By Bob Fromer
Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy: 29 June – GB teams rarely start quickly in European fastpitch tournaments, but the GB Under-16 Girls did exactly that this afternoon, opening the 2015 European Cadette Championships with a convincing 6-0 win over Spain.
The fulcrum on which the win was based was the one-hit shutout thrown by GB pitcher Niamh Walker. The organising committee here in Nuoro has decided to limit games to six innings or two hours because of the heat, and Niamh was pretty much in control during all six innings, facing only 21 Spanish hitters, walking just one and striking out seven.
The only hit – and the only hard-hit ball Niamh surrendered – was a line drive single to right field by Spanish shortstop Paula Serrano, leading off in the top of the second inning. But three quick outs followed, and Spain never got close to another hit.
Although generally solid, the GB defense did commit a couple of errors, but rescued one of them in spectacular fashion. Spain’s Gala Perez led off the top of the fifth inning by drawing that lone walk after fouling off seven pitches on a 3-2 count, and then stole second base. Niamh Walker struck out Laura Otero, but Mireia Criado hit a bouncer to third base that skipped off Laura Hirai’s glove. Gala Perez broke for third, but GB shortstop Alana Snow was on the ball in a flash and flipped it to Laura Hirai. Laura briefly chased Perez back towards second before firing the ball to centre fielder Annecy Stevens, covering second base, to get the out and break the back of what could have turned into a Spanish rally.
“We practiced that coverage in training,” GB Head Coach Jeremy Thomas said, “and it’s brilliant to see it executed.”
Meltdown
Neither team scored in the first inning. But the game was effectively decided in the bottom of the second, when the Spanish defense, put under pressure by some aggressive GB batting, went into meltdown and GB emerged from the inning with five runs.
Right fielder Isabel Mosley, leading off, was hit by a pitch, and DP Mary Racz slashed a single into left field. When the ball went through the legs of the Spanish left fielder, Gala Perez, Isabel came round to score and Mary wound up on third. Then an infield bouncer hit by Alys Thomas was thrown over the head of the Spanish catcher as Mary Racz came in to score. Later in the inning, the Spanish booted a routine ground ball to second base, there was another hit batter, the Spanish pitcher threw wildly past first base and Annecy Stevens drove her second hit of the game into left centre field to drive in the fifth and final run.
GB wasted a scoring chance in the bottom of the fourth inning when Alys Thomas led off with a triple that bisected the outfielders in right centre field but was left stranded on third base, in part by her own hesitant baserunning.
But a final insurance run was cashed in the bottom of the fifth when Alana Snow drove a one-out triple into right centre and scored on an illegal pitch with pinch-hitter Marlia Van’t Sant at the plate.
Momentum
So it was a comprehensive win for a GB Under-16 team that came here not knowing quite what to expect from its mixture of experienced and inexperienced players, and it will give the group a lot of momentum going forward.
Niamh Walker joined the GB programme in 2014 and pitched only briefly for the GB Under-19s at European Championships in Holland last year while carrying an injury (she’ll be joining the Under-19s again in August for the Junior World Championships in Oklahoma). But in the meantime, Niamh has got taller, stronger and quicker, and a completely composed and accurate performance, with only three three-ball counts in the whole of the game, is a foundation on which GB can build, in this tournament and in the future.
Looking ahead
Afterwards, Jeremy Thomas said: “That was fun! And that’s what it’s all about – we want them to enjoy as well as learn. We didn’t have a perfect game today, but everyone played their part and everyone did something to help us win. And, as always, we had great support from our supporters – the parents and other relatives in the stands.”
Tomorrow will be the toughest day of the tournament for GB, with games against Russia at 1.30 pm in the heat of the day and then Italy at 7.30.
“Russia will be a very different game,” Jeremy Thomas said, “and we’ll need to get them re-focused. But today was a great start.”
After that, GB will play the Czech Republic on Wednesday and Belgium on Thursday to complete the round-robin, and one more win in those four games – Belgium is the likeliest target – will get GB to the Page Playoffs.
The GB Under-16s may have slightly surprised even themselves today, especially because the team has had less than a week of training to meld the eight British and four overseas players into a unit. But who knows – there could be more surprises in the offing.