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The Ashe County Thunder nine-and-under baseball team were right back on the diamond on June 30 for another tournament, this one in Independence, VA.

After a second place finish in Boone three weeks ago, the Thunder captured first place in the “Big Dawg Baseball Tournament” after winning back-to-back games and coming back from a big deficit early in the second game.

The day started off roughly for the Thunder, dropping the first game of the day to Grayson County, 9-2.

In the second game, the Thunder trailed 8-0 after just one half-inning of play as a team from Montgomery County, Va. scored eight runs before the Thunder even had a turn at the plate. Ashe quickly answered back with a whopping nine runs in the bottom half of the first, putting an end to an exciting first inning of play.

The rest of the way, the Thunder held Montgomery County to just one more run while the Ashe team pounded out two more runs to take an 11-9 victory.

In the championship game, the Thunder led from the beginning and never looked back, clinching the title with a 12-6 win over Wythe County, Va.

“After what happened throughout the first game and the rough first half-inning of the second game, we showed a lot of character by continuing to compete and ultimately, we were able to prevail in the tournament,” said head coach Chris Taylor. “I couldn’t be prouder of a group of kids. We had a lot of fun today.”

This Friday, July 13, the team will be hosting its own tournament at Family Central, hoping to capture its second championship of the summer season.