Arlington Heights Thunder Fastpitch Softball

Members of the Thunder joined the PHYBS Phantoms Buddy Ball team on Friday night for a fun scrimmage.  Buddy Ball provides special needs athletes with a program that enables them to participate as fully as possible in baseball / softball. Buddy Ball has become widely appreciated and receives volunteers who help participants hit, field, throw and move around the bases during the game. The players build a special bond with their “buddies”, making this a great experience for everyone involved.   Players are exposed to the rules of the game and learn qualities such as teamwork and good sportsmanship. And the program enables players to be part of an organized sport, furthering their physical fitness goals and helping them develop social skills.  Our Thunder players loved being buddies so much that we are going to participate in another scrimmage in a few weeks.  This was such a fun experience for everyone, thank you Phantoms for letting us be your buddies!

All seven Thunder teams were in action this week, let’s check in and see how they did.  10u Black  10u Black brought the Thunder in a pair of wins on Saturday, beating league opponent Titan Fastpitch 7 – 2 behind strong pitching and timely hitting, then broke out for 16 hits includes doubles by Jessica, Lexi (2), Leah and Graceleen, and triples by Olivia and Keira, to beat the Kenosha Fusion 14 – 4. Check out some of their blasts in the video below.  Up Next: 10u Black continues league play later this week, hosting first place Deerfield on Thursday before an off weekend.  10u Teal 10u Teal remained undefeated in league play, taking down the host Titans by a final score of 8 – 6. A combined strong effort by Hannah and Kat on the mound led the way. Teal fell in their afternoon game against the Fusion, despite tallying ten runs and outhitting the Fusion 14 – 6.  Up Next:  10u Teal opens up tournament play this weekend in Barrington against Lake Zurich, the host Bandits and the ESAA Storm.

All seven Thunder teams were in action this weekend, let’s check in and see how they did.  10u Black  10u Black opened tournament play this weekend in Johnsburg. Timely hitting (like this game-tying line drive to right field by Olivia) kept the Thunder close during pool play before eventually falling to tournament runner-up CTW in bracket play.  10u Black is right back to work with three games this week including their league opener on the road on Saturday in Glenview.  10u Teal  10u Teal had a pair of friendlies on Saturday against the Park Ridge Pistols and the ESAA Storm. Kylie, Katherine, and Mallory all collected multiple hits while Taryn added multiple hits and a solid inning on the mound in the second game.  10u Teal opens up league play this week against the Deerfield Warriors and Glenview Titans.  11u  11u began tournament play this weekend securing their first tournament win of the season over the Oswego Outlaws despite the crazy conditions before falling in bracket play to t

Thunder 12u Teal and Thunder 13u opened up the tournament portion of their spring schedule at the Roselle Rockers Spring Fling this weekend. While both teams didn’t reach their ultimate team goals, there were plenty of highlights from a great opening weekend of spring softball.  Teal Makes Early Statement  12u Teal opened the event with a Friday evening win against the host Rockers. In a back and forth affair, the Thunder prevailed 13-10. Three hits and four RBIs from Amalia and strong work on the mound from Kate lead the way with Viv adding two more RBIs en route to a whopping thirteen team hits in just a three inning, time limit adjusted pool play game.  13u Sweeps the Afternoon  After dropping their tournament opener and having an impromptu pizza party with our 12u Teal sisters, 13u bounced back to win both afternoon games against the Melrose Park Devils and Roselle Rockers. Similar to Teal’s matchup with the Rockers 12u team, the Thunder came back to win 13-10, with the winning run