It puts grey hairs on the coaching staff's heads and takes years off their lives but man it sure is fun!  Down by 4 runs heading into the bottom of the 7th, the West Bend Thunder came all the way back, again winning in their last at bats, this time 10-9 over the Brookfield Bulldogs.  In a game featuring the top 2 teams in their division and a game the Thunder had to win to stay in contention for first place, both teams left it on the field.  Brookfield and the Thunder pitchers combined to walk only 2 hitters all night, both by the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs struck first, scoring 3 runs in the top of the first off starter Lukas Broske, only one earned as the Thunder defense came out shaky.  The Thunder offense struck back with 2 runs in the bottom of the first.  Gavin Hinckley and C.J. Henschel hit back to back singles to start the game with Henschel driving in Hinckley.  Broske then ripped a one out double to score Henschel, closing the gap to 3-2.  The Bulldogs scored 2 more runs in the 2nd for a 5-2 leadand it stayed that way until the bottom of the 4th.  In the bottom of the 4th, Joey Pettit singled and Broske ripped a ground rule double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd.  An RBI groundout by Christian Ketter scored a run and the Thunder got another when Reid Woods laid down a gorgeous suicide squeeze to make it 5-4 Brookfield. 

Batting in the top of the 5th against Hinckley, the Bulldogs exploded for 4 runs on 5 hits and 2 Thunder errors.  With the lead at 9-4, it didn't look good for the Thunder.  In the bottom of the 5th, the Thunder were able to get a single run back to cut the lead to 9-5.  Hinckley reached on an error and scored on a Pettit double to account for the run.  With Pettit throwing 2 shutout innings in relief, the stage was set for a tremendous rally. The Thunder didn't dissapoint.  In the bottom of the 7th, down by 4 runs, the bottom of the Thunder order rose to the occassion.  Ayden Spykstra started the inning off with a blistering shot to left field for a hit.  Jack Miller played the tough guy role as he was hit by a pitch, putting him on first and moving Spykstra to second.  Hinckley followed with a single to load the bases for C.J. Henschel.  Henschel laced a rope to the 2nd basemen but with Hinckley getting a great jump and beating the throw to 2nd, Spykstra scored, the bases were loaded and the Thunder were in buisness.  Pettit again stepped to the plate and ripped the cover off the ball, lacing a shot to the grass in left field.  When the ball took a wicked hop in the outfield, Henschel turned on the burners, scoring all the way from first behind Miller and and Hinckley and suddenly the game was tied.  With no one out and Pettit at 2nd base, Broske came to the plate.  With one strike on him, Broske took matters into his own hands, lacing a rocket into the right field gap for his third double of the game scoring Pettit, sending the Thunder to an amazing 10-9 victory!  Pettit picked up the win in relief as the Thunder improved to 10-4 in league play and 17-10 overall.  The Thunder will have some much needed time off as they are going to enjoy some family time over the holiday break.  The entire Thunder family wishes you all a Happy 4th of July!