The West Kootenay Thunder found a silver lining after almost turning a rough round-robin road into gold.
The Peewee girls softball team traveled to Surrey last week to play in a nine-team tournament against a tough selection of Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island teams.
The team, comprised of softball players from Trail, Montrose, Salmo and Fruitvale, got off on the wrong foot at the tournament - losing their first three games before turning it all around to make a run to the final.
The Thunder dropped close decisions to host Surrey Storm, 11-7, the Port Alberni Blazers 6-3 and the Sooke Angels 12-8.
With no wins, the Thunder limped into the quarter finals against the Blazers. But good pitching shut the Island bats down and the team came out with a 4-2 victory.
Hot off the Blazers win, the Thunder faced the Storm again. But this time Thunder pitching subdued the Storm’s attack, combined with key hits and good execution the Thunder rolled to another 4-2 victory in the semi-final.
With the win, the Thunder met the vaunted Ridge Meadows Pride 99 in the final.
The ensuing pitchers’ dual, saw a scoreless game into the third inning before the Pride counted two runs.
Despite a good effort, the West Kootenay team could not solve the Pride’s hurler and were shutout, 2-0 until the final inning when Ridge Meadows added five more for a 7-0 victory.