By Melinda Daniels and Neil Teague
Thursday 3 August – The GB Under-18 Women’s Team saw their game against Czechia slip away early on Wednesday evening at the European Under-18 Women’s Championship in Prague and went down to a 9-1 five-inning loss.
This was GB’s second game in the top eight playoffs following their win over France on Wednesday morning, and the British team will conclude this round with a game against Ukraine on Thursday morning. The GB Under-18s look almost certain to advance to the top six playoff round, Group X, that begins on Thursday afternoon, but a win against Ukraine will put them in much better shape for the final playoff round-robin and increase their chances of being able to play for a medal on Saturday.
Early trouble
The Czechs scored four runs in the top of the first inning, with a double by Marketa Vlckova and a single by Karolina Noskova the key blows, putting Britain on the back foot early. GB was further rattled in the first inning when left fielder Hannah Bingaman went down with an injury.
Czech pitcher Amalie Chaloupkova then took over, keeping GB hitters off balance and surrendering just one run on one hit over four innings, striking out five and walking one.
As a result, GB struggled to put runs on the board and had a tough time containing a fierce Czech lineup stacked with seasoned hitters and buoyed by a raucous home crowd.
Georgia Wilson started in the circle for GB, allowing five hits and six runs in one-and-two-third innings. Elena Clark-Wilson threw three-and-a-third innings in relief, allowing a further four runs.
The bright spot for the GB Under-18s came in the bottom of the second inning, when catcher Cara Edwards led off with a solo home run over the fence in left centre field for GB’s only run.
It was also their only hit off Amalie Chaloupkova and reliever Nokola Skardova, who retired GB in order in the bottom of the fifth inning to end the game on the mercy rule.
Scores and standings
The GB Under-18 Women’s Team is currently involved in the first Championship playoff round-robin, with the top eight teams battling in two four-team groups.
GB is in Group E along with Czechia, France, and Ukraine. Group F consists of Italy, the Netherlands, Israel, and Ireland. Three teams from each group will go forward to the next round.
Scores on Wednesday were:
GROUP E
GB 13, France 1
Czechia 10, Ukraine 3
Ukraine 11, France 6
Czechia 9, GB 1
GROUP F
Italy 7, Ireland 0
Netherlands 5, Israel 0
Italy 8, Netherlands 1
Ireland 16, Israel 6
Standings after Wednesday's games are:
GROUP E
Czechia (2-0)
GB (1-1)
Ukraine (1-1)
France (0-2)
GROUP F
Italy (2-0)
Netherlands (1-1)
Ireland (1-1)
Israel (0-2)
While Groups E and F are fighting for places in the next round and eventually the medal games, the other 12 teams in the tournament are playing for places 9-20 in the final standings. All results from these games can be followed on the WBSC Europe website.