by Bob Fromer
Rosmalen, Netherlands – Czech pitcher Veronika Petkova, who threw an impressive shutout against Great Britain on Thursday, pitched the Czech Republic to the European Junior Championship title by defeating Italy 5-0 in the Page Playoff 1v2 game on Friday evening, and defeating them again in Saturday's Grand Final by a score of 5-3.
Italy took care of Russia, who had beaten GB on Friday in the Page Playoff 3v4 game, by a score of 9-2 on Saturday morning to set up a re-match with the Czechs in the final – but the Italians simply couldn't generate offense against Petkova, who throws hard, dominates the inside corner and changes speeds to great effect.
The Czechs, who had never previously won the European Junior Championship, normally the preserve of Holland or Italy, are already looking at Viktoria Petkova as someone who might win their senior team an Olympic berth in five years time if softball gets back into the Games for 2020.
Indeed, many of the top teams at this tournament, including GB, are sizing up their current Under-19 players with a view towards making a run at a place in Tokyo 2020, since there seems to be a growing feeling that baseball and softball will be restored to the Olympics at least for Japan, if not more permanently. A decision is expected in September.
First inning runs
In the Grand Final, played to a packed house of over 1000 spectatoes, Viktoria Petkova started nervously, and gave the Italians two runs in the top of the first inning on a single by Elise Checchetti, a triple by Marta Gasporotto and a wild pitch. But the Czech Republic came back to score three runs in the bottom of the inning against Italian pitcher Veronica Comar, and after that Petkova settled down and took the game into her own hands. She struck out 12 Italians and allowed only one more run in the sixth inning when Marta Gasparotto walked and clean-up hitter Erika Piacastelli hit a triple.
Apart from that, the outstanding pitcher at these European Championships had the Italians under control, and a quick and talented Czech team backed her up by scoring five runs on only six hits off three Italian pitchers, helped by an uncharacteristic four Italian errors.
ESF President Andre van Overbeek said, “It's good to see the Czechs win this competition for the first time. It's healthy for our sport to have different winners. And the Czech pitcher was outstanding.”
Final standings
The final standings at these European Junior Championships, where Great Britain achieved a highest-ever fourth place finish but missed the Bronze medal that was their minimum target, were:
1 – Czech Republic
2 – Italy
3 – Russia
4 – Great Britain
5 – Netherlands
6 – France
7 – Belgium
8 – Lithuania
9 – Germany
10 – Spain
11 – Serbia
12 – Denmark
13 – Israel
14 – Ukraine (did not play)
GB achievements
The GB Team that played at these Championships was without doubt the best Under-19 Women's Fastpitch Team that Britain has had since the team was formed in the late 1990s, and they achieved GB's best result, even if they might have fallen short of their own expectations.
Injuries to two starting players, who played through them but with limited mobility, didn't help, and the team looked worn down on Friday after a punishing schedule of games and maybe after coming down from the emotional high of their extraordinary comeback win over the Netherlands on Thursday evening.
But the statistics show a GB Team that was thoroughly impressive on offense, led by first base player Lauren Evans, who batted .464 over the 10 games that GB played, with nine extra-base hits, a slugging percentage of .964 and 10 RBIs.
Eight of the fourteen players on the roster hit over .300 for the tournament, and four of them (Lauren Evans, Sian Wigington, Kirsten Mack and Hayley D'Avilar) hit .400 or better.
Players hitting over .300 included Keeli Waugh, Georgina Corrick, Chloe Wigington and (in a small number of at-bats) Niamh Walker.
GB finished fifth in overall team batting, but the statistics of Germany and Spain, who were third and fourth, can be discounted because they played most of the tournament against weak teams and weak pitching. More realistically, GB was third in team batting, fourth in team pitching and fourth in team fielding, figures which tend to support GB's fourth place finish.
GB's performances impressed many knowledgeable observers at these Championships, and the team itself, though suffering as GB teams always do from not much preparation time together, was a united and happy group, that enjoyed vociferous support from a large contingent of relatives and friends.
Credit for the way that team came together should go to Head Coach Rachael Watkeys, the very efficient Team Manager Simon Mortimer, Assistant Coaches Liz Knight, Joke van der Hulst and Karlene Headley-Cooper and physio Kim Hannessen.
Next year, the GB Under-19s have the Junior World Championships in Oklahoma to look forward to – but GB Women's Team Head Coach Hayley Scott is also looking forward eagerly to bringing players from this Under-19 Team through to the senior Women's Team – again with an eye on qualification for the Olympics in 2020, as well as all the other competition opportunities between now and then.