Thunder Softball Day proclaimed

Angola mayor travels to campus with message

 

June 1, 2010--Angola Mayor Richard Hickman gave the Trine University softball team a high-five from the city after the team’s fourth consecutive successful season this spring—a proclamation of May 1 as annual Thunder Softball Day.

Angola Mayor Richard Hickman, second from left, presents Trine University softball coach Donnie Danklefsen with a document proclaiming May 1 as Thunder Softball Day annually. At left is Trine President Earl D. Brooks II and at right is Trine Athletic Director Jeff Posendek.

Mayor Hickman visited the office of Trine University President Earl D. Brooks II to present the president, athletic director Jeff Posendek and softball coach Donnie Danklefsen a framed copy of the proclamation.

The Thunder women’s softball team claimed the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) regular season championship in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the MIAA tournament championship in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

They have advanced to the NCAA post-season tournament for four consecutive seasons, advancing to the regional final, the highest level in school history, this year. The Thunder defeated Thomas More and Transylvania at the tournament in Greencastle, Ind., before falling to Washington University.

Players Rachel Wisman and Tori Bluhm were named to the all-tournament team at the regional, and pitcher Andi Gasco was an at-large third-team selection for the 2010 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III All-Central Region team.

Mayor Hickman congratulated Trine Athletics on another great softball season. “The Thunder softball team represents themselves, the university and the city with the utmost dignity,” he read from the framed certificate.

“We are proud of our athletes, who put everything they have into every game, while adhering to a high academic standard,” Posendek said. “The Thunder softball team demonstrates that high goals can be reached if you seize the opportunity.”