For reasons to do with travel chaos and computer issues, no report on the final day at the European Under-23 Men’s Championship, which concluded on 9 July, was published on the BSF website. Below, BSF President Ieuan Gale looks back at the last day and the tournament as a whole.
GB v Israel
Well, the day we had all been waiting for had finally arrived: the bronze medal game between GB and Israel, where the winner would earn a spot at the WBSC Under-23 
Men’s World Cup in Argentina this October.
GB had been preparing for this game all week, building off each of the previous day’s performances, with their eyes firmly set on the prize.
The game started with Israel in the field and Lucas Prefontaine leading off for GB in the top of the first inning. Lucas had had good at-bats all week and he continued to do that here, seeing a lot of pitches before ultimately striking out.
Next up was Jack Scholes and he too had a great at-bat, eventually working a full-count walk. Tom Russell then struck out on a mean rise ball before Olly Howley came to the plate.
Unexpectedly, Olly had emerged as one of GB’s top hitters for the tournament, and he took the first strike he saw right back up the middle, with the speedy Jack Scholes advancing to third on a great slide and Olly taking second on the throw.
However, GB could not convert these runners, as the bad luck that had plagued their offense for much of the week continued. Josh Stanley smoked a pitch on the outside part of the plate, but straight to Israeli second baseman Alon Gil, and Israel were out of the inning without conceding anything, which perhaps decided the game right there.
If GB had been able to convert its runners in scoring position early, it might have changed the outcome, but obviously we will never know.
The bottom of the first was one of those innings that just gets away from the pitcher and where teams just cannot seem to find outs.
Young GB ace Matt Eder was in the circle and perhaps a little nervous in such a big game, as he gave up a walk and a single to the first two Israeli hitters. Matt struck out the next hitter, Oren Bobrov, but then six hits and seven runs followed. It had been a tough inning and would be a big hole for GB to climb out of, but the game was not over yet.
GB shortstop Josh Smith led off in the top of the second inning and hit the ball hard, but straight at the Israeli second baseman. Max Fagan followed and almost had an infield hit, but the throw beat him by a hair’s breadth. Then Matt Eder flew out on a great catch by Israeli shortstop Adi Leon going backwards and making the play over his shoulder.
In the bottom of the second inning, Matt Eder looked much more settled, giving up just one hit on a line drive home run by Seth Ross on a great swing. Otherwise, Matt, mixing speeds well, induced three weak fly outs. But the score was now Israel 8, GB 0.
Bruce Candlish led off for GB in the top of the third inning. Throughout the week, the GB coaching staff had been telling the team to stick to the process and good things will happen. Bruce had been a player who had had good at-bats all week but not much to show for it. This time, however, his hard work finally brought the result he was after: a hard line drive back up the middle to get GB started.
Lead-off hitter Lucas Prefontaine followed with an excellent bunt and, hustling hard out of the box, forced a throwing error that allowed both runners to advance an extra base.
The next batter, Jack Scholes, also got the sign to lay down a bunt. He popped it up, seemingly nowhere near anyone, but the Israeli pitcher, Kfir Leon, made a stunning diving catch and the runners had to scramble back to their bases.
Tom Russell then came up with the two runners in scoring position, but before he had a chance to drive them in, there was a passed ball. Bruce Candlish tried to score but was tagged out at the plate on a great play by the Israelis. Tom then got hold of one and drove it deep into centre field, but it dropped into the glove of the waiting fielder at the warning track, and that was the third out.
Once again GB had made stuff happen but hadn’t quite been able to convert opportunities, due to a combination of good defense by Israel and some bad luck.
In the bottom of the third, Matt Eder now looked very settled and pitched a scoreless inning, with a hit and a walk sandwiched by two fly outs and a strike out.
Olly Howley led off the top of the fourth inning for GB with a walk but it was now Kfir Leon’s turn to dig deep and he turned it up a notch, striking out the next two GB hitters before Olly was thrown out trying to steal second.
In the bottom of the fourth inning Matt Eder gave up a lead-off hit but then got the next three Israeli batters out in order on a fly out, a ground out and a strike out.
So GB went into the top of the fifth inning needing to score: otherwise, the game would end on the mercy rule. Despite more good at-bats, some hard-hit balls and a walk to Bruce Candlish, GB were unable to muster the offense needed to keep the game going,
The final score was Israel 8, GB 0, and the bronze medal was enough to book Israel a place in the World Cup with Denmark, who came second in the tournament but had already declared themselves unable to travel to Argentina.
The tournament was won by the dominant Czech Republic team. The Czechs beat Denmark
16-1 in a gold medal game that was over after three innings.
Looking back
This final game perhaps summed up GB’s experiences this week most bluntly. In previous years, GB Junior Men’s Teams have been overpowered at times at European Championships and have used the tours mainly as development opportunities.
This tour was different. This was a GB team with the desire, passion and ability to compete with some of Europe’s best. GB clearly did not get the result they wanted at the end of the day, but there were lots of positives to be taken from the trip.
First, GB’s pitching was far better than in previous years. GB’s pitching depth brought some reaction from other coaches, who commented this was the first time a GB team had had such good young pitching.
And this was another benefit: the youth of the team. More than half of the squad this year will be eligible for the next European Under-23 Championship, including two of the three pitchers GB used in this tournament, which bodes very well for the future.
Finally, GB’s offense was much better than in previous years, with the number of strikeouts down and the team’s on-base percentage up.
However, there were clearly issues.
GB struggled to contain the opposition’s offense at times, was unable to convert runners in scoring position, and often struggled to put down bunts when required.
A lot of these issues can be put down to the fact that athletes in Britain just do not get enough opportunities to play fastpitch at a high level. Although the Men’s Division in the GBFL has improved dramatically in recent years, and the recent decision to play the GBFL over full weekends, like many slowpitch tournaments, has increased the number of games, these are still mostly timed games where five innings are rarely played, let alone a full seven.
This leads to players having limited opportunities for both their offense and defense to improve and limits pitchers’ ability to build up endurance and stamina.
It also limits opportunities for our domestically-based coaches to hone their skills and really get to know what their players are capable of. So until more opportunities arise within Britain for more fastpitch to be played, or our teams are able to play significantly more training games against international opposition at home or abroad, GB teams will face the same issues that the Under-23 Men faced at this European Championship.
Looking back on the week, Head Coach Richard Brown said, “This tournament showed that we could compete with the best when it came to defense, but we lacked the same capability when it came to our hitting. To move the GB Men’s fastpitch programme forward, we need to face more experienced pitchers at more regular intervals. But the team did GB Softball proud and I am pleased to have been part of this tour.
“Special mention must go first to our behind-the-scenes support team Ian and Clare Tomlin,” Richard added, “then to my assistant coaches Trent Nash and Damon Brown for their assistance and insight, and to Jill Russell for her excellent administrative support and team management. Finally, my thanks to Ieuan Gale for his advice and his excellent reporting and photography.”
Photo by Ieuan Gale