The Harleysville Thunderbirds 14U Red fastpitch softball defeated the Boyertown Storm 6-2 on May 14 to clinch at tie for first in the 20-team, rain-shortened USSSA May Madness Tournament held at Veterans Park in Richland Township. With the victory, the Thunderbirds assured themselves a berth in the USSSA World Series.

Harleysville trailed 2-0 before Morgan Campbell cut the deficit in half when her RBI Single plated Alyssa Hughes. The Thunderbirds then took the lead with five runs in the sixth. With the bases loaded, Hughes' base hit brought Missy Wiley and Dayna Shelly in for a 3-2 advantage. A Heather Moore single scored Hughes, while Brady Tillotson's two-run triple plated Moore and Samanthi Ali, putting the Thunderbirds up four.

Carlee Fairchild relieved Hughes in the cricle and pitched two scoreless innings to seal the victory.

Earlier, Harleysville defeated the Brandywine Blast 7-4 as Emily Gordon drove in two runs and scored once. Shelly, Wiley, Moore, Tillotson and Campbell also drove in runs while Hughes struck eight for the complete-game victory.

The Thunderbirds also bested Velocity Blue 7-1 with Fairchild collected the complete-game win. Campbell, Ali, Hughes and Moore each collected RBIs, while Emily Adelsberger scored twice.

Harleysville also had made several defensive highlights and timely stolen bases throughout the day. Maddie Cadler and Shelley were outstanding at catcher with Calder playing the position in two of the three games.