ball that bounced directly back to the catcher got another Thunder player out on the bases. A good start turned sour for the Thunder as they came away with a zero in the inning and Germantown was fired up. But pitching and defense was the story on this night. Both pitchers were throwing hard and throwing strikes and hits were hard to come by. The Thunder finally broke through for a run in the top of the 3rd. Jake Lavanway started things with a shot down the left field line for a double. Collin Dehne followed with a smash up the middle for an RBI single and the Thunder had the lead. It would stay 1-0 until the top of the 5th. Dawson Rondorf started things with a one out single. Joey Spence worked a walk to put runners on 1st and 2nd. After Lucas Karls hit into a force out, there were runners on the corners with two outs. Lucas Karls would steal 2nd base and when G'town decided to try and throw him out, Dawson Rondorf would steal home for the Thunder's second run of the game and a 2-0 lead. It came down to the bottom of the 7th with the Thunder hanging on to a 2-0 lead. The lead off batter for Germantown ripped a double to start things and all of a sudden Germantowns fans came to life and a rally was on the minds of the Germantown players. Evan Roell would strike out the next batter and with one out a fly ball to right field would get the Thunder their second out of the inning. The runner from 2nd tagged and when the throw scooted by the 3rd baseman the runner scored and Germantown was on the board. All the Thunder needed was one more out, but the clean up hitter came up and ripped a single to right and the tying run was aboard. The next hitter hit a sharp grounder to 2nd that Lucas Karls made an excellent play on to snag the grounder and touch 2nd base for the force out and the Thunder hung on for the 2-1 win.

       It was a great game and the pitching staffs and defense for both teams was excellent. Sam Geldnich started on the mound and went 4 sharp innings. He allowed 2 hits, 1 walk, 0 runs and struck out 5. Evan Roell finished up for the save with 3 innings pitched. He allowed 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 run and struck out 6. Germantown pitchers were almost as good. They only gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs and struck out 9. The games was over in an hour and 20 minutes and the umpires all said it was the best game they ever umped at this level. Lucas Karls made two excellent plays at 2nd base, Jake Lavanway made a great play over at first and the Thunder only had 1 error for the game. At the plate the Thunder were lead by George Seaman who had 2 hits. Sam Geldnich, Dawson Rondorf, Jake Lavanway, and Collin Dehne each had 1 hit with Collin collecting the games only RBI.

     Thanks to all the fans who came down to watch, it was a great atmosphere. The kids enjoyed the music, getting announced and hearing all you great fans cheering them on. It was a night these kids will never forget and as a coach it was a special night to be a part of. Please check out the video under the pictures tab on the left.

    The Thunder gets back into action Saturday with a double header. They travel to Menomonee Falls at 10:00 am and then over to Lannon for a make up game at 1:30. Please come out and watch as the Thunder tries to get closer to clinching their division in the State League. If they win both games Saturday they will be CHAMPS!!!!