"If you can re-define the word 'victory' to mean having a great time and learning what international softball is all about," said GB Under-13 Head Coach Caroline Champion, "then we had a lot of victories in Italy, even though neither of our teams won a game except against each other."
Two Under-13 girls' fastpitch teams from Great Britain – the GB Minimes and the London Cubs – certainly struggled against more experienced opposition in the ESF's first Massimo Romeo Youth Cup, played from August 15-18 in Collechio, near Parma, Italy. The competition has replaced the former European Minime Championships, and has been expanded so that countries can send more than one team, with the aim of getting more players at this age level playing in European competition.
The aim was clearly achieved, since the competition attracted eight teams -- two each from Britain, Italy and Russia -- plus the Slovakian national team and a Czech All-Star team. The last European Minime Championships, played in Turkey in 2010, attracted only four entries.
GB v GB
Neither the GB Minimes or London Cubs won a game against foreign opposition during the tournament, but they did split a pair of games with each other.
During round-robin play, the London Cubs, with three guest players, defeated the GB Minimes by 14-4 on August 16.
"I warned the Minimes not to be complacent about this game," Caroline Champion said, "even though we had always beaten the Cubs back in England. I told them this would be a different team, with competition experience and three strong guest players. But by the time our players woke up, they were too far behind."
In the playoff game for seventh place, however, played on Saturday, August 18, the more experienced GB Minimes inflicted a 15-4 mercy rule defeat on the Cubs in just three innings.
This time it was the Minimes who had a devastating start, scoring 11 runs in the top of the first inning off three different Cubs pitchers, Anna Costello, Morgan Sachleben and guest player Martina Siri. There was the usual quota of errors, walks, passed balls, stolen bases and wild pitches, plus hits by Laura Hirai, Erin Simmonds, Glenys McGuire and Harper Maury.
Sarah Cannons started for the Minimes and had two strikeouts in holding the Cubs scoreless in the first inning. Then the Minimes scored four more in the top of the second inning on hits by Annecy Stevens, Eliza Esiri, Cicely LoBreglio and Laura Hirai to make the score 15-0.
The Cubs did respond with three in the bottom of the second thanks to hits by Zia Brown and Isabella Philp, whose single drove in two, and they scored one more in the bottom of the third off relief pitcher Harper Maury on a RBI single by Zia Brown. But it wasn't enough to prevent the game ending on the mercy rule.
Valuable lessons
Despite weather in the mid-30s for most of the week, the players remained in good health and good spirits. Some of the London Cubs players, in particular, are relatively new to softball, and the tournament provided valuable lessons about how the game is played at a European level.
And both GB teams received numerous compliments on their attitude and behaviour throughout the week.
For Great Britain to bring two teams to the tournament at all was a fine achievement, demonstrating that fastpitch softball is growing in the UK at the age where children need to enter the game if they hope to become successful international players.
British scores
Scores of games played by the British teams in the round-robin stage were:
GB Minimes
Italy/2 11, GB Minimes 1
Moskovia 19, GB Minimes 0
Czech Stars 13, GB Minimes 1
Italy/1 12, GB Minimes 1
London Cubs 14, GB Minimes 4
Russia 11, GB Minimes 0
Slovakia 13, GB Minimes 3
London Cubs
Slovakia 20, London Cubs 0
Russia 18, London Cubs 1
Moskovia 15, London Cubs 1
London Cubs 14, GB Minimes 4
Italy/1 14, London Cubs 0
Czech Stars 10, London Cubs 0
Italy/2 18, London Cubs 1
Seventh Place Playoff
GB Minimes 15, London Cubs 4
Final Standings
1 -- Italy 2
2 -- Moskovia
3 -- Italy 1
4 -- Czech Stars
5 -- Russia
6 -- Slovakia
7 -- GB Minimes
8 -- London Cubs