2020 Des Moines Thunder Post Undefeated Season to Cop Mid-Iowa Regular Season Title
Mid-Iowa Baseball League, 18+ Regular Season
‘Des Moines Thunder Go Undefeated to Claim Regular Season Title’
Submitted by Bob Thornton, Des Moines Thunder manager
The Des Moines Thunder won their fourth League title in five years in the 18+ MIBL division with a perfect regular season. The Thunder was established in the fall of 2015 and posted their best regular season to date, going 10-0 in league play and outscoring their opponents 99-17. To say it’s been a great run in the MIBL 18+ division our first five years would be an understatement. As manager, we hold a combined 46-13-1 league record and have won five titles. (4 League and 1 tournament).
2020 was a complete team effort contributed to strong defensive play, timely hitting, and a combined pitching ERA of 1.35. The top contributors to our season’s success start with the strong play from team MVP Nolan Monthei, who in just eight games played led the team in batting average (.565), HR’s (3), and Hits (13) while contributing strong defensive play from multiple positions in the field.
The Thunder’s two headed monster of starting pitchers Trey Cook (4-0, 33 innings and 51 K’s and an ERA of 0.82) and Ben Detaeye (3-0, 23.1 innings, 32 K’s, and an ERA of 1.54) always ensured that we were in each and every game.
This summer was a trying time to say the least, but the commitment that our players put into this year shows just how much Thunder baseball means to them. We have created a family mentality and each and every player buys in year in and year out and really makes my job as a manager easy.
Assistant Manager Chad Osler also deserves a great deal of credit for this season both for his clutch relief pitching performances and for helping lead Thunder Baseball when I was unable to attend. Thank you to the MIBL and John Linden for all that was done throughout this season to ensure we were able to play and play safely. And a huge thank you to all the managers in the 18+ Division for again making this a very competitive and successful 18+ Division year.
The Thunder finished the season 11-1 overall after our rival Mid-Iowa Bandits, led by manager Brent Henderson, once again knocked us off in the tournament championship. Hats off to Brent and his club on another tournament championship in the 18+ Division and as always providing very competitive competition in the league.