By Melinda Daniels and Neil Teague
Wednesday 2 August – Having secured their spot in the top eight on Tuesday, the GB Under-18 Women's Team made a strong start in the first playoff round-robin game on Wednesday, defeating France on the four-inning mercy rule by a score of 13-1.
GB pitcher Saige Sampson was on form, allowing only five hits, one run and one walk over the four innings.
The GB offense stayed hot, recording 12 hits, as the team scored runs in all of their three at-bats.
Catcher Cara Edwards led the way, collecting two doubles and a single in three at-bats, while Jessica Chan, Hannah Bingaman and Aliyah Clarke all had a pair of hits.
Defensively, GB was in control, with no errors in the field (France had three).
Quick lead
The GB Under-18s jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, with Cara Edwards and Aliyah Clarke hitting RBI doubles.
France managed their only run of the game in the top of the second inning on singles by Lisa Papoin and Lilou Sauce, but hard-hit singles by Jessica Chan and Cara Edwards, along with doubles from Hannah Bingaman and Jenna Thompson, helped GB extend their lead to 9-1 in the bottom of the inning.
Four more runs in the bottom of the third inning, thanks to a two-RBI double by Cara Edwards and a two-RBI single by Molly Blackwood, took the score into mercy rule range, and the game ended after France failed to score in the top of the fourth inning despite a leadoff single by Mathilde Marbrier.
The final score was 13-1.
Looking ahead
The win over France gave the GB Under-18 Women a good start towards being one of the three teams that will progress from this group to the top six round-robin that will be played on Thursday afternoon and Friday. But every win is important, as results against the teams from this group that also progress to the next round will be counted as games played in the next round-robin.
On Wednesday evening, the GB Under-18s will take on Czechia, regarded as one of the stronger teams in the tournament, and will finish this group with a game against Ukraine on Thursday morning.
If GB can go forward with more than one win, their chances of getting to a medal game on Saturday will increase.
Scores and standings
The GB Under-18 Women’s Team is now 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 to move towards 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.
