by Bob Fromer
Haarlem, Netherlands – The GB Women's Fastpitch Team suffered their third straight loss on Sunday at the 14th ISF Women's World Championships, but held their own for much of the game against medal favourites Australia.
The final score was 9-0 to Australia, with the mercy rule coming into effect after GB batted in the top of the fifth inning. But after Australia scored six runs in the first inning, the next four innings were a competitive game, with GB playing well in the field and relief pitcher Kori Waugh, who took over with just one out in that first inning, keeping the powerful Australian line-up in check.
GB positives
GB picked up three hits in the game and hit some other balls hard, and were certainly not over-matched against Australian starter Ellen Roberts (right), who pitched the first three innings, or reliever Jocelyn McCallum, who pitched the fourth and fifth.
A positive feature for Great Britain in this tournament has been a relatively small number of strikeouts. There were only four against Australian pitching, and there have only been eight over the first three games.
GB's hits were an infield single by Chiya Louie leading off the second inning, that had the Australian defense in a tangle as the picture above shows, and sharp singles by Amy Moore and Alicja Wolny in the third inning. However, GB lost two of those baserunners on the bases. Chiya Louie was caught in a rundown and tagged out trying to steal second after her single, and Amy Moore was doubled off first following her single when Laura Thompson hit a hard line drive to Australian right fielder Erin Thras.
On defense, Sarah Craig played well at third base, and second base player Tahli Moore, starting for the first time, ranged far to her right to take a bouncing ball behind second base and then made a backhand flip to Chiya Louie for a force out that ended the Australian fourth inning. Without that excellent play, the tenth Australian run would have scored and the game would have ended then and there.
Bad start
However, the game did not start well for Britain.
In the top of the first inning, Amy Moore, Laura Thompson and Alicja Wolny all made solid contact, but the result was three outs converted by the Australian defense.
In the bottom of the first, with Carling Hare starting for GB, Australian lead-off hitter Leigh Godfrey hit a wicked smash down the third base line that Sarah Craig dived for but couldn't quite corral. Carling then walked Melinda Weaver on a full count, and after Chelsea Forkin bunted the runners over for the first out, clean-up hitter Brenda de Blass was hit by a pitch.
That brought up Rachel Lack, and she hit a long fly ball that just cleared the fence in left centre field for a grand slam home run – the second that GB has given up in two games.
Jade Wall then walked, Erin Thras singled to left and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. That brought GB Head Coach Hayley Scott out of the dugout and Kori Waugh, who had started as the Designated Player, came in to pitch.
Kori hit Belinda White, the first batter she faced, with a pitch, and shortstop Stacie McManus singled in Australia's fifth and sixth runs of the inning. But GB catcher Steph Pearce picked White off third base for the second out and after two more walks loaded the bases, Kori Waugh got the dangerous Chelsea Forkin to hit a bouncer to second that Tahli Moore converted into a force out, just beating Melinda Weaver to the base.
Parity
After that, Kori Waugh settled in and did an excellent job at quieting the Australian attack.
Kori retired the Australians without a run in the second inning, gave up only a single run in the third, and then allowed two more in the fourth. But with the help of a catch in deep right field by Laura Thompson, and Tahli Moore's sparkling play behind second base, the Australians were kept just short of the four-inning mercy rule total they were after.
So the game became something of a moral victory for a GB Team that played well against one of the best teams in the world. They will have to do the same again at 3.00 pm tomorrow afternoon (Dutch time, and weather permitting) when they play the USA.
Elsewhere....
In other action on Sunday, which was frequently interrupted by short bursts of heavy rain but thankfully nothing more sustained, the Dutch hauled themselves back from the brink of disaster and put on a strong performance to defeat Italy 8-1 in five innings. It was only the first win for the host team, who have to play Australia tomorrow. But even if the Dutch lose that game, they can make the playoffs if they can beat the Dominican Republic, GB and Botswana in their last three group games, and then pursue the quest for the fifth place finish that they need to keep their funding.
Earlier in the day, the Dominican Republic showed more of the power they displayed in beating GB on Saturday, thrashing Botswana 11-1. And Russia fell to Cuba by a score of 5-3, leaving GB, Russia, and Puerto Rico as the only teams without a win so far in the tournament.
However, the upset of the day is the Czech Republic's 2-0 win over China. If you look at the pool standings, below, it's going to be a big scramble for third and fourth place in each group.
The World Championships have so far been incredibly lucky with the weather. The forecasts have been and remain dire, with heavy rain predicted every day – but it's never really materialised, except at night or for brief periods in the daytime, and no games have so far been lost. However, largely grey skies, strong winds and temperatures rarely getting near 20 degrees have made it feel more like October than August.
Results
Scores so far in the tournament are:
Pool A
Day 1
Japan 4, China 0
Canada 3, Puerto Rico 2
Czech Republic 6, Cuba 3
New Zealand 5, Russia 1
Day 2
China 1, Puerto Rico 0
Japan 5, Russia 0
Cuba 1, New Zealand 0
Canada 8, Czech Republic 1
Day 3
Cuba 5, Russia 3
Japan 9, Puerto Rico 2
Czech Republic 2, China 0
Canada 8, New Zealand 1 (5 innings)
Pool B
Day 1
Australia 2, Chinese Taipei 1
Italy 3, Dominican Republic 2
Botswana 5, GB 3
USA 10, Netherlands 0 (5 innings)
Day 2
USA 7, Botswana 0 (5 innings)
Chinese Taipei 5, Netherlands 4 (11 innings)
Dominican Republic 14, GB 6 (5 innings)
Australia 10, Italy 0 (4 innings)
Day 3
Dominican Republic 11, Botswana 1 (4 innings)
Australia 9, GB 0 (5 innings)
Netherlands 8, Italy 0 (5 innings)
USA 5, Chinese Taipei 1
Pool Standings after Day 3
The first four teams in each pool will qualify for playoffs.
Pool A
Japan (3-0)
Canada (3-0)
Cuba (2-1)
Czech Republic (2-1)
New Zealand (1-2)
China (1-2)
Puerto Rico (0-3)
Russia (0-3)
Pool B
USA (3-0)
Australia (3-0)
Dominican Republic (2-1)
Chinese Taipei (1-2)
Italy (1-2)
Netherlands (1-2)
Botswana (1-2)
GB (0-3)
Photos by Lynda Medwell