Southern Baseball NIT Pairings Released

The tournament pairings for the upcoming Southern Baseball NIT at the Heritage Point Complex in Dalton, Georgia have been released.

The Thunder, leaving the state of Alabama for the first time, will be matched against a team from Tennessee (Chattanooga Chiefs) and two teams from Georgia (Powder Springs Indians and Ringgold Bandits) in the first day of competition on Saturday, April 12th.

Directions to the park and details on times and the single elimination tournament on Sunday can be found here:

http://www.usssa.com/sports/tournament3.asp?TournamentID=446867

Good Luck, Thunder.

Thunder Set Tournament Record

The Thunder scored the most runs in a single tournament game and finished as Runners-up in the Silver Division for the second tournament in a row this weekend in the Spring Lead Off NIT. The team also had the second most runs scored for the whole tournament.

Despite playing against teams in a higher classification in 5 of their 7 games, the Thunder have held their own, though Coach Wilson acknowledges that the boys still have room for improvement. "We're getting better, we've still got to fix a few things, but we started hitting the ball. I'm proud of the team."

The highlight of the tournament had to be the 19-3 victory over the East Madison County Red Sox where the Thunder batted all the way through the order twice in the same inning. Coach Haynes was heard to say that this feat was "a first in Thunder history".

The boys of Thunder will now take a week off to concentrate on starting their park seasons and will hit the road again the second week of April with Dalton, Georgia and Cullman, Alabama potential destinations.

Pairings Announced for Spring Leadoff NIT

The schedule is out for the Thunder's next tournament, and their first game will be a rematch of the Winter Countdown Silver Division Championship. The Thunder have been placed in Pool B with the Central Colts and North Alabama Sharks.

Pool play games will take place on Saturday with a single elimination tournament on Sunday. There will be NO Friday night games. The first pool play game will be on Bynum Field against the Colts at 10:40am. The second pool play game will be on Veteran's Park Field against the Sharks at 5:20pm.

On Sunday, the schedule is as follows:

6 vs 7 - 9:00am
5 vs Winner of 6v7 - 10:40am
1 vs 4 - 12:20pm
2 vs 3 - 2:00pm
Championship - 3:40pm

GO Thunder!!

Schedule Change

The Thunder have registered to play in the Spring Leadoff NIT in beautiful Scottsboro, Alabama, a USSSA event.

The dates will still be 28-30 March, and this will now be The Thunder's next tournament event instead of making a trip to Albertville.

Here's the link to the Scottsboro USSSA site: http://www.playusssa.com/.

Currently, the North Alabama Sharks, Alabama Diamondbacks, North Alabama Senators, and two teams we've matched up with previously, the Central Colts and East Madison County Red Sox, are potential opponents!! And we also hear that this is the Home of the World Famous Unclaimed Baggage Center.

Thunder Opens Season With Victory

Congratulations to all the boys for a very successful Winter Countdown. And for their efforts, they were awarded a team trophy as runners-up in the Silver Divsion, and many walked away with cool looking T-shirts as well.

The highlight of the tournament was certainly the 8-2 victory over the Huntsville Panthers, which was led by an outstanding pitching performance, some timely hitting, and a couple of nifty plays in the field.

Unfortunately, after a close 5-4 loss on the last play of the second game against the Arab Knights, the competitive edge was somewhat dulled by a nearly 4-hour wait before the final game against the Central Colts.

Still, the Thunder showed some good baseball skill (especially for early March), got their first win, and Ms. Stacy got to utilize her long-distance radio commentating skills.

Winter Countdown Schedule Change, Part Deux

Games for Friday evening have been cancelled, and the entire tournament will be played on Sunday, March 9th.

The Thunder are now scheduled to play at 10:15am and 11:30am with another game to follow based on seeding. Games are now limited to 1 hour.

Here's the link to the pairings again: http://alabamausssa.org/2008schedulehuntsvillemar8

Winter Countdown Schedule Revision

Because of the forecast for inclement weather on Saturday, the Winter Countdown Tournament Director has moved Saturday games to Sunday. Friday night games remain unchanged for the time being. This means that we will now play our second game at 10:00am Sunday morning.

The link given below will still take you to the pairings. Stay tuned!!