By Bob Fromer
Saskatoon, Canada: 28 June – In a game that the GB Men’s Fastpitch Team probably had to win to retain a realistic chance of making the playoffs at the 14th Men’s World Championships, two big hits for the Czech Republic gave them a 4-2 victory this afternoon and left GB with a lot to do.
The British already have a forfeit win against Indonesia in the bank and there are winnable games coming up against Guatemala on Monday (7.30 pm British time) and the Philippines on Tuesday. But after that, to get the fourth round-robin win that pretty much guarantees a playoff spot, GB will have to beat either Canada on Wednesday or Argentina on Thursday. Possible, but not probable.
As has already happened in two of their three previous World Championship appearances, GB may come up just short of cracking the top eight.
Key hits
GB out-hit the Czechs by five to four over the course of today’s game, but two key hits by the Czechs decided the contest.
In the top of the first inning, Czech centre fielder Tomas Benda blasted a two-run home run off GB starter Rich Haldane, and in the top of the third, DP Karel Kadecka hit a two-out two-RBI triple, also off Haldane. And those were all the runs the Czechs needed.
GB’s two runs came on solo homers by right fielder James Darby in the bottom of the second inning, and catcher Darrin Newson in the bottom of the fifth – his second home run in two games.
Though GB had baserunners against Czech starter Jaroslav Brenik, who pitched a complete game and struck out four while walking only one, there were only two real threats. The first came with two out in the bottom of the third inning, when Ryan Martin and David Hutton reached on back-to-back singles. But Kevin Stockford bounced into a force play.
The second and last GB threat came in the bottom of the sixth inning when an error and a single by Rich Haldane put runners on first and third with two outs. But Nopera Stockford hit into a force play at second base.
GB went down in order in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Czechs closed out the game.
Head Coach Norman Ames said, "Although Team GB out-hit the Czechs 5-4 we lost 4-2. We simply couldn't cash in the runners we had. We need to play a couple of big games coming up. Our destiny is still in our hands but it's now a more difficult road."
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Struggle
Rich Haldane pitched the first four innings for Britain, and they were a struggle, as the Czechs had multiple baserunners in all of them. Haldane gave up only three hits – two of which were Benda’s home run and Kadecka’s triple -- and he struck out six. But he also walked three Czechs, hit two more with pitches and had two errors committed behind him by second baseman Ryan Martin.
In some ways, Haldane did well to limit the damage to just the four runs.
Kyle Linton, who started Saturday’s game against New Zealand, took over the pitching at the beginning of the fifth inning and retired nine of the ten Czechs he faced, striking out six and giving up only a single in the top of the seventh inning to shortstop Tomas Petr.
But Linton was largely closing the barn door after the horse had bolted.
While GB always struggles to beat the Czechs in European Championships, the hope was that the World Championships would provide a more level playing field between the teams. And so it proved, with just the two-run margin between them. But once again, the margin was in favour of the reigning European champions.
Looking ahead
The surprise in this tournament so far is that New Zealand, the defending champions and perennial powerhouse, have lost two of their first three games. Admittedly, both have been one-run losses -- by 3-2 to Argentina on Friday night and by 2-1 to the hosts Canada on Sunday. With the forfeit win against Indonesia to come and remaining games against the Philippines, Guatemala and the Czech Republic, New Zealand will certainly make the playoffs. But their "aura of shock and awe", as Curt Schilling memorably once described the reputation of the New York Yankees before Schilling's Arizona Diamondbacks defeated them in the 2001 World Series, has been dented, and no one will be more aware of that than the Black Sox.
Scores
Results from the first three days of the tournament are:
FRIDAY POOL A
Czech Republic 12, Philippines 5
GB 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
Canada 6, Guatemala 0
Argentina 3, New Zealand 2
FRIDAY POOL B
Dominican Republic 8, Denmark 1
Venezuela 11, Netherlands 1
Australia 1, Japan 0
USA 7, Mexico 0
SATURDAY POOL A
Philippines 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
Argentina 7, Guatemala 0
Canada 10, Czech Republic 2
New Zealand 9, GB 1
SATURDAY POOL B
USA 6, Dominican Republic 4
Japan 5, Denmark 2
Australia 8, Netherlands 0
Venezuela 6, Mexico 1
SUNDAY POOL A
Guatemala 4, Philippines 0
Czech Republic 4, GB 2
Argentina 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
Canada 2, New Zealand 1
SUNDAY POOL B
Denmark 2, Netherlands 0
Dominican Republic 4, Mexico 3
Japan 5, USA 4
Australia 5, Venezuela 1
Standings
Standings after the halfway point on Sunday’s schedule are:
POOL A
Argentina (3-0)
Canada (3-0)
Czech Republic (2-1)
New Zealand (1-2)
Guatemala (1-2)
Great Britain (1-2)
Philippines (1-2)
Indonesia (0-3) (withdrawn from the tournament)
POOL B
Australia (3-0)
Japan (2-1)
USA (2-1)
Venezuela (2-1)
Dominican Republic (2-1)
Denmark (1-2)
Netherlands (0-3)
Mexico (0-3)