By Bob Fromer
Plant City, Florida: 22 November – On Saturday, the Great Britain Slowpitch Team had pulled off a miraculous come-from-behind win against Canada in pool play at the WBSC Slowpitch World Cup. But on Sunday, in the Page Playoffs, Canada turned on too much power.
After three innings of the 3 v 4 game in the Trophy Page Playoff, GB and Canada were level at six runs each. But over the final two innings of the game, it was all Canada. The North Americans scored six runs on five hits in the fourth inning and 10 runs on 10 hits in the fifth, while GB could only muster a single run in reply.
So the final score was 22-7 to Canada in a five-inning mercy rule win, which meant that GB finished in fourth place and out of the medals at the 2015 Slowpitch World Cup. It is GB’s lowest-ever finish in an official ISF or ESF slowpitch competition.
Nevertheless, Head Coach Steve Patterson was proud of the effort put in by a squad without much international experience. “You showed a lot of character for a young team,” Steve told the players after the game, “and you really came together as a team, so I am a very proud coach.
“There are things to learn from every game,” Steve added, “and that’s the value of playing in a tournament like this one. All of you have made a mark towards selection for future GB squads that we’ll be taking all around the world.”
Rain wins the day
Unfortunately, as many had feared after looking at the weather forecast, the tournament was never played to a conclusion.
After heavy rain on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, four of the five fields at the ISF Headquarters complex were unplayable, and the local ground staff were pessimistic about any play taking place at all. So the organisers quickly decided to cancel the Placing Page Playoffs, leaving those four teams – Turks & Caicos Islands, Curacao, Bulgaria and France – without any games to play.
Instead, the focus was on trying to get through the four games of the Trophy Page Playoff on the single diamond that could be recovered, albeit with a slippery infield and a lot of standing water in the outfield. And with the sun out for a while and beautiful weather during the middle of the day, they almost pulled it off.
Page Playoff games
First, the 1 v 2 game between the Bahamas and Germany was played, so that if the tournament couldn’t be finished, that game would determine the winner. Germany took an 8-0 lead after two innings, the Bahamas roared back to take a 9-8 lead after four and the game was tied at 10-10 after five. But Germany failed to score over the final two innings, and the Bahamas turned on the home run power in the bottom of the sixth. A monster three-run home run over the right centre field fence by Eugene Bains was followed by a two-run blast to left by Raynaldo Russell, and that made the final score 15-10 for the team from the Caribbean.
So the Bahamas, round-robin winners over the first three days of the tournament, were in the Grand Final.
Then GB and Canada played, with Canada sending GB out of the competition. More details on this game are below.
That left Canada and Germany to play to determine who would go to the final and who would have to settle for the bronze medal.
Canada took an early 7-0 lead and still led by 9-3 after the top of the fifth inning. But Germany finally came to life, scratching out four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 9-7. Canada only managed one run in the top of the seventh inning on an inside-the-park home run, and then Germany pulled off a replica of GB’s last-inning comeback against Canada on Saturday. The Germans got a series of clutch singles from the bottom of their order to tie the game with two out, and then Wolfgang Walther punched a single through the right side of the infield to drive in the winning run and send the Germans to the final.
At which point, the rain returned. When it stopped 20 minutes later, back came the grounds crew to do what they could to get the Grand Final started. But the teams were warned that any further rain would make the field unplayable and that the final would be cancelled at that point.
Sadly, with Germany batting in the top of the third inning and leading the Bahamas by 12-3, the rain came back for a final burst, the field turned to mud, and the Bahamas were crowned as champions on the basis of their win over Germany in the first game of the day.
It was a massive disappointment for a German team that looked set to take the trophy, but the Germans were extremely gracious about the result in a tournament that was distinguished by friendship and sportsmanship.
With no games to play after the Placing Page Playoff was cancelled, the bottom four teams stayed to cheer and support the teams playing for the title, and for much of the first game between the Bahamas and Germany, the women from the Turks & Caicos Islands team sat in the third base stand and sang – mostly hymns, but also a lovely rendition of Karma Chameleon!
Bright future
At the rain-soaked end of the day, after the Grand Final had been abandoned, all the players came together under a covered outdoor pavilion for the medal presentations, and the good feeling among the teams was obvious.
If the revival of the WBSC Slowpitch World Cup had got off to a somewhat uncertain start in January 2014, this latest edition suggests a very bright future for the competition. Despite the absence of an American team, the quality of play this time was much higher, with a lot of close games and dramatic comeback wins. Six of the eight teams were capable of beating each other, and both Curacao and the Turks & Caicos Islands, who had pledged to send stronger teams this time around, were true to their word.
The intention is to make this an annual event, but alternating between a Cup tournament one year, which means teams can be formed on any basis, and a proper World Championship the next year, which means teams must be composed of passport-holders. The hope is that the first World Championship version can be held in 2016 and in even-numbered years thereafter, so there is no clash with European Championships, which are played in odd-numbered years.
Enthusiasm for the event is high among Caribbean teams, and there was talk here of countries such as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Belize, Aruba and others coming next time, while the Czechs have pledged to come to a World Championship event to augment the European contingent.
Growth in international slowpitch competition, which has always been a British goal, looks like it’s finally coming to pass.
GB v Canada
Which brings us, finally, back to GB’s Page Playoff game with Canada.
Having experienced the home run power of the Canadian line-up on Saturday, and especially the near-unstoppable Justin Pennell (four home runs and 15 RBIs in his last two pool games), GB put out the same line-up as in their walk-off win on Saturday – David Lee pitching and Roger Grooms at second base -- but with the intention of pitching around Pennell whenever possible.
It worked once – but only once – and Pennell still wound up with two home runs, a double, five RBIs, three runs scored and two clearly intentional walks (four straight pitches nowhere near the strike zone) from GB starter David Lee.
For three innings, however, GB more or less contained the Canadian offense and made it an even game, with the momentum, if anything, slightly with Great Britain. But then everything changed.
Canada opened with two runs in the top of the first inning, and they came, inevitably, from the bat of Justin Pennell. Ryan Grey led off with a double, Erin Gee grounded out to third, and David Lee’s first pitch to Pennell was very high and way inside, probably intended as the first pitch of an intentional walk. But Pennell gave a mighty grunt and cranked it high and far over the fence in right field.
There was no further damage, however, and GB tied the score in the bottom of the first on a leadoff double by Mike MacDowell, a triple by David Lee and a single by Chris Yoxall.
In the top of the second inning, Canada scored three runs, but when the line-up came back around to Justin Pennell, David Lee gave him nothing near the strike zone and the strategy paid off: with two out and the bases loaded, Daniel LaRose flied out to left field.
GB then scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning to take the lead. Three of the four hits in the inning came from Annie Dubovec, Kat Golik and Claudine Snape, plus a walk to Roger Grooms, a single by Mike MacDowell and a Canadian error.
And when Britain held Canada to just a single run in the top of the third inning, tying the score at 6-6, it felt like GB might be ready to take the game under control.
But Britain went down quickly in the bottom of the third inning on a groundout and two fly balls, and it felt like momentum had shifted.
In the top of the fourth inning, the game changed for good, and it was errors that unlocked the door. The Canadians’ dangerous lead-off hitter Ryan Grey flied out to start the inning and Erin Gee grounded to short. This would have been two outs and no one on with Justin Pennell coming up, which is just when you’d want to see him. But Chris Yoxall’s throw was low and instead of being back in the dugout Erin Gee was on first base – and after the intentional unintentional walk to Pennell, she was on third.
This time, the intentional walk strategy backfired and the inning unravelled. Alyssa Lee drove a sacrifice fly to right centre field to score Erin Gee, and when Stewart Butcher’s throw to third sailed into the GB dugout, Pennell came home as well. Then the next five batters stroked base hits and Canada put up six runs in total to take a 12-6 lead.
GB had one last chance to get back in the game. Roger Grooms led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a double and scored on a fielder’s choice. Then Mike MacDowell reached on an error, Claudine Snape singled, and GB had the bases loaded with two out and David Lee at the plate. A big hit here could have revived GB hopes. But David popped out to right centre field on the first pitch.
In the top of the fifth inning, Roger Grooms took over the pitching chores from David Lee, and Canada put the game out of sight. The first five batters that Roger faced – and nine of the first 10 – had hits, including the inevitable home run from Justin Pennell. By the time the carnage was over, Canada had scored 10 runs on 10 hits for a 22-7 lead.
Despite singles from Annie Dubovec and Roger Grooms in the bottom of the fifth, GB couldn’t score and the game ended on the mercy rule (15 after five).
It was a bad ending for GB, and it didn’t reflect the overall quality of the team’s play during the tournament, which included a win over the eventual champion Bahamas and that dramatic comeback win over Canada on Saturday. If inexperience told at times, there were also a lot of moments that suggested that the young Development Squad members who came to Plant City will be better players in future for the experience.
Results
Here are the full results from the Trophy Page Playoffs:
1 v 2 Game:
Bahamas 15, Germany 10
3 v 4 Game:
Canada 22, GB 7
Third Place Game:
Germany 11, Canada 10
Grand Final:
Abandoned in the third inning with Germany leading 12-3.
FINAL STANDINGS
Here are the final tournament standings:
1 – Bahamas
2 – Germany
3 – Canada
4 – Great Britain
5 – Curacao
6 – Turks & Caicos Islands
7 – Bulgaria
8 -- France
These were the final round-robin standings:
Bahamas (6-1)
Germany (5-2)
Great Britain (5-2)
Canada (5-2)
Turks & Caicos Islands (3-4)
Curacao (3-4)
Bulgaria (1-6)
France (0-7)
Finally, here are the results of the round-robin games played over the first three days of the Slowpitch World Cup:
SATURDAY RESULTS
GB 18, Bulgaria 6
Turks & Caicos Islands 19, France 8
Canada 20, Germany 9
Bahamas 17, Curacao 5
Bulgaria 17, France 10
GB 18, Canada 17
Bahamas 18, Turks & Caicos Islands 6
Germany 16, Curacao 5
FRIDAY RESULTS
Canada 12, Bulgaria 7
Bahamas 15, France 5
Curacao 13, GB 10
Germany 17, Turks & Caicos Islands 6
Canada 20, France 0
GB 9, Bahamas 7
Germany 13, Bulgaria 5
Turks & Caicos Islands 7, Curacao 5
Turks & Caicos Islands 19, Bulgaria 12
Germany 17, GB 5
Curacao 12, France 3
Bahamas 7, Canada 6
THURSDAY RESULTS
Bahamas 17, Bulgaria 2
Canada 12, Curacao 11
Germany 38, France 3
GB 19, Turks & Caicos Islands 5
Curacao 12, Bulgaria 9
Bahamas 12, Germany 11
Canada 16, Turks and Caicos Islands 8
GB 29, France 1