By Bob Fromer
Tuesday 30 June – The GB Men’s Fastpitch Team was expected to beat the Philippines this afternoon at the 14th WBSC Men’s World Championships in Saskatoon, Canada, but it took an eight-run fourth inning to turn a tight game into a mercy rule win.
When the top of the fourth inning began, GB only held a 2-1 lead. But then 11 batters came to the plate for Britain against three different Philippine pitchers, and eight hits, capped off by back-to-back home runs by Kenny Pregnell and Darrin Newson, produced eight runs and ended the game as a contest.
The Philippines, who are winless in the tournament apart from the forfeit awarded against Indonesia, scored a final consolation run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the mercy rule coming into effect.
GB now stands at 3-2 for the tournament, but the moment of truth will come over the next two days. Looking for one more win to gain a playoff place, GB will have to find it from either Canada tomorrow or Argentina on Thursday.
Quick start
GB got off to a quick start in the top of the first inning against Philippines starter Acuna Florante, and took a 2-0 lead. A lead-off single by Ryan Martin and one-out walks to Rich Haldane and James Darby loaded the bases, and a sacrifice fly by Kenny Pregnell and a single by Darrin Newson produced the runs.
But then the game settled down and the Philippines pulled a run back in the bottom of the third inning off GB starter Rich Haldane, who pitched the first four innings and gave up one run on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Apolonio Rosales and Orlando Binarao singled and Rosales came in to score on a sacrifice fly.
Explosion
So far, so sedate – but suddenly GB exploded on the Philippines in the top of the fourth inning. With one out, GB suddenly blasted out six straight hits – singles by Luke Peters, Kevin Stockford and Michael Lee, a double by Ryan Martin and two more singles by David Hutton and Rich Haldane.
That produced five runs and a change of pitchers, Gregorio Marquez replacing Acuna Florante. But Marquez was greeted by a two-run home run by Kenny Pregnell and was unceremoniously yanked in favour of Sonny Boy Acuna, who promptly gave up a solo home run – his third of the tournament – to Darrin Newson.
GB was now ahead by 10-1 and the game was effectively over.
Kyle Linton replaced Rich Haldane to pitch the fifth inning and gave up the Philippines’ second run on a single by Apolonio Rosales and a triple by Edmer Del Socorro. But around those two hits, Kyle Linton struck out the side.
With their expected wins over Guatemala on Monday and today’s pummelling of the Philippines in the bag, GB can now get down to the more difficult business of trying to carve out one more round-robin win.
Scores
Results over the first five days of the tournament are:
TUESDAY POOL A
GB 10, Philippines 2
New Zealand 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
Czech Republic 6, Guatemala 5
Canada 7, Argentina 5
TUESDAY POOL B
Mexico 12, Netherlands 0
Australia 8, Denmark 2
Dominican Republic 4, Japan 1
Venezuela 3, USA 2
MONDAY POOL A
Czech Republic 4, Argentina 2
Canada 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
Great Britain 4, Guatemala 0
New Zealand 9, Philippines 2
MONDAY POOL B
USA 4, Netherlands 1
Mexico 6, Denmark 2
Dominican Republic 5, Australia 3
Venezuela 3, Japan 0
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
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
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
Standings
Standings halfway through the day’s games on Tuesday 30 June are:
POOL A
Canada (5-0)
Czech Republic (4-1)
Argentina (3-2)
New Zealand (3-2)
Great Britain (3-2)
Guatemala (1-4)
Philippines (1-4)
Indonesia (0-5) (withdrawn from the tournament)
POOL B
Australia (4-1)
Dominican Republic (4-1)
Venezuela (4-1)
USA (3-2)
Japan (2-3)
Denmark (2-3)
Mexico (1-4)
Netherlands (0-5)