Thunder headed to Florida for tournament

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 5, 2001

[07/05/01] The Vicksburg Thunder stumbled against the Vicksburg Seniors on Tuesday, dropping a doubleheader with one-run losses. Now, they’ll ease the disappointment with a trip to the beach.

The Thunder will head to Pensacola, Fla., this weekend for four games against Southern powerhouses in the Escambia tournament. They’ll face Daphne (Ala.) Friday at 7 p.m., Tate (Fla.) Saturday at 2 p.m., Jonesboro (Ark.) Sunday at 10 a.m. and finish off the tournament against Pine Forest (Fla.) Sunday at 4 p.m.

“This’ll focus you real quick,” Thunder coach Joe Graves said with a laugh. “These are some of the best high schools in the nation year in and year out.”

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The Thunder, a summer league team made up of St. Aloysius players, will be the only Class 1A school in the tournament. Most of the schools in the tournament are Class 5A or 6A. Still, Graves said his team shouldn’t be intimidated.

“Over the last three years, we’ve won probably 70 percent of the games we’ve played against these big schools,” he said.

It was a big school that stopped them on Tuesday, however.

The Vicksburg Seniors, made up of Vicksburg High players, beat the Thunder 2-1 in the first game of the doubleheader, then used a two-base error on a single in the bottom of the eighth inning of game two to claim a 5-4 win.

Chris Middleton got the hit, and Justin Boler scored the winning run for the Seniors.