Wednesday 5 September – The London Meteors had another bad day at the office today at the European Men’s Super Cup in Prague, losing two games on the mercy rule in four innings while scoring no runs and registering just one hit.
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Today’s losses were by 17-0 to the Dutch team Quick Amersfoort this morning and by 14-0 this afternoon to the previously winless Hoboken Pioneers from Belgium. The Meteors’ one hit on the day came against the Pioneers, a single through the left side of the infield by Tom Russell in the third inning.
The Meteors have ended the round-round phase of the tournament at the bottom of Pool A with an 0-5 record, and have scored in just one of those five games and registered hits in just two of them.
Tomorrow (Thursday), the Championship and Placement playoffs begin, and the Meteors will start with a Placement game at 9.15 am Czech time, though their opponent is yet to be determined.
Further games will depend on that result: if the Meteors win tomorrow morning they will play again on Thursday afternoon; if they lose, their next Placement Playoff game will be on Friday morning.
The Meteors will be hoping to find games against teams more on their level during the second half of the tournament, because the first three days have been a rough ride.
Here is a quick summary of today’s games:
Quick Amersfoort 17, London Meteors 0
This was the third time in four games at the European Men’s Super Cup that the London Meteors have not scored a run or managed a hit, and this time they gave up 17 runs to the Dutch team Quick Amersfoort in going down 17-0 in four innings.
Unlike in the other two no-hit games, the Meteors didn’t even have a baserunner this time, going up and down in order in all four innings against Amersfoort pitcher Shawn Koster, who struck out 11 of the 12 batters he faced. The only exception was a pop fly to second base by Player/Manager Wes Knapp in the second inning.
Meanwhile, three Meteors pitchers – Gareth Jooste, Josh Peat and Wes Knapp – struggled to contain the Dutch offense.
Amersfoort opened with a modest two runs in the top of the first inning, but then scored six runs in the second inning, five in the third and fourth in the fourth. Four home runs – two by Emeron Lourens and one each by Revin Brooks and Davy van Venrooij – were mixed in among 17 Dutch hits.
This tournament was always seen as a learning experience for the young GB players in the Meteors squad, but so far, the lessons have been harsh.
Hoboken Pioneers 14, London Mets 0
Things were only a little better for the Meteors in their second game of the day against the Belgian team Hoboken Pioneers, who were level with the Meteors with an 0-4 record before the game began.
Roberto Ramos pitched all four innings for the Pioneers and gave up only the aforementioned hit to Tom Russell while walking none and striking out nine. However, Ramos did hit a batter – Ben Tomlin – leading off the third inning, so Tom Russell’s two-out hit in that frame gave the Meteors runners on first and second and their only scoring chance. But Tom Priscott took a called third strike.
Czech guest pitcher Martin Zofka pitched the first three innings for the Meteors, and the Pioneers jumped on him straightaway for four runs in the top of the first inning, including a two-run home run by Alain Lambeau.
Five more runs followed in the top of the second and four in the top of the third.
Wes Knapp staunched the bleeding in the top of the fourth inning, giving up just one run on three hits, but by then Hoboken was already past the four-inning mercy rule margin.
The Meteors can only hope that tomorrow will be a better day.
Scores
Here are the scores from the third day of play at the European Men’s Super Cup:
POOL A
Zraloci Ledenice 8, Hoboken Pioneers 0
Quick Amersfoort 17, London Meteors 0
Braaschaat Braves 2, Amager Vikings 0
Hoboken Pioneers 14, London Meteors 0
Zraloci Ledenice 14, Quick Amersfoort 0
POOL B
Barracudas Montpellier 11, Bears 1
Tempo 8, Gladsaxe 1
Spectrum Prague 6, Stenlose Bulls 0
Gladsaxe 11, Bears 3
Spectrum Prague 4, Tempo 3
POOL C
Von Holmback Hurricanes 15, MRKI Medvedi 1
Hippos Havlickuv Brod 9, Borgerhout Squirrels 0
MRKI Medvedi 16, Cavigal Nice 0
Borgerhout Squirrels 2, Hoofddorp Pioniers 1
Hippos Havlickuv Brod 4, Von Holmback Hurricanes 3
Standings
Final first-round pool standings are:
POOL A
Zraloci Ledenice (4-1)
Braaschaat Braves (4-1)
Amager Vikings (4-1)
Quick Amersfoort (2-3)
Hoboken Pioneers (1-4)
London Meteors (0-5)
POOL B
Spectrum Prague (5-0)
Stenlose Bulls (4-1)
Barracudas Montpellier (2-3)
Tempo (2-3)
Gladsaxe (2-3)
Bears (0-5)
POOL C
Hippos Havlickuv Brod (5-0)
Von Holmback Hurricanes (4-1)
Borgerhout Squirrels (3-2)
Hoofddorp Pioniers (2-3)
MRKI Medvedi (1-4)
Cavigal Nice (0-5)
You can follow all the results from the tournament here: http://competition.europeansoftball.org/2018/prague/schedule.php.