By Bob Fromer
Rosmalen, Netherlands: 25 July – The GB Women’s Fastpitch Team saved their best game of the European Women's Championships on Friday for last. GB played the defending champion Netherlands on absolutely even terms and were unlucky to lose 2-0.
The game was webstreamed and can be seen on demand on: http://www.playo.tv/event/19-Mistrovstvi-Evropy-zen-1708.aspx.
The result would not have affected tournament positions whatever happened. GB were already going to finish fifth and the Dutch were going to be #1 or #2 in the Page Playoff round. But the result allowed the GB Women to finish the tournament on a high, and confirmed the talent that the team possesses.
If the GB Team could only get the training time and game experience that all of its main European opponents take for granted, GB would certainly be challenging for medals. But while the programme – again unlike its main rivals – remains completely unfunded except by players and parents, and while our team combines GB-based and overseas-based players, it will be a struggle to make this happen.
High level
GB had two great scoring chances in the game and the Dutch really had only one – but the Dutch took advantage of theirs and GB failed to do so by the smallest of margins.
Carling Hare pitched five brilliant innings, keeping the Dutch scoreless in the first four of them, and Georgina Corrick set the Dutch down in order in her one inning of relief, striking out one of Europe’s top players, Saskia Kosterink, on a change-up after pitcher and hitter had battled through a 10-pitch at-bat.
The Dutch used three pitchers in the game, changing pitchers during the two GB rallies in the fourth and sixth innings. The Dutch may have expected a fairly easy game to send them into the Page Playoffs, but what they got instead was a real struggle in a contest of high-level softball.
Unlike in some earlier games in the tournament, the GB defense was sharp, and committed only one error that had no bearing on the scoring. As usual, the Dutch committed no errors at all.
The game also provided a continuation of one particularly oddity. GB outfielder Chloe Wigington was hit by a pitch by Dutch starter Ginger de Weert in her first at-bat in the second inning. It was the fifth time in 11 at-bats in the tournament that Chloe had been hit by a pitch! Along with her one hit, it probably gives her the top on-base average of all GB players with 10 or more at-bats!
First chance
The Dutch did get their lead-off hitter on base and around to third in each of the first two innings, but Carling Hare stayed strong and retired the next three batters in order on each occasion, with only one ball leaving the infield.
With the game still scoreless, GB had their first scoring chance in the top of the fourth inning. Steph Pearce led off with a walk, and moved to second on Alicja Wolny’s line drive single to right after a nine-pitch battle with Ginger de Weert that Alicja was determined not to lose.
That was the last hitter de Weert faced and the Dutch brought in the veteran Rebecca Soumeru. But with Sarah Craig at the plate, the first hitter Soumeru faced, both runners moved up on a passed ball and GB had runners on second and third with no outs.
The runners had to hold as Sarah bounced out to shortstop, then GB catcher Nicole Ratel attempted to bring in a run on a squeeze bunt. The bunt was a good one, but a little too close to Rebecca Soumeru, and the Dutch got Steph Pearce out on a close play at home. Chloe Wigington then struck out and the score remained 0-0.
The two Dutch runs came in the bottom of the fifth. Karin Tuk singled to lead off the inning, stole second and went on to third when the throw from Nicole Ratel sailed into centre field. So now it was the Dutch with a runner on third and no one out.
The cliché is that softball is a game of inches, and it was here. Manoa Weijgertse smashed a vicious line drive to third that Lauren Evans snagged, then went for the tag on Damishah Charles, pinch-running for Karin Tuk. But Charles just got under the tag by inches and back to third, and she opened the scoring moments later when Maxime van Dalen hit a little fly ball into centre field that just eluded Amy Moore’s dive and rolled for a triple. Inches again….
GB catcher Nicole Ratel alertly picked van Dalen off third base for the second out, but Chantal Versluis walked and scored on the hardest ball the Dutch hit all day, a ground ball triple from shortstop Suka van Gurp that shot up the alley in left centre field.
So the Dutch finally had their breakthrough and a 2-0 lead – a lead that GB immediately threatened in the top of the sixth.
Last chance
Amy Moore struck out to open the GB sixth inning and Steph Pearce grounded out to short. But then Alicja Wolny flared her second single of the game into right field, Sarah Craig singled to right centre and Nicole Ratel was hit by a pitch on a 3-2 count.
Bases loaded, two out, and the Dutch changed pitchers once again, bringing in left-hander Eva Voortman. The batter was Georgina Corrick, pinch-hitting for Chloe Wigington, and the count went to 2-2. Georgina then hit a sharp ground ball up the middle, heading for centre field. But Eva Voortman just got the tip of her glove on the ball, slowing it down, and that allowed second base player Britt Vonk to reach the ball and flip it to second for the force out that ended the inning. Inches….
Sixteen-year-old Georgina Corrick made short work of the European champions in the bottom of the sixth inning, but GB were at the bottom of their order in the top of the seventh and didn’t have another rally in them, going down in order.
So the Dutch had their win and GB had a heartening loss that will send them away from the 2015 European Women’s Championships with a 5-5 record, fifth place and good thoughts about the future.
Second Playoff Round
Games in the second Championship playoff round began on Thursday morning. This round has been played as a six-team round-robin, with results from the previous round carried forward. The six teams entered this round with the following records:
Netherlands (2-0)
Italy (1-1)
Czech Republic (1-1)
Russia (1-1)
GB (0-2)
Austria (0-2)
Results in the second playoff round were:
Italy 3, Russia 2
GB 4, Austria 3
Netherlands 5, Czech Republic 4 (8 innings)
Czech Republic 5, Austria 0
Italy 7, GB 0
Netherlands 5, Russia 0
Russia 5, Austria 0
Italy 9, Czech Republic 1
Netherlands 2, GB 0
So standings at the end of the second playoff round were:
Netherlands (5-0)
Italy (4-1)
Russia (2-3)
Czech Republic (2-3)
GB (1-4)
Austria (0-5)
The Netherlands, Italy, Russia and the Czech Republic will now move forward to the final Page Playoff round, while GB’s win over Austria means GB will finish fifth in the final tournament standings and Austria sixth.
Tonight, the first two games of the Page Playoff will be played, with the Czechs and Russia meeting in the 3 v 4 game at 6.30 pm Dutch time and the Netherlands clashing with Italy at 8.45 pm in the 1 v 2 game. The winner of that game goes directly to Saturday’s final; the loser will play the winner of the Czech v Russia game on Saturday afternoon, with the winner of that game also going to the final.
All of these games will be webstreamed live (see address above).