SUBMITTED PHOTO The under-16 Thunder softball team poses with bronze medals in Calahoo, Alta. Sunday.
Medicine Hat News
The Medicine Hat Thunder won bronze at under-16 B softball provincials, and very nearly had a spot in Sunday’s final.
In the town of Calahoo, the Thunder forced an extra inning and had a runner at third base to force a second but fell 14-13 to the Sedgewick Oilers in their semifinal.
The team rebounded with a 4-0 shutout of the host Calahoo Erins, taking home third-place medals as a result.
It was a great weekend for the Thunder, who went 4-2 overall. They began with a 9-3 win over the Edmonton Warriors, getting a dominant 10-strikeout performance from pitcher Mia Kelly.
After that, they showed a flair for the dramatic in a 12-11 win over Red Deer’s Rage. Trailing 11-4 in their last at-bat, Medicine Hat scored eight runs. Presley Gainer hit a home run and finished with 3 RBI.
Friday showers forced the Thunder to play three times Saturday, and they beat Lloydminster 14-3 to essentially lock up a medal round spot. Rachel Werre got the win on the mound, Makayla Clarke went 3-for-3 with a home run and 4 RBI.
They took their only round robin loss against a second (older) Calahoo team, 3-2 Saturday night. Kelly took the loss while Maddy King had one of the Thunder’s lone hits, going 1-for-1 with a run and an RBI.
In the wild semifinal against Sedgewick, Kenny King finished 3-for-5 with 2 RBI. Medicine Hat trailed 9-6 in the sixth inning, forced a seventh but couldn’t pull through.
Kelly threw a complete game shutout in the bronze medal game, striking out six.
Most of the players from the Thunder now head to Alberta Summer Games this weekend.
Under-14 team goes 1-3 in Lacombe
At Lacombe, Medicine Hat’s girls went 1-3 at the provincial under-14 C tournament, starting on the right foot but unable to parlay that into a medal round appearance.
“For so many of the players on this team, it was their first experience playing rep ball,” wrote coach Josh Hudson in a press release. “With no real good idea of what to expect, we just went in looking to do our best and learn as much as possible. We had some ups and downs, for sure, but at the end of the day, this team should be very proud of what they did. As a result of our hard work, all of this team will be even better next year.”
A 16-6 win over the host team Friday saw Hailey Hudson go 3 1/3 innings, only allowing three hits as the Thunder offence invoked the mercy rule in the fourth.
Berlin Mastel went 4-for-4 with a home run while Madison Perry hit a home run and a triple.
A 15-5 loss Saturday to Drumheller was the start of a busy Saturday. Bad weather late Friday forced the team to play three times, and they lost all three. Marwayne’s Huskies beat them 21-11, helped out by 13 walks issued by Hat pitchers. Kayla Robinson led the offence with three hits. Then a 10-9 loss to Calgary’s SBR Phoenix ended their hopes for a playoff berth. The Thunder led that contest 6-2 after four innings but wasn’t able to finish it off.
Robinson hit an incredible .818 in four games, and the team hit a combined .516.
