By Jodie Rushin
Collecchio, Italy: 12 August – The GB Under-13 Cubs dropped a further two games on Thursday, the second day of the 2022 European Massimo Romeo Youth Trophy Tournament, to the Israel Sabras and Italy One by scores of 11-3 and 29-1.
Israel Sabras 11, GB Cubs 3
The GB Cubs put two runners on base in the top of the first inning of this game on a walk to Emma Lanza and a single by Rebecca Longman but couldn’t manage to score.
Israel then got on top of Lily Daniels’s pitching early, with eight runs in the bottom of the first inning, though the Cubs made defensive improvements from Day 1, with fewer errors. Lily managed to close out the inning with two Israeli runners left on base.
Megan Rollins was hit by a pitch to open the top of the second inning, but Israel starter Olivia Weiss struck out the next three GB hitters.
For the next two innings, Lily Daniels and the Cubs’ defense kept the Sabras off the scoreboard. Israeli hitters had four groundouts and two strikeouts with just a single walk over the two frames.
In the top of the third inning, Amelie Caesar singled for the Cubs and reached third base on an error, but couldn’t score, and the same thing happened in the top of the fourth inning when Lily Daniels hit a two-out triple but was left stranded at third.
Israel put up three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning despite two more strikeouts by Lily Daniels.
The Cubs then mounted a rally in the top of the fifth inning.
Anna Kingston reached on an error, Clara Fontana walked and Anna scored on a single by Amelie Caesar. Clara eventually scored on a wild pitch and after Emma Lanza walked, followed by two strikeouts, Amelie came home on a single up the middle by Megan Rollins. But Emma was out trying to get to third, and the game ended with the Israeli team ahead by 11-3.
However, the Cubs had played a much better game against the Israelis than on the previous day.
Italy One 29, GB Cubs 1
The Cubs knew that facing Italy would be a challenge, especially for Megan Rollins as the starting pitcher, with Anna Kingston catching.
Twelve runs from Italy in the top of the first inning on 10 hits, including a three-run home run by Alida Campioni, certainly kept the Cubs’ defenders on their toes. But Megan Rollins managed to strike out Italian second base player Giola Marcon twice in the inning, and the second strikeout left the bases loaded.
In the bottom of the first inning, Clara Fontana took Italian pitcher Rebecca Soldi to a full count but unfortunately struck out. Amelie Caeser had a great at-bat, consistently fouling off pitches, but unfortunately succumbed to the final strike. Deciding to use her size to advantage, Emma Lanza made her strike zone even smaller and drew a walk, but was left on base as Lily Daniels struck out.
Taking the field again, GB persevered, but unfortunately, Italy scored a further 17 runs in the top of the second inning.
In the bottom of the inning, the Cubs managed a run without a hit on two hit batters and two walks, but the game was called when the inning ended.
A special mention goes to Megan Rollins for throwing over 100 pitches during the game and recording three strike outs.
Scores and standings
Scores in the Sport and Future Divisions at the European Massimo Romeo Youth Trophy (EMRYT) Tournament on Thursday were:
Sport Division
Israel Sabras 11, GB Cubs 3
Italy One 24, Joudrs Orange 8 (4 inns)
Israel Sabras 5, Joudrs Orange 4
Italy One 29, GB Cubs 1 (2 inns)
Futures Division
Joudrs Navy 15, Princ Zagreb 5 (4 inns)
Italy Two 6, Seleccions Navarra 1
Seleccions Navarra 7, Joudrs Navy 2
Italy Two 8, Princ Zagreb 3
Round-robin standings after Thursday were:
Sport Division
Israel Sabras (4-0)
Italy One (3-1)
Joudrs Orange (1-3)
GB Cubs (0-4)
Futures Division
Joudrs Navy (3-1)
Seleccion Navarra (3-1)
Italy Two (2-2)
Princ Zagreb (0-4)
Watch the GB Cubs in action!
GB Cubs’ games on Field 1 on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live via the Collecchio Baseball/Softball YouTube Channel: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCEPyc-tyakxgdHKOng-nHFg.