The GB Under-13 team, playing as the London Cubs, travelled to Collecchio in Italy once again this year for the annual ESF Massimo Romeo Youth Cup, played on 10-13 August, and gave a highly competitive performance.
.jpg)
The team finished in seventh place with two wins and four losses, but two of those losses came in very close games against teams from the Czech Republic.
GB’s two wins, in a playoff game and then the game to determine seventh place in the tournament, both came against Akademiks Sofia from Bulgaria.
The tournament was won by one of the two teams representing Italy in the competition.
Results
As is often the case with GB teams at international tournaments, the U-13s got off to a slow start on the opening day, Wednesday 10 August, with losses to Princ Zagreb from Croatia by 19-9 and the eventual winners, Italy 1, by 11-0.
Thereafter, over the remaining three days of the competition, GB posted a record of 2-2 and all four games were competitive except for their last game of the tournament, where GB ran away from Akademiks Sofia by a score of 11-1 to claim seventh place.
On Thursday 11 August, GB was tied 11-all with Joudrs Orange from the Czech Republic after the top half of the final inning, only to see the Czechs score three in the bottom of the frame and take the game by 14-11.
On Friday 12 August, GB lost another close game to a Czech team, this time Joudrs Navy, by a score of 12-8, and then put up their first win of the tournament, defeating Akademiks Sofia from Bulgaria by 9-5.
Then came the seventh place game on Saturday 13 August, where GB defeated the same opponents by an even more emphatic scoreline.
The results matched the two wins that the London Cubs achieved at the 2015 Massimo Romeo Youth Cup, but if anything, results this year over the whole of the tournament were closer, as the programme continues to make progress.
Day 1
This year, as the ESF attempts to promote boys‘ fastpitch softball, mixed teams were allowed to enter the tournament for the first time, and initial plans to have separate mixed and female divisions had to be abandoned for lack of enough mixed entries.
So GB’s first game on 10 August, as they opened the tournament against Princ Zagreb from Croatia, was played against a mixed team and a softer flexi-ball was used. Tournament rules also meant that boys were not allowed to pitch. Both teams scored in every inning, and GB had plenty of baserunners and got nine of them across the plate. But the Croatian team had more hits and scored more heavily in their 19-9 win. Kira Kenny was the starting pitcher for GB, with Campbell Lazar catching, with MaKenna DeLong coming in to pitch in the second inning.
Later that day, after the Opening Ceremony, GB took on Italy 1, one of the toughest teams in the tournament and the eventual winner. GB didn’t manage a hit and had only two baserunners against three strong Italian pitchers. The Italians won the game 11-0, but Vic-toria Herndon, pitching her first-ever game, walked only two batters, and Kira Kenny made a fine catch of a line drive to third base as GB held the Italians to just one run in their final at-bat.
Day 2
The GB team had only one game on Thursday 11 August, against Joudrs Orange from the Czech Republic, and it turned out to be a thriller.
Kira Kenny recorded five strikeouts in pitching a complete game. GB managed only one hit, a double by Josephine Morley when GB scored four runs in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game at 11-all, but received 12 walks from Czech pitcher Nela Janackova to go with a number of wild pitches, passed balls, errors and GB stolen bases.
Unfortunately, in the bottom of the fourth inning, a three-run inside-the-park home run by Adela Sobotkova gave the Czechs a 14-11 win.
Day 3
In the first game of the day on Friday 12 August, GB took on the other Czech team, Joudrs Navy, in another high-scoring game. Both teams had three hits (GB’s came from Campbell Lazar, Madison Gledhill and Ellen Jacobsen) and GB received eight walks while Victoria Herndon again showed great control, walking only one batter in four innings of work. But 10 GB errors were the difference as the Czech team went ahead early and maintained their lead for a 12-8 win.
That afternoon, the GB Team came from behind to record their first win of the tournament, over Akademiks Sofia from Bulgaria, despite not recording a single hit. The difference was in the pitching, where MaKenna DeLong pitched all four innings for GB, giving up six hits but only walking three. GB batters hardly had a chance to swing the bat as they were gifted 19 walks, 18 of them by Bulgarian starter Simona Yordanova. The Bulgarians led 5-4 after three innings, but GB scored the maximum five runs allowed in the top of the fourth thanks to eight walks, and the Bulgarians went down in order in the bottom of the inning.
Day 4
On the final day of the tournament, in the seventh-place game, a now-confident GB team recorded an even more emphatic 11-1 win over the Bulgarians.
Kira Kenny pitched the complete game, giving up three hits but no walks and allowed only one run on an infield groundout in the second inning.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s pitchers continued to be generous in the extreme: GB had only one hit, by Kira Kenny, but received 14 walks and five GB batters were hit by pitches. Akademiks also committed two errors while GB had their first errorless game of the tournament, and so the GB U-13s left the tournament on a high after an emphatic and defensively tidy win.
Statistics
Pitching was the bright spot for GB in the tournament, as the squad finished fifth in team pitching with an ERA of 9.31. Kira Kenny was sixth in innings pitched and tied for second in games started.
GB finished last in team batting (.120) and team fielding (.762).
However, there were a number of individual successes.
Kira Kenny tied for third in runs scored in the tournament with eight, and Campbell Lazar was third in stolen bases, going 6-for-6.
Patience at the plate was reflected in the fact that GB had five batters in the top nine in walks received. Kira Kenny, MaKenna DeLong and Scarlett Patience tied for first with nine walks each, while Victoria Herndon had eight and Madison Gledhill seven. The flip side of this was that GB was tied for fourth place in terms of fewest strikeouts, three places above their final position in the standings.
GB Roster
PLAYERS
Ella Bruce
Matilda Crapanzano
MaKenna DeLong
Annabelle Erlandson
Madison Gledhill
Victoria Herndon
Ellen Jacobson
Kira Kenny
Campbell Lazar
Eve Milnard
Josephine Morley
Scarlett Patience
STAFF
Head Coach: Beth Perkins
Assistant Coaches: Nadya Pavlova and Jodie Rushin
Team Manager: Julie Spittle
GB Results
August 10
Princ Zagreb (CRO) 19, GB 9
Italy1 11, GB 0
August 11
Joudrs Orange (CZE) 14, GB 11
August 12
Joudrs Navy (CZE) 12, GB 8
GB 9, Akademiks Sofia (BUL) 5
August 13
GB 11, Akademiks Sofia (BUL) 1
Final Standings
1 – Italy 1
2 – Italy 2
3 – Moskovia (RUS)
4 – Princ Zagreb (CRO)
5 – Joudrs Navy (CZE)
6 – Joudrs Orange (CZE)
7 – Great Britain
8 – Akademiks Sofia (BUL)