Thunder Softball Falls To Itasca

Chris Shevich-NSO

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Apr 24

Wes Vork-NSO

The Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Thunder wrapped up the schools first-ever berth in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference state tournament last week. The Thunder took to the road and picked up wins over Mesabi Range and Rainy River before falling in tough back-to-back games in Cloquet to #1 ranked Itasca.

“It has been a wild season so far,” said Thunder coach Kerry Rodd. “It really has been a war of transition and fortunately we’ve stayed healthy enough to make a good run at the tournament here during the last couple of weeks.”

The Thunder are 20-12 on the season and 16-10 in the conference, which guarantees them a spot in next week’s state tournament in St. Cloud. “Our goal all season has been to get to the tournament,” explained Rodd. “The ladies have worked extremely hard and they have shown a lot of resiliency during the season.”

On Friday, the Thunder traveled to International Falls to take on Rainy River with a state tournament berth at stake. A pair of wins by Rainy River would have put them back in the hunt for the state tournament, but a couple of wins by the Thunder would guarantee the first state appearance in any sport.

“The ladies really came out to play in those games,” Rodd mentioned. “It was cold, windy, rainy and just miserable, but our kids came out and dominated with the bats.”

Led by the unstoppable force Stacie Miller, the Thunder rolled to 14-3 and 17-6 wins to solidify their playoff spot. “Miller went 9-for-9 and had 12 runs batted in during the two games. The whole team just pounded the ball and it made for a fun ride home.”

After arriving home in the early hours of Saturday morning, the Thunder then turned around and played Northern Division champions Itasca. The Thunder fell by 9-4 and 4-1 scores.

“They have great pitching at Itasca,” Rodd commented. “We were right in both games and then we had one bad inning, but that’s what good teams do. You just can’t make mistakes against quality teams and expect to compete.”

The Thunder will play in St. Cloud on Friday and Saturday in the state tournament against a yet to be named opponent.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com