ELLETTSVILLE, Ind. — The Ellettsville Thunder, an 8U Class A baseball team, finished 3rd this weekend in the USSSA Slumpbuster tournament in Seymour, IN.

The team showed great improvement in their third tournament together as a team. The Thunder come from the Richland Bean Blossom Youth Sports Little League and are in their first year of competition as a team (most of the kids having never played travel baseball before this season).

After the team held tryouts last summer, practices kept the boys busy through the winter. Once the temperatures dropped, the Thunder moved indoors using a local church gym as well as a sports complex nearby. The team worked hard to improve their game as they awaited their first opponent in April.

Opening up their season, the Thunder headed to Columbus, IN where they played in the USSSA April Attack tournament. The boys suffered an opening game loss to BAM 8U by a final score of 21-7. That game helped the boys figure out some things that just can’t be learned running drills or hitting into nets and they bounced back in Game 2 by defeating the Avon Baseball Club 22-12.

When tourney play started the following morning, the Thunder came out swinging, jumping out to an early 6-0 lead but eventually fell to Centerville 18-6. The Thunder finished 1-2 on the weekend which gave them a 5th place finish.

A similar series of events occurred the following weekend when Ellettsville traveled to Edinburgh, IN to compete in the USSSA Midwest Super Regional. Whiteland barely escaped with a 14-12 victory in game 1 of pool play. Ellettsville followed that up with a 10-2 victory over the Fasttrack Redbirds club from Bedford, IN. Sunday brought another disappointing loss in tournament play, falling 18-6 to Franklin, again finishing 5th.

A quick look at the numbers shows an uptick in team execution. In the first tournament, the Thunder averaged a little under 12 runs per game and allowed 17, a difference of just over -5 runs per game. In the second showing, Ellettsville averaged just over 9 runs while allowing just over 11 runs to their opponents, a difference of -2 runs per game (an improvement of 3 runs) Tightening up the defense like that shows a nice sign of improvement and a great indicator of things to come.

With a two week hiatus from tournament play, the Thunder became a force to be reckoned with this weekend at the USSSA Slumpbuster tournament in Seymour. Yes, the numbers were showing signs of improvement but having had a two week break, it was unknown what the team would do in their third showing.

In Ellettsville’s first game in pool play, they came out victorious in a back and forth affair against EBC 8U (Anderson, IN). The game was tied at nine with Ellettsville batting in the top of the 6th inning when Hunter Ennis doubled on a 0-2 count, scoring one run and taking the lead. Two more runs in the top of the 6th would score and the Thunder held off EBC in the bottom of the inning to claim victory with a 12-9 final.

In Saturday’s second game, the Thunder coughed up 6 runs in the first inning, but overcame that deficit to win 15-7 against the Shelby County Cubs, tallying 19 total hits on the day. The onslaught was made complete with multiple hits by Jonny Harper (3-3), Owen Wisniewski (2-3, Chase Dobbs (2-2), Max May (2-2), Silas Crider (2-2), and Bryce & Brayden Partiz (2-2).

The two wins on Saturday led to a 3 seed in Sunday’s single elimination tournament, which saw the Thunder facing a rematch with Anderson’s EBC 8U squad. In their first game, it came down to the final inning, in Sunday’s game, Ellettsville had all the runs they would need in the first inning following Jack Musselwhite’s 3-run inside-the-park homerun. Ellettsville would go on to win 10-2, advancing the team to their first semifinal game of the season.

In their second game of the day, the Thunder got off to a fast start, maxing out with 6 runs in the first inning, but struggled to contain the high power offense of the eventual champions, the Columbus Diesel, falling 15-7. The Thunder finished 3rd in the USSSA Slumpbuster Tournament.

Through the loss, the Ellettsville Thunder and their fans can be proud of the hard play and sure signs of improvement from this young squad. This team has seen their run differential go from -5 to +2.5, meaning overall, they scored more runs than they allowed this weekend. It seems the bats were there, but this weekend they brought their gloves as well, led by great defensive play by 3B Brayden Paritz and SS/C Chase Dobbs.

This team has a lot to be proud of as they anticipate their next tournament.

Congratulations Thunder!

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