By Bob Fromer
Saturday July 15 – So near and yet so far for the GB Women’s Team! After four innings, GB held a 1-0 lead over Australia in the final game of the WBSC Women’s World Cup Group A in Ireland, a game that would decide a place in next year’s World Cup Finals. But one bad inning was the difference in a 4-1 Australian win.
Before going on to the details, it’s worth remembering what the GB Women’s Team accomplished in cold, wet, and windy Balbriggan this week, and how well they played. GB defeated Tokyo 2020 fifth place finishers Australia and World #3 Chinese Taipei, rolled over Ireland, played well against the United States and was very close to winning again last night. The team played outstanding defense thoughout, with several standout defensive gems. Georgina Corrick threw 23 consecutive scoreless innings until last night, and 25 out of 26 scoreless innings in the tournament.
This is a very young GB Team, representing a performance programme designed to build towards the hopeful return of softball at the Los Angeles Olympics Games in 2028. This past week's performance shows that the programme is on the right trajectory.
How we got here
The last two days of this Group A tournament were disrupted by the weather.
On Friday, the last day of round-robin play, only one of four scheduled games was able to be completed, and GB’s last two round-robin games, against Botswana and the United States, were cancelled, as was the USA v Ireland.
However, the three cancelled games, whatever their result, would not have altered the line-up for the Page Playoff scheduled for yesterday (Saturday), so the WBSC made the decision to go straight to those playoffs.
In an attempt to beat the rain, tournament officials had the first game – the 1 v 2 Page Playoff game between GB and the United States -- start at 8.00 am, but even that didn’t save them. The game was in the third inning, with the US ahead 2-0, when light rain turned heavy, and then heavier, and it wasn’t until 4.00 pm that the teams were able to resume play.
The World #1 US went on to a 7-0 five-inning win, but GB kept the game close for four innings, and was primed for the repecharge, where they would play either Australia or Chinese Taipei, as the best route to qualify for next year’s Women’s World Cup Finals.
In the 3 v 4 Page Playoff game that started well after 7.00 pm, Australia hung on in the face of a late Chinese Taipei rally to win 4-3.
The final game of the day and the tournament, Australia against Great Britain, began after 8.30 pm, as the WBSC made a push to finish the tournament and determine the outcome on the field.
Tension
The tension was palpable as the game got underway in cold and very windy conditions, with GB pitcher Georgina Corrick working in and out of trouble early.
Australia had a leadoff infield single, then a strikeout, then a walk, and had runners on first and third with one out. Georgina threw a great sequence to strike out Australian clean-up hitter Kylie Steemers for the second out, but then walked Jade Wall to load the bases.
Even in the top of the first inning, it felt like the game was on the line. But Georgina struck our Clare Warwick with a 3-2 pitch on the outside corner and GB had escaped any damage.
Having done so, they promptly scored in the bottom of the first inning – and speed was the key.
Tia Warsop led off with a single up the middle, stole second, took third on a groundout and, with two out, scored on a wild pitch. GB had a precious 1-0 lead.
After that, both Georgina Corrick and Australian starter Ellen Roberts settled in, and though both teams had baserunners, it was GB that had the better chances, leaving two runners on base, including a runner at third, in the bottom of both the second and fourth innings.
Meanwhile, Corrick was handling the Australian line-up and building up her strikeout totals, though she had some help from her defense. Second base Katie Burge just managed to snag an infield fly off the bat of Tamieka Whitefield that looked like it would fall for a hit in the second inning, and Tia Warsop made a wonderful leaping catch on the run near the fence in left field in the fourth inning on a long drive hit by Clare Warwick.
So things went until the top of the fifth inning.
Fatal inning
Initially, there was no sign of trouble in the top of the fifth inning.
Australian leadoff hitter Belinda White struck out swinging, and the next hitter, Tamieka Whitefield, also struck out – but the pitch, which was outside and in the dirt, escaped catcher Amy Moore and Whitefield reached first base.
That didn’t seem to matter when Georgina Corrick struck out the next hitter, Shannon Keevers.
But then the inning unravelled. Taylah Tsitsikronis hit a ball that neither Sydney Brown at shortstop or Katie Burge at second could quite get to, and when the play was over, there were runners at second and third. Georgina Corrick hit Kylie Steemers with a pitch to load the bases, and then, pitching carefully to Jade Wall, walked her on a 3-2 count to force in the tying run.
The next pitch, to Clare Warwick, was too far inside and hit her on the arm, and that forced a second run home, giving Australia the lead.
Then an infield error, GB's only error of the game, allowed two more runs to score, and Australia led 4-1. It might have been even worse, but Sydney Brown made a sensational catch on a pop fly in short left field to end the inning.
Ellen Roberts was pitching a steady game for Australia, and buoyed by that three-run lead, set GB down in order in each of the last three innings.
However, there were some hard-hit balls that either went straight to Australian fielders, or, as below, resulted in some great Australian defense.
The bigger picture
Georgina Corrick pitched her heart out in this game, throwing 147 pitches and striking out 14 Australian hitters. Ellen Roberts only had six strikeouts as GB hitters consistently put bat on ball – but after the first inning, couldn’t muster any runs.
Great Britain continues to push the best teams in Europe, and the world, reflected by their previous three competitions.
In 2019, they got to the final of the Europe-Africa Olympic Qualifier, only to be bested that game to Italy. In 2022, they got to the final of the European Women’s Championship, winning silver after a tough game against the Netherlands. This week, they confounded most softball observers by finishing second in the round-robin, ahead of two teams ranked in the world top ten, and were tonight were one game away from reaching the World Cup Finals.
These are huge accomplishments, and the GB Women are a team on the rise in world softball.
It won’t be long before heart-breaking losses at the final hurdle turn into wins.
