Thunder Hold Off Winston

  
     It was a scorcher of a day on Sunday in Acworth as the Thunder hoped to play three games and win the Lake City Classic. Thunder parents and fans found a little relief under pop-up tents that  At 2:23, with a temperature of 88˚, JJ threw the first pitch against Winston and the game began with a double by the leadoff hitter. Before you could blink Winston had pushed across a 3 runs and loaded the bases. A walk and a fielding error allowed the visitors to score their 4th and 5th runs and the mercy rule was thankfully observed, with no outs recorded by the Thunder.  In the bottom of the first, the boys from DHYS got things going in a hurry. With one out Noah Hammond hit a ball in just the right place and hustled out an infield single.  Jack Sprat followed with a double to right and Max crushed a single scoring Noah and Jack and took second on the throw.  Ryan continued the hit parade and drove in Max with a single to make the score 5-3.  After Ben walked the bases were juiced. Connor and Gaines picked up RBI's with walks and we were back to even at 5-5.
     After one batter in the second, Coach Phil made a pitching change and brought in Mashman.  The Thunder had a hard time fielding and throwing and Winston was able to tack on 4 runs to take a 9-5 lead. In the last of the second, Kenny led off with a double. Noah hit a soft flare to shallow right, but was caught off base and thrown out.  Jack popped out and Max reached on an error and their were runners on the corners. Ryan smashed a ball that the shortstop could not handle and two runs scored. The Thunder had pulled within 2.
     The third was a good inning for the Thunder. Connor stayed on the mound and got the first batter to offer at the first pitch and the ball went straight to Jack at short. One out. A few pitches later, Max made a nice play at third and two were down.  After a single, Connor got the next batter to hit a tapper to the second sacker Gaines Moore, who made a perfect throw to first for the third out.  Ben started the bottom of the inning with a walk. Connor then hit a ball to the shortstop, who tossed to second to get the lead runner, but they could not get Connor, hustling down the line to first.  Gaines hit a bunt single that would have made Coach Ron proud, advancing the runner all the way to third. The catcher dropped the ball on the 3rd strike to Kenny and was unable to get the ball to first. Mashman scored and it was 9-8.  The pitcher balked, moving Gaines to third and Noah drove him in with a single to tie the score at 9. Jack finished off the hitting with a single, scoring Noah and the Thunder took the lead for the first time in the game.
     In the fourth, Connor got two quick outs, but then walked the next two batters. Jack Purdy came on in relief and got the Winston batter to fly out to Ben in left.  Ryan and Mercer started the Thunder fourth with consecutive singles. Mercer was erased on a fielders choice hit by JJ followed by the shortstop making a nice play up the middle to rob Ben of a hit. Connor, pinch-hitter James Huey, Kenny and Noah followed with consecutive hits and the Thunder won it 14-9.  Once again the Thunder had come back from a 5-0 deficit to beat Winston.  Next up was a game against the Hobgood Heat from Woodstock at 5:45.  There was just enough time for the team to head to Moe's to get refueled and get out of the swelter.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E	L
Winston	5	4	0	0			9	4	6	6
DHYS Thunder	5	2	3	4			14	16	7	9

hot day at the ballpark

game 2

Thunder Get Up Off the Deck

     The Thunder showed up in their sharp black uniforms ready to go Friday night. Relegated to a smaller field, more like our home field at Medlock, the boys were anxious to get started and see what they could do against Winston Baseball from Douglas County. James Huey, fresh off the DL, was not in the starting lineup, but was ready to come off the bench to pinch-hit. Once again, Coach Phil won the coin toss and chose to be the home team.  Ryan Murray took the "mound" and threw the first pitch of the game at 8:05. The temperature was 78˚ and dropping on a swell night at Kennworth Park. Ryan had some control trouble early, but settled in and overcame a lead off walk and shaky fielding with just 2 runs scored. In the bottom frame, Jack Purdy got things going with a shot that would have been an easy double on Field 3, but was held to a long single. Max walked and Ryan reached on an error and the bases were loaded with Thunder. JJ was the victim of some high strike calls and the inning ended with no runs scored for the Thunder.

     In the top of the 2nd, the Thunder gave Winston an extra out and the team in blue pushed across one more run to extend their lead to 3-0.  Beek led off the bottom of the second, stole 2nd and 3rd, and was stranded there as the Winston hurler struck out the side.  Still no runs for the Thunder.

     Coach Phil made a pitching change in the third and rookie Mercer Buechner took the mound looking to hold Winston right where they were.  A fielding error and a solid double put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no out. A tapper back to the mound caused some confusion and Winston pushed across two runs. Mercer got out of the inning with some solid pitching and the score was 5-0. The Thunder could not get anything going in the bottom of the third and a chill began to set in for the kids from in-town.

     Things got interesting in the fourth.  A fly-out to right by Winston was followed by a base-on-balls. The runner took second, but Kenzilla was not impressed. The confident baserunner tried to swipe third, but was out from me to you on a perfect throw to third. Two down. The next batter hit what appeared to be an easy grounder to short, but took a "Medlock" hop and ricocheted off Jack's forehead.  Momentarily stunned, he stayed in the game with the imprint of baseball stitches right over his eyes.  After play resumed Mercer struck out #34 to end the inning and for the first time of the night, Winston was held scoreless. 

     It was getting late and it looked bleak for the Thunder after two quick outs.  Beek hustling down the line reached on an error by the shortstop and Ben followed with a single and the Thunder were threatening with runners on the corners. James Huey pinch-hit for Mashman and lined a single up the middle. Ben moved to third and Mercer scored. The Thunder had finally broken through.  Connor came back in to pinch-run for Huey and attempted to steal second. The catcher sailed the ball into center allowing Ben and Connor to score. Suddenly, we had a ball game. Heading to the final inning, the Thunder had pulled within 2 runs.

     Coach Phil, confident in Mercer's arm, kept #18 on the mound to face the top of the order for Winston.  The first batter grounded out to short. The #2 hitter, who already had a single and a double on the night reached on an error. The next batter hit a single to Kenny in left. The runner had his eyes on third and so did Kenny, who threw him out by 5 feet. The next batter hit a come-backer to the mound and the top of the fifth was done. 

     Kenny led of the bottom half with a solid single and stole second.  Noah and Jack could not advance the runner and the Thunder were down to their last out. Max walked on four pitches and that brought Ryan Murray to the plate. Ryan hit a towering double to left center that plated Kenny and Max and the game was tied!  Jarret hit a sharp grounder to 3rd and hustled down the line, but was thrown out to end the game. The Thunder stayed together and played the whole game to avoid a loss and really seem to be coming together as a solid team.  Thunder parents, all in black, were happy to have Dr. Mashman around, as it looks like they will need heart monitoring throughout the summer. The seeding games are over. Let's play some tournament ball! 

Interesting Stats:

- Freshmen Mercer and Ryan continue to contribute with bats and arms.

- James Huey stayed loose in the dugout and had a huge hit to get the Thunder on the board.

- Coach Phil picked out really cool uniforms!

-Jack Hammond and Steve Jones are brilliantly keeping score for the Thunder, analog and digital, respectively.

-Mercer's Uncle Thomas, who enjoyed the heartburn so much from game 1, decided to have additional hot dogs on Friday.

-152 miles logged so far.

So long everybody.

Winston at DHYS Thunder Box Score

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E	L
Winston	2	1	2	0	0		5	8	4	8
DHYS Thunder	0	0	0	3	2		5	6	3	6

WP: -, LP: -, SV: -

     

Wednesday Night Lights

90's in May,
and traffic
become worth it
for baseball.

A new team,
new park,
new uniforms
passed around,
navigating towards
field 3.

Three is the number
of runs batted in
by Murray
in the last frame
of the first
and we were sitting
pretty in Acworth.

But the other team
has come to play
and hit and field, too.
They are also twelve,
unseasoned
imperfect
and the game begins to sway
back and forth
between the bases.

Parents stand
sit
shuffle

The game seems to slip away
but
Mashman, Thilo, Buechner, Moore
Andrews, Hammond and Purdy
have a different script
and follow
it home.

visions of summer

Team Effort Gets Win in Acworth

     It was quite an atmosphere at the Acworth Sports Complex last night. New teammates, new uniforms, new season, and the 12U Thunder donned their bright whites and right away looked like a team ready to play.  Coach Nick braved a batting cage without a safety net and threw BP to the kids. He has catlike reflexes for his age and escaped unharmed.  At Field 3, the team witnessed a last at bat victory at the end of the 6:00 game and quickly took the field for a few minutes to survey the grounds. The Thunder won the coin flip and selected to be the home team and remained in the first base dugout.  First pitch was at 8:10 and the temperature was 83˙.  Jack Purdy was on the mound and the Wills Park Eagles, in their nifty red uniforms came out swinging and after a quick pop out, got a runner on base on an error. Ben "Gunner" Thilo had his eye on the runner and sure enough threw him out at second on an attempted steal. After another error, the Thunder got out of the inning with no runs scoring.  In the bottom of the first, two consecutive singles by Kenzilla and Cheddar followed by Stovepipe taking a pitch to the arm, set up a bases clearing double by newcomer Ryan Murray. The inning ended with a 4-0 lead for the Thunder.

     The game went back and forth for the next hour and a half and heading into the last inning, the Eagles had a 12-10 lead. It was time to see what the Thunder were made of. Sure enough, the Thunder got up off the deck with patient at-bats and a clutch single by Jack Purdy with the bases loaded and won it in nail-biting fashion 13-12.  Thunder parents and fans were seen distributing Tums among themselves as the game ended.  Congratulations to Coach Phil on his first 12U victory. Next game is Friday at 7:30 in Acworth, followed by a tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

Some interesting Stats:

-Newcomers Mercer Buechner and Ryan Murray accounted for 6 of the 12 RBI's.

-Three players came to bat in the bottom of the 5^th a combined 0 for 6 and drew three walks to help extend the game and give us a chance to win.  Those three players scored the three runs we needed to win the game that inning! Batting averages and RBIs rarely tell the whole story.*(from Coach Phil)

-Everyone on the team scored at least one run last night except Ryan.  And since Ryan led the team with 4 RBIs we’ll forgive him for not scoring*

-The concession stand drew rave reviews from Thunder fans.

-There is NOTHING like a night out at the old ballpark.

-76 miles logged so far.

So long everybody.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	L
Wills Park Eagles	0	2	4	5	1					12	12	4	7
DHYS Thunder	3	2	2	3	3					13	10	7	5

WP: Kenny Andrews, LP: -, SV: -

A Great Start

As a player who has played for almost seven years, I could not have been any happier with our first game together. The atmosphere in the dugout was perfect and everyone kept there heads up at all times. With this years team only having two replacements from last year (Mercer Buechner & Ryan Murray), we are a much stronger team who knows how to play together. Last year we had four replacements from the previous year, the team seemed off center and we weren't a solid bond. The original eight all-stars that have played together for now three straight summers (Ben Thilo, Noah Hammond, Kenny Andrews, Jarret Jones, Gaines Moore, Trevor Gulley, James Huey, and me, Jack Purdy), are solid to the end of the universe. I told my dad last night leaving the ballpark, "Ryan and Mercer just fit in so well and it all seems right." And I'll say, having Ryan Murray & Mercer Buechner replace Nate Gaul and Logan Pins seems right. So lets stick together, work together, get together, and we will have a fantastic road all the way to COOPERSTOWN! Go Thunder!

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Boys of Summer

Yesterday was a hot preview of things to come. Low 90's had the boys sweating as Coach Ron ran a great practice. I'm telling you folks, this is a great group of ballplayers. This blog will be updated throughout the summer as we make our way to Cooperstown. Please feel free to comment on posts and submit your own.
Let's Go THUNDER!