2017 Thunder Claim Regular Season 18+ Championship in Mid-Iowa (Des Moines)

Mid-Iowa Baseball League, 18+ Division Regular Season

Des Moines Thunder 19, Des Moines Bandits 3

Back row L-R: Bob Thornton (Mgr), Mike Eckhart, Sean Roberts, Ryan Kramer, Dalton Heick, Corey Maines, Chad Osler. Front Row L-R: Trey Cook, David Thornton, Drew Otto, Troy Dubay, Joseph Monosmith. Not Pictured: Jay Mathes, Todd Smith, Brandon Storm, Gaige Thompson

‘Monosmith Voted 2017 Team MVP’

Submitted by Bob Thornton, Thunder manager

Established in the fall of 2015, this is Thunder’s third Championship and the second League Championship. This year the Thunder outscored Opponents 60-6 in the last four games to make a comeback league title run. Notable performances this season include a trio of pitchers: Corey Maines, assistant team manager Chad Osler, and Trey Cook. They combined for 88innings pitched, 119 strikeouts, a 7-3 record and a 1.74 ERA.

On the offensive side we had great contributions from Mike Eckhart, Joseph Monosmith, Sean Roberts and Corey Maines, who combined for a .446 batting average, 83 hits, 15 doubles, seven Triples and 42% of the teams RBI’s. The Thunders team voted MVP was awarded to Joseph Monosmith.

Shown below are Corey Maines, pitcher of the year, Mike Eckhart, batting champion, and MVP Joseph Monosmith.