Thunder wins national berth

Pictured, from left, are: front row - Lauren Abbott, Danielle Miller, Ashlynn Hartman, and Erin Lisko; back row - Megan Baker, Elisabeth Sharpe, Katelyn Baughman, Emily Estep, Autumn Appleby, Katie Zak, Carly Mowen, and Shanan Plunkett

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - The Tri-State Thunder Silver softball team has rolled out to a 13-0 overall record this fall, and most recently went undefeated in the 2007 16U ASA "Back To School Bash" tournament held at the Hagerstown Fairgrounds the weekend of Sept. 29 and 30.

Teams representing Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland participated in the tournament. Included in the seven team field was perennial national powerhouse, the Pittsburgh (PA) Power, as well as four other PONY National qualifiers from 2007. The Tri-State Thunder went undefeated in pool play with wins over Maryland Champions (9-1 score), Virginia Xplosion (5-0 score), and Cumberland County (PA) Magic (10-3 score) to earn the #1 seed in pool play.

In elimination play the Thunder defeated the Maryland Flames by a score of 8-0 in the semifinals. Then the Thunder rallied from a 0-3 deficit in the fourth inning of the championship game to overtake the Virginia Xplosion of Fauquier County, Va. by a score of 8-4 for the ASA qualifier title. In winning the tourney championship the Tri-State Thunder earned an automatic berth to 16U ASA Eastern Nationals to be played in York in August 2008.