By Melinda Daniels and Neil Teague
Tuesday 1 August – The GB Under-18 Women’s team completed the first round of pool play on Tuesday at the European Under-18 Women’s Championship in Prague with a 3-1 record after defeating Spain to secure a spot in the Championship playoffs.
After Monday night’s frustrating loss to Ireland, there was some trepidation among GB supporters on Tuesday morning. GB would have to beat Spain on Tuesday to progress in the tournament, but Spain had beaten Ireland 12-0 on the first day of play, and Ireland had beaten GB.
So no one would have predicted GB’s stunning 19-3 rout of Spain in three innings that not only put them into the top eight teams that will play for medals but gave the British team the top spot in Group D. Going in the next round as a group winner rather than group runner-up provides, in theory, slightly easier games.
Offense galore
GB put on a hitting show, accumulating 17 hits in three innings.
Jessica Chan, who went 3-for-3 on the day, started the onslaught leading off in the top of the first inning with a line drive to deep left centre field for a stand-up double. After a sacrifice bunt from Kaitlyn Parisi and a walk to Saige Sampson, GB then had four straight hits – doubles by Cara Edwards and Molly Blackwood and singles by Hannah Bingaman and Jenna Thompson – that drove Spanish starter Noelia Chereches out of the game.
The final tally was six runs for GB, and British starter Georgia Wilson underlined the point by retiring Spain in order in the bottom of the first inning.
Neither team scored in the second inning.
GB had a leadoff single by Saige Sampson that came to nothing, and a Spanish threat – a one-out walk to Emma del Pino and a flare hit over shortstop by Lucia Parron – was snuffed out by a double play. Second base player Jenna Thompson fielded a ground ball, tagged the runner going to second and threw to Aliyah Clarke at first.
Even more offense
The top of the third inning turned into a nightmare for Spain as GB scored 13 runs. There were 10 British hits, including doubles by Saige Sampson and Hannah Bingaman and a triple by Cara Edwards, plus two walks, a hit batter and two Spanish errors.
Spain changed pitchers twice in an attempt to stop the British assault, but to no avail.
Georgia Wilson took the win, allowing just one hit over the first two innings.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Spanish managed a consolation rally, scoring two runs on a walk and a pair of singles. At that point, with two out, Elena Clark-Wilson was brought in to close, and ended the game on a pop-up to shortstop after a final Spanish run.
Scores and standings
The 20 countries competing in the 2023 European Under-18 Women’s Championship finished play in their initial round-robin groups on Tuesday, with the top two teams from each group going forward to Championship playoffs.
The remaining 12 teams will have their own playoff structure in playing for places 9-20.
Scores on Tuesday were:
GROUP A
Israel 20, Poland 0
Czechia 10, Israel 0
Slovakia 12, Poland 7
Czechia 20, Croatia 0
GROUP B
Italy 18, Denmark 0
Ukraine 5, Sweden 3
Switzerland 14, Denmark 4
Italy 13, Sweden 0
GROUP C
Belgium 15, Finland 3
France 13, Austria 3
France 4, Belgium 2
Netherlands 9, Austria 7
GROUP D
Ireland 15, Hungary 0
GB 19, Spain 3
Spain 10, Germany 9
Final standings in the first round-robin were:
GROUP A
Czechia (4-0)
Israel (3-1)
Croatia (2-2)
Slovakia (1-3)
Poland (0-4)
GROUP B
Italy (4-0)
Ukraine (3-1)
Sweden (2-2)
Switzerland (1-3)
Denmark (0-4)
GROUP C
Netherlands (4-0)
France (3-1)
Belgium (2-2)
Austria (1-3)
Finland (0-4)
GROUP D
Great Britain (3-1)
Ireland (3-1)
Spain (3-1)
Germany (1-3)
Hungary (0-4)
In the next round, the top eight teams will split into two groups of four for another round-robin, from which three teams in each group will advance for a final round-robin that will determine the teams to play in the bronze and gold medal games on Saturday.
For the next round, GB will be in Group E along with Czechia, France, and Ukraine. Group F will consist of Italy, the Netherlands, Israel, and Ireland.
GB will play France at 9.00 on Wednesday morning, Czechia at 6.30 on Wednesday evening, and Ukraine at 9.00 on Thursday morning, with high hopes of moving on to the final round-robin on Thursday afternoon and Friday.