By Bob Fromer
Plant City, Florida: 21 November – A dramatic walk-off comeback win over Canada on Saturday afternoon in the final round-robin game at the WBSC Slowpitch World Cup has cemented the GB Slowpitch Team’s place in tomorrow’s playoffs.
Down 10-1 after an inning and a half and 17-13 coming into their final at-bat, GB had a bunch of clutch hits from the bottom of the order to pull within a run of the Canadians before Chris Yoxall blasted a two-run bases-loaded double to left centre field to chase home the winning runs.
As things turned out, GB would have made the top four and the Trophy Page Playoffs without that win. But the team didn’t know that at the time, so the fact that some relatively inexperienced players held their nerve and pulled off a remarkable victory is even more creditable.
Once again, GB Head Coach Steve Patterson had a magic touch with substitutions, getting key hits from players inserted into the game at just the right time, as he has done all tournament, and throughout his time as head of the GB programme. If anyone needs a masterclass in slowpitch game management, they only need to watch Steve Patterson at work.
More details on GB’s stunning win over Canada are below.
Playoff places​
Earlier on Saturday morning, GB had hit their way to a relatively straightforward 18-6 win over Bulgaria – though not before trailing 5-1 after an inning and a half of play.
GB’s two wins on Saturday gave them a final record of 5-2 in the round robin, putting them into a three-way tie with Germany and Canada (see the table below). The Bahamas topped the pool with a record of 6-1 – and their only loss came at the hands of GB on Friday.
After head-to-head results and runs conceded in games among GB, Germany and Canada were assessed, Britain wound up in third place and will play fourth-placed Canada on Sunday morning in the Trophy Page Playoff 3 v 4 game. Win, and they will go on to play the loser of Bahamas v Germany for a place in the final. Lose, and they’ll be spectators for the rest of the day.
But with all of the top four teams having taken games off each other during the round-robin, any of the four could be lifting the trophy on Sunday afternoon – or whenever the forecast rain allows the tournament to finish.
Round-robin standings​
Here are the final round-robin standings after three days of pool play at the World Slowpitch Cup:
Bahamas (6-1)
Germany (5-2)
Great Britain (5-2)
Canada (5-2)
Turks & Caicos Islands (3-4)
Curacao (3-4)
Bulgaria (1-6)
France (0-7)
Page Playoff match-ups
Initial match-ups in the Trophy and Placing Page Playoff rounds on Sunday will be:
Trophy Page Playoffs
1 v 2 Game: Bahamas v Germany
3 v 4 Game: GB v Canada
Placing Page Playoffs
1 v 2 Game: Turks & Caicos Islands v Curacao
3 v 4 Game: Bulgaria v France
The 1 v 2 game winners will go directly to the final of their competition; the loser of 1 v 2 will play the winner of 3 v 4 for the other place in the final.
When exactly those games will get played is uncertain. The schedule calls for a 9.00 am start on Sunday morning, but overnight rain is forecast to last into Sunday afternoon. It could be a late night on the diamond before all the teams fly home on Monday.
GB v Bulgaria
Bulgaria, without a win at that point in the tournament, came out swinging against GB in the top of the first inning on Saturday morning and scored three runs on three hits and an error. It might have been more if Mike MacDowell hadn’t pulled off another spectacular catch in left field.
Great Britain was only able to pull back a single run in the bottom of the first inning on a leadoff double by Mike MacDowell and a sacrifice fly by David Lee – and then the Bulgarians came up and scored two more in the top of the second to take a 5-1 lead.
After their two demoralising losses (and one great win) on Saturday, it felt like the GB Team was at a crossroads. Would they succumb to a team like Bulgaria, or would they fight back?
The answer wasn’t long in coming. GB came in to bat in the bottom of the second inning and scored 10 runs on eight hits, two walks and two Bulgarian errors, and the mood changed completely in the GB dugout. A triple by Chris Yoxall started things off, Roddy Hill and Kelvin Harrison had doubles, and Michelle Collier, Lauren Futcher, Mike MacDowell, David Lee and Matt Tomlin contributed singles to turn a 5-1 deficit into an 11-5 lead.
Bulgaria pulled a run back in the top of the third inning, but failed to add to their total over the final two frames, while GB scored three more in the bottom of the third and four in the fourth. The game expired on time just after GB came to bat in the fifth.
The GB attack put up 17 hits in four-and-a-bit innings to 10 for Bulgaria. Mike MacDowell, who will be a strong candidate for Tournament MVP, went 3-for-3, while David Lee also had three hits and Matt Tomlin two after coming on as a sub.
It was a win that certainly helped to restore morale after Saturday. Except that the GB Team then had the chance to sit and watch Canada -- the team they were playing next, and with a place in the playoffs potentially on the line -- rip into Germany by a score of 20-9. It was as comprehensive a defeat for Germany as GB had suffered at the hands of the Germans on Friday afternoon, and emphasised once again that there is little difference between the top four teams in this competition.
The architect of Germany’s downfall was Canadian shortstop Justin Pennell, who had nine RBIs in the game, most of them coming on two grand slam home runs. The GB team duly took note – but that didn’t mean they could stop him!
GB v Canada
Steve Patterson made a key decision before the Canada game – to pitch David Lee rather than Roger Grooms and instead to play Roger at second base. On the one hand, it was hoped that David Lee’s tendency for pitches to move away from right-handed batters would tie up Canada’s three left-handed male sluggers. And on the other hand, it was hoped that Roger could give GB more stability than they had hitherto enjoyed at second base.
Armed with this cunning plan, GB hoped to get off to a good start against the Canadians – and got off to just about the worst possible start instead.
A double by leadoff hitter Gabriel Chua and a throwing error by shortstop Chris Yoxall after making a nice pick on Erin Gee’s ground ball put two runners on base and brought up the scary Justin Pennell. Any hopes that Pennell had exhausted himself with his nine RBIs against Germany were quickly shattered as he drove David Lee’s first pitch deep over the fence in right field and Canada had quick 3-0 lead.
Roger Grooms then made a fine leaping catch of Alyssa Lee’s line drive for the first out of the inning, but the Canadians followed with four straight hits, good for three more runs and a 6-0 lead.
GB managed to pull a run back in the bottom of the first inning, with Danielle Atkinson’s RBI single driving in Chris Yoxall. But then GB suffered what seemed like a killer blow in the top of the second.
Gabriel Chua opened the inning by grounding back to the pitcher. Erin Gee was out on a grounder to second base. Justin Pennell, of course, sliced a triple to the opposite field, but when Alyssa Lee hit a bounder to Danielle Atkinson at third, it looked like GB was out of the inning. But Danielle’s throw was low, Pennell scored, the next two batters doubled, and by the time the third out finally came, GB trailed by 10-1, and no one would have given much for their chances.
But the GB Team was not ready to give in.
Instead, they came to bat in the bottom of the second inning and scored seven runs to close the gap to 10-8. A ringing triple to left centre field by Annie Dubovec got the inning started, and six more hits followed, including doubles by Roger Grooms, Chris Yoxall and David Lee. A rout had become a ball game.
But that was as close as GB was to get for quite a while, because it was tough to keep a hard-hitting Canadian line-up from scoring. In the top of the third inning, five more Canadian runs crossed the plate, the last two on yet another three-run home run by Justin Pennell, this time to the opposite field.
GB countered with two runs, and managed to finally shut down Canada in the top of the fourth inning, thanks in part to an interference call that Roger Grooms drew from the umpires on an attempted double play, taking a run off the board.
GB scored another two in the bottom of the fourth, when Steve Patterson send Roddy Hill in to pinch hit with runners on second and third, and Roddy cashed both of them with a line drive single to left field.
And so things went on, with Canada still holding a 17-13 lead as GB came in to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning with only about six minutes left before time would expire. Mike MacDowell led off the inning with a single, but Claudine Snape bounced into a double play – and now GB’s best tactic was to make the third out, force a sixth inning and take their chances then.
But agonisingly, they hedged their bets, because Chris Yoxall and Danielle Atkinson singled, and the temptation to go for the runs now was suddenly there, despite it being a long shot with two out and despite the clock running down to no new inning. However, David Lee bounced into a force play, GB had their sixth inning, and now the task was to keep Canada from extending their lead.
With the Canadians down at the bottom of their order and no Justin Pennell in sight, David Lee got the three outs he needed at the cost of only a double by Canadian pitcher Jason Jung, who was stranded on second base.
So now it was the bottom of the sixth, still 17-13 to Canada, and with a place in the playoffs for GB still not secure. This was a real test – and GB passed it with flying colours.
Annie Dubovec led off the inning with a sharp single to left centre field. Roger Grooms flied out, but Kat Golik poked a clutch single just past second base. And then the Canadian pitcher tightened up and walked Stewart Butcher on four pitches. It brought one run home, put runners at second and third and changed the whole feel of the inning, even though GB still had a lot to do.
The next batter, for what was the pivotal at-bat of the game, was GB newcomer Michelle Collier, who had entered the game in the third inning and flied out in her only previous at-bat. Michelle took a ball, then a strike, and then drove a firm ground ball single up the middle, bringing two runners home and shifting the odds heavily in GB’s favour.
The end didn’t take long. Mike MacDowell dropped a double into right field, pushing Michelle around to third. Claudine Snape hit a bouncer to Ashley Dunn at third base, who bobbled the ball in front of her. No one could advance, but Claude was able to reach first to load the bases.
That brought Chris Yoxall to the plate, and he rode the second pitch up the alley in left centre field to set off the merry-go-round on the bases and give GB the most exciting of wins.
If this tournament is meant to help some of the newer players in the GB programme progress, this game will have done them nothing but good – a thoroughly merited team win.
Results
Here are the results of the round-robin games played over the first three days of the Slowpitch World Cup:
SATURDAY RESULTS
GB 18, Bulgaria 6
Turks & Caicos Islands 19, France 8
Canada 20, Germany 9
Bahamas 17, Curacao 5
Bulgaria 17, France 10
GB 18, Canada 17
Bahamas 18, Turks & Caicos Islands 6
Germany 16, Curacao 5
FRIDAY RESULTS
Canada 12, Bulgaria 7
Bahamas 15, France 5
Curacao 13, GB 10
Germany 17, Turks & Caicos Islands 6
Canada 20, France 0
GB 9, Bahamas 7
Germany 13, Bulgaria 5
Turks & Caicos Islands 7, Curacao 5
Turks & Caicos Islands 19, Bulgaria 12
Germany 17, GB 5
Curacao 12, France 3
Bahamas 7, Canada 6
THURSDAY RESULTS
Bahamas 17, Bulgaria 2
Canada 12, Curacao 11
Germany 38, France 3
GB 19, Turks & Caicos Islands 5
Curacao 12, Bulgaria 9
Bahamas 12, Germany 11
Canada 16, Turks and Caicos Islands 8
GB 29, France 1