Thunder Softball Announces 2011 Recruits

June 23

Wes Vork-NSO

CLOQUET – Through the first three seasons of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College women’s fastpitch the Thunder have reeled off 41 wins. That number is significant due to the fact the Thunder started their program from scratch just three seasons ago. With season four coming in the spring of 2011 the Thunder are far from resting on their laurels.

“We need to keep scouting all summer long and we need to bring in local kids who want to play ball,” said the architect of the Thunder program, Kerry Rodd. “This school is a tremendous place to get an education, and for local kids to be able to come in and play is just a huge bonus for them as well.”

While many community colleges struggle to keep numbers up, that hasn’t been an issue for Rodd and the Thunder. In fact, the Thunder have just finished up their recruiting for next school year and the roster is chalk full of local talent solid numbers.

“Yes, we are excited about the student-athletes we have coming in,” explained Rodd. “It is a big group of kids and they will help us be a better a deeper team next season.”

Next season the Thunder roster will feature players from McGregor, Hill City and Littlefork-Bigfalls for the first time in school history, as well as a pair of stars from Moose Lake-Willow River.

“Katie Youngberg and Kim Ergen will make us better right from the start,” said Rodd of the pitcher and catcher from Moose Lake-Willow River. “Casey Pierce, who is from McGregor, will add a good glove in the infield and Kassi Neary of Hill City is a great find for us at pitcher and infield.”

The Thunder have also added Ariel Morris from AlBrook, Natasha Jenkins of Deer River, Leesa Moeller of Proctor and Liz Wilke-Bobst of Littlefork-Bigfalls.

“Liz is our latest recruit and we just fell in love with her athleticism and we think she can help us behind the plate as well as in other positions. She is a gifted athlete,” remarked Rodd. “Morris is a player I know a lot about because she played for me in summer ball and she can play multiple positions and we like the fact that Jenkins can throw and Moeller will be a strong candidate for a couple of positions.”

Jennah Bailey of Floodwood will be another key for the Thunder as she steps in after a year away from softball. Bailey is a talented athlete who can step in to any infield position as well as the outfield according to Rodd.

“When you add these recruits in with our returning group it makes us very excited. We think we have a lot of kids who can help us reach another level next season, ” Rodd stated. “I think we’ll have a good mix of first and second year players for the first time since we started the program.”

Rodd’s team will also return a talented group of sophomores that include; Holly Nelson, Lisa Muehlberger, Anna Engelmeier, Amanda Larson and Kortney Lindberg.

“That group has some good ability at the plate,” mentioned Rodd. “We have some power with that group, but we also add some speed with our next group of recruits, so we like the mix.”

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com