Avigliana, Italy: 20 August – Two crucial wins on the final day of round-robin play on Friday at the European Women’s Cup moved The Mix up to fourth in the round-robin standings and guaranteed them a place in the bronze medal game on Saturday.
With no room for error if they wanted to play for a medal, Anna-Be Bartels pitched The Mix to an 8-1 six-inning win over the Odense Giants on Friday morning in a game the was closer than the final score suggests. Then, on Friday afternoon, The Mix scored three late runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and then kept their nerve in the top of the seventh to overcome the Wroclaw Panthers from Poland 4-2 behind the pitching of Mary Murray.
In the bronze medal game, scheduled for 3.00 pm Italian time (2.00 pm in the UK) on Saturday, The Mix will play the Vienna Wanderers, the team that defeated them by 7-0 in the opening game of the tournament on Monday, 15 August, and a team that The Mix had a premonition they might see again.
The final, at 5.30 pm Italian time on Saturday, will pit the undefeated Chicaboos from Belgium against the host team Avigliana Rebels. In their round-robin meeting, the Chicaboos prevailed by 8-4.
The Mix 8, Odense Giants 1 (6 inns)
Mix starting pitcher Anna-Be Bartels gave up only one hit and one walk over six innings in what was ultimately a mercy-rule win over the Odense Giants from Denmark, but this was a tense game in which The Mix only led by 2-1 after five innings.
Nor did the game start all that promisingly. Mary Murray and Sian Wigington both singled for The Mix in the top of the first inning but couldn’t score, and then the Giants came in and took a 1-0 lead without a hit on an error, a walk and a double steal.
It took The Mix until the top of the third inning to tie the score. Anna-Be Bartels put down a bunt and reached second base when Danish pitcher Mara Lagler threw past first. Anna-Be took third on a groundout and scored on a single by Mary Murray.
With both pitchers holding down the opposing offense, it took The Mix until the top of the fifth inning to edge ahead, and again it was an error that created the chance. Kat Golik reached first on a misplay by the Danish third base player, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, took third on a single to left field by Chelsie Robison and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
But at that point, The Mix were just one run ahead in a game they had to win, and anything might have happened.
What did happen was that The Mix suddenly found their bats in the top of the sixth inning, and after a Danish error again opened the door, pounded out five straight hits after two were out, including two doubles and a triple, scoring six runs and taking the score to the mercy-rule margin of 8-1.
Holly Newell, who had reached on an error, and Gayle Khoenkhoen, who had walked, were on base with two outs when the barrage began against a tiring Mara Lagler. Anna-Be Bartels singled through the right side, Chelsie Robison smashed a triple to right field, Mary Murray doubled down the left field line, Sian Wigington singled, and Barbara Killer doubled to left centre field, and the tension in the British dugout had lifted.
Anna-Be Bartels set the Danes down in order in the bottom of the sixth inning and The Mix had the first of the two wins they needed on Friday to take them to a position to play on Saturday.
The Mix 4, Wroclaw Panthers 2
This was another tense game and, for the first five innings, another pitcher’s duel, between Mary Murray for The Mix and Emilia Koziol for the Wroclaw Panthers from Poland, who came into the game just behind The Mix in the round-robin standings and would have taken that all-important fourth place had they won.
Just as in the morning game against the Odense Giants, The Mix fell behind 1-0 in the first inning. Livia Bernardi and Aleksandra Grzeszczak opened with singles against Mary Murray and a sacrifice fly eventually brought in a run, but Mary did well to get out of the inning with no further damage.
After the Poles threatened in the top of the second inning but failed to score, The Mix tied the game in the bottom of the frame, thanks in large part to two Polish errors plus a single by Megan Beard.
Mary Murray then found her rhythm and set the Panthers down in order in each of the next three innings. Meanwhile, The Mix had baserunners in the fourth and fifth innings against Emilia Koziol but couldn’t score them.
Then, in the top of the sixth inning, Wroclaw took the lead, at 2-1, on an error and a pair of singles.
The Mix now had their backs against the wall but found a great response.
Once again, an error opened the door for The Mix in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Sian Wigington reached with one out on when Panthers shortstop Livia Bernardi misplayed a ground ball. Amie Hutchison followed with a walk and Megan Beard then struck the key blow of the game, a triple down the right field line. That drove in two runs, put The Mix into the lead at 3-2, and brought Viktoria Sovak in to pitch for the Poles.
Barbara Killer greeted Sovak with a single to left field, scoring Megan, and The Mix now led 4-2. It might have been more, as a walk to Gayle Khoenkhoen and a bunt single by Anna-Be Bartels loaded the bases, but the inning ended on a groundout.
Now The Mix had to preserve their lead as the Panthers came to bat in the top of the seventh inning, and nerves began when Katarzyna Sobiio led off with a single to right field. But Mary Murray set down the next three batters, the top of the Polish order, on two fly outs and a groundout, and The Mix had come back, in both this game and the tournament, to earn themselves the chance to win a medal.
Scores and standings
Scores on Friday as the round-robin phase came to an end were:
The Mix 8, Odense Giants 1 (6 inns)
Chicaboos 8, Wroclaw Panthers 7
Vienna Wanderers 14, Angels Dupnitsa 1 (4 inns)
Princ Zagreb 15, Soders Softball 0 (3 inns)
The Mix 4, Wroclaw Panthers 2
Chicaboos 7, Odense Giants 4
Avigliana Rebels 8, Soders Softball 1 (5 inns)
Vienna Wanderers 8, Princ Zagreb 0
Final round-robin standings were:
Chicaboos (8-0)
Avigliana Rebels (6-2)
Vienna Wanderers (6-2)
The Mix (5-3)
Wroclaw Panthers (4-4)
Prince Zagreb (3-5)
Angels Dupnitsa (3-5)
Odense Giants (1-7)
Soders Softball (0-8)
The bottom five teams in the round-robin will finish as above in the final tournament standings, but the top four places will be determined by the outcome of the medal games on Saturday.