By Bob Fromer
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Surrey, British Columbia, Canada: 23 July – This has been both a good and a frustrating week for the GB Women’s Team at the WBSC Women’s World Championships, but today’s 1-0 loss to Brazil, which ends GB’s tournament, has to be the most frustrating bit of all.
Georgina Corrick threw a magnificent game for Britain, giving up only two hits and two walks and striking out 13 Brazilians, and was in complete control almost all the way through.
GB had four hits and only two strikeouts – none after the first inning – but they failed to put any offense together against a clever, accurate but distinctly average Brazilian pitcher, Camila Silva. And GB paid a heavy price for this when one mistake in the bottom of the sixth inning – the only error of the game by either team -- gave Brazil an opening and led to the only run of the contest.
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Softball can often be cruel, but the ending of this game was particularly so. And for the GB coaching staff and a number of GB players, today’s game will bring back memories of another game against Brazil that a GB Team should have won – the equally heart-breaking and even more dramatic 12-inning 6-3 loss at the Junior World Championships in Oklahoma City last summer that was also the last game in that tournament for the GB Juniors.
After today’s game, the GB coaching staff all delivered the same message to the players: they have played well throughout the World Championships and they have shown themselves to be a tough team to beat against some of the top teams in the world. Even though GB will now finish lower in the rankings than their play deserved – somewhere between 13th and 16th – this week is still an encouraging step on a journey that will now lead on to European Championships in 2017, hopefully to World Championships in Japan in 2018 if we can qualify, and then almost certainly to an Olympic Qualifier in 2019 that GB, if the core of this squad can stay together and develop, will have a genuine chance of winning.
None of this will assuage the pain of a particularly tough loss – but it also represents a hopeful reality.
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GB v Brazil
Lack of offense has been a problem for GB Women’s Teams over the years, no matter how many good individual hitters are in the line-up – and there are certainly a bunch of good hitters in this year’s team. Today was just another example of the problem.
The irony was that GB got more hits and scored more runs against both Japan and Chinese Taipei than they managed today against Brazil, a team that has lost games in this tournament by scores of 13-0 and 9-3.
But in the early innings, things didn’t look too bad for the GB offense -- except that they were intent on finding ways to take themselves out of innings.
In the top of the first inning, Kendyl Scott led off for GB by punching a single up the middle. The next batter, Steph Pearce, tried but failed to put a bunt down, and then Kendyl decided to steal the base instead but was thrown out by Brazilian catcher Veronika Fukunishi.
In the top of the second inning, Kirsten Mack led off by pulling a vicious line drive down the left field line that looked like a sure double – until Brazilian left fielder Hellen Ikahara made a great diving catch. Lauren Evans followed with a single, and that could have been a run had Kirsten’s ball not been caught – but it wasn’t. And then Amy Moore bounced into a 5-4-3 double play.
After the second inning, it was a case of a lot of contact but few results – three fly ball outs in the top of the third inning, three ground ball outs in the fourth. Amy Moore hit a line drive single just over shortstop in the top of the fifth inning with two out, but Keeli Waugh popped up to the catcher.
In the top of the sixth inning, GB pinch-hitter Brianna Cook smashed the ball down the third base line, but straight at Brazilian third base player Mayra Akamine as GB went down in order.
Meanwhile, all this time, Georgina Corrick was dominating the Brazilian hitters. Brazil’s only base hit came in the bottom of the third inning when the number nine hitter, Samira Tanaka, spent most of the at-bat trying to bunt, and then swung away and popped the ball over the head of a drawn-in Steph Pearce in left field.
But the longer this game went on and GB failed to come up with something on the scoreboard to support Georgina Corrick’s pitching, the more it seemed inevitable that something would go wrong. And in the bottom of the sixth inning, it did.
Brazil have a reputation as a bunting team that likes to play the short game, but there had been little evidence of it over the first five innings. In the sixth, however, Brazil decided to try it, since they had had no luck swinging away. Lead-off hitter Mayra Akamine put down a decent bunt, Georgina Corrick picked it up and threw to first just in time, but second base player Amy Wells, covering first base, dropped the throw.
Two more bunts followed, and each time the GB infield successfully made the play, with Amy covering first. But this moved Akamine around to third.
The count went to 2-and-2 on Brazil’s clean-up hitter, Vivian Morimoto, who then hit a sharp bouncer up the middle. GB shortstop Sarah Craig dived and came up with the ball, but had no chance of throwing out Morimoto at first as Akamine crossed the plate and the Brazil dugout went wild.
Georgina Corrick then struck out Martha Murazawa (have you been struck yet by the fact that almost all the Brazilian players have Japanese surnames?) to end the inning.
GB kept fighting, as they had throughout the game, and with two out in the top of the seventh inning, Kirsten Mack drove a single to left field. Lauren Evans then hit a high fly ball deep to left field – but not quite deep enough. Hellen Ikehara made the catch just short of the fence, Brazil had the win, and it was a bitter end to the World Championship for GB.
GB results
Here are the results of all the games played by the GB Women's Team In Canada:
Pre-Tournament Scrimmage Games
GB 17, Greece 2
GB 3, France 0
GB 21, Kenya 0
Women's World Championships
Canada 3, GB 0
GB 13, Uganda 1
GB 15, Ireland 0
New Zealand 6, GB 0
Japan 4, GB 2
Chinese Taipei 2, GB 1
Brazil 1, GB 0
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The hunt for the Gold Medal
Other results on Saturday have left just seven games to be played on Sunday to bring the 15th WBSC Women’s World Championship to a conclusion and to settle final placings in all four sections of the tournament.
In the Top Eight group, Canada brought Mexico’s tournament to an end with a 5-0 win in a lunchtime game on Saturday, and Mexico will finish fifth.
Earlier, in a tremendous result for Europe, the Netherlands had rolled to a confident 8-1 win over Venezuela, chasing Venezuela’s ace Desiree Ybarra in the third inning with a barrage of bunts and singles. The win ensured that the Netherlands could not finish lower than fourth, the highest-ever placing for a European team at a World Championship, and the Netherlands should and will be very proud of this achievement. Venezuela will finish sixth.
US v Japan
At 5.00 pm on Saturday Pacific time, the US and Japan met with the winner to advance to the Gold Medal game. It was a tough, close encounter, if not exactly the well-played contest these two teams usually put on.
In the top of the second inning, legendary Japanese centre field Eri Yamada leaped high at the fence to pull back a home run off the bat of Aubree Munro, but in the bottom of the inning, US centre field Haylie McCleney couldn’t quite duplicate the feat on a ball hit by Mana Atsumi, and Japan had a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third inning, the US parlayed some hits and walks into two runs, and chased Japanese starter Yukari Hamamura. But in the bottom of the fourth, Japan scored a run on two US infield errors to tie the score at 2-2.
The US took the lead for good in the top of the fifth inning against Yamato Fujita on back-to-back doubles by Valerie Arioto and Ali Aguilar and a sharply-hit single by Kasey Cooper.
Though Japan pulled the score back to 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning on a double, a single and a sacrifice fly, and put the tying run on base with no one out in the bottom of the seventh, the US shuffled their pitchers in the final inning to get better match-ups and held on for the win.
The result means that Japan will have to use the Bronze Medal game at 1.00 pm on Sunday as a means of meeting the US again in the final – and to do that they will have to get past Canada. The US, meanwhile, will be relishing the boost of a relatively rare victory over Japan and the chance it gives them to regain the title of World Champions on Sunday.
Netherlands v Canada
The magnificent run by the Netherlands that took them all the way to fourth place came to a halt on Saturday night against Canada.
Whereas the Dutch had played with real assurance in beating Venezuela in the morning, they looked nervous against the Canadians from the start, and it turned out be a game too far.
The Dutch did threaten to take an early lead in the top of the first inning when Britt Vonk led off with a single and worked her way to third base with two out. Maxime van Dalen then hit a little line drive between first and second that look destined for right field, but Megan Gurski made a diving catch to keep the Dutch off the board.
Canada then opened up the bottom of the first inning with singles by Victoria Hayward and Joey Lye and Hayward eventually scored on a wild pitch by Dutch starter Eva Voortman.
But worse was to follow in the bottom of the second inning when the Dutch failed to make some infield plays, the Canadians loaded the bases, and then catcher Kayleigh Rafter lined a single into left-centre field that was always going to score two runs but wound up scoring three when the ball was bobbled in the outfield and then the throw home was dropped by Dutch catcher Karen Tuk. Canada now had a 4-0 lead.
The Dutch had their one go at getting back in the game in the top of the third inning when Karen Tuk was hit by a pitch from Canada’s veteran pitcher Lauren Regula, and Britt Vonk, who went 3-for-3 in the game, ripped a line drive home run into the hospitality tent beyond the right field fence to make the score 4-2.
But with one on and two out in the bottom of the fourth inning, Canada took the game out of reach. Singles by Joey Lye and Kayleigh Rafter scored one run and a line drive home run to dead centre field by shortstop Jenn Salling off Rebecca Soumeru scored three more. The margin was now 8-2.
Canada put the Netherlands out of their misery against the third Dutch pitcher, Ilona Andringa, with one more run in the bottom of the fifth inning, on doubles by Carey Leigh-Thomas and Victoria Hayward.
But the Netherlands played brilliantly in this tournament and fourth place is a great achievement. In one sense, however, it comes two years too late. Had the Dutch finished fourth in the World Championships they hosted in Haarlem in 2014, they would have kept their considerable funding from the Dutch Olympic Committee, who had given them a target of fifth place. The team finished joint fifth, but sixth when final placings were decided, and most of their funding went. And it’s unlikely that even this year’s achievement will bring it back.
Although the GB Women’s Team gets no external funding at all, we have always had good relations with the Dutch programme, and it was still possible to feel that the Dutch were hard done by. In one sense, this year’s achievement by the Dutch will feel bittersweet.
Other sections
In the 9 to 16 group, Australia ground out another 1-0 victory, this time over Chinese Taipei, to advance to the final at 3.30 pm on Sunday that will determine 9th and 10th place. Earlier, Puerto Rico defeated the Philippines 2-0, and Puerto Rico will play GB’s conquerors, Brazil, at 10.30 am on Sunday, with the winner meeting Australia in the final.
In the 17-24 group, the Czech Republic defeated Austria 12-3 in five innings to advance to the final at 3.30 pm Sunday that will determine 17th and 18th place. Guatemala defeated Ecuador 12-1 in four innings, Greece took care of Peru by a score of 4-0, and then Greece hung on to beat Guatemala 2-1. So Greece will play Austria at 10.30 am on Sunday morning and the winner will meet the Czech Republic in the final.
Finally, in the 25-31 group, Ireland has been on a great run. They defeated Israel 7-6 in their quarter-final on Saturday morning, then easily defeated Kenya 11-3 in five innings on Saturday evening. In the other semi-final, Serbia defeated Switzerland 7-6, so Ireland will play Serbia at 1.00 pm on Sunday in the final that will determine 25th and 26th place.
RESULTS
Here are the results from games on Friday and Saturday in all four Page Playoff rounds:
CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE PAGE PLAYOFF
Netherlands 8, New Zealand 2 (New Zealand finishes 8th)
Canada 4, China 3 (China finishes 7th)
Japan 2, Mexico 0
USA 7, Venezuela 0 (5 inns)
Netherlands 8, Venezuela 1 (Venezuela finishes 6th)
Canada 5, Mexico 0 (Mexico finishes 5th)
USA 4, Japan 3
Canada 9, Netherlands 2 (5 inns) (Netherlands finishes 4th)
CHAMPIONSHIP SINGLE PAGE PLAYOFF
Quarter-finals
Chinese Taipei 4, Cuba 1
Australia 1, Italy 0
Brazil 1, GB 0
Puerto Rico 2, Philippines 0
Semi-finals
Australia 1, Chinese Taipei 0
Brazil v Puerto Rico (to be played Sunday morning)
PLACEMENT DOUBLE PAGE PLAYOFF
Guatemala 5, France 2 (9 inns) (France finishes 23rd)
Greece 4, Uganda 0 (Uganda finishes 24th)
Austria 13, Ecuador 0 (5 inns)
Czech Republic 14, Peru 3 (4 inns)
Guatemala 12, Ecuador 1 (4 inns)
Greece 4, Peru 0
Czech Republic 12, Austria 3 (5 inns)
Greece 2, Guatemala 1
PLACEMENT SINGLE PAGE PLAYOFF
Quarter-finals
Switzerland 5, India 1
Kenya 7, Pakistan 0 (Forfeit) (Pakistan will finish 31st)
(Serbia gets a bye to the semi-finals)
Ireland 7, Israel 6
Semi-finals
Serbia 7, Switzerland 6
Ireland 11, Kenya 3 (5 inns)
Photos by Simon Mortimer