Tuesday 22 August – The Barbarians from the Great Britain Fastpitch League split a pair of games on Tuesday at the European Cup Winners Cup B in 
the Netherlands and recorded their first-ever European win in the process.
On Tuesday morning, the Barbarians took on the Crazy Chicklets from Austria, gave up 11 runs in the first inning, and went down to a three-inning 15-0 defeat.
But things were very different in the afternoon game against Medvenica Mrki Medvedi from Croatia. This was a low-scoring affair in which the Barbarians built a 4-1 lead over the first five innings behind the pitching of Marijke van Kempen, then held off Croatian attempts to rally in the sixth and seventh innings against Lea Maartens to preserve a 4-2 win.
Barbarians 4, Medvenica Mrki Medvedi 2
This first-ever win for the Barbarians in Europe was a tense affair in which their Croatian opponents had more hits and more baserunners but couldn’t turn enough of them into runs.
Neither team scored in the first inning, but both teams put a single run on the scoreboard in the second.
The Croatians scored their run on three singles and an error; the Barbarians countered with a double to right centre field by Julie Winkel, a wild pitch that moved her to third and an RBI single up the middle from Lea Maartens.
Three runs for the Barbarians in the bottom of the fourth inning broke the 1-1 tie and gave them a precious three-run advantage.
Julie Winkel again started the rally with a single up the middle. Julie was out on a fielder’s choice, but an infield hit by Kat Golik put two runners on base and singles by Lea Maartens and Cheyenne Vogel, plus a Croatian error, accounted for the three Barbarian runs and led to Croatian starter Isabel Lindtner being replaced by Enora Simon.
Simon set down the Barbarians in order over the next two innings, so the question was whether the Barbarians’ pitching and defense could keep the Croatians in check.
Marijke van Kempen retired three straight Medvenica hitters in the fifth inning, and when Lea Maartens came in to relieve her at the start of the sixth inning and retired the first two Croatians on infield groundouts, there was no sign of trouble. However, a single and two walks loaded the bases, and an infield single in the hole between third and short brought in a run and put the tying runs in scoring position. But a force out at third ended the inning with the Barbarians still ahead 4-2.
When the Croatians came up for their last at-bat in the top of the seventh inning, Lea Maartens walked the first hitter, Martina Pella, but then proceeded to strike out the next three batters to end the game.
The win will give the Barbarians confidence, with three more round-robin games to go, that they can still fight for a place in one of the medal games on Saturday.
Crazy Chicklets 15, Barbarians 0
The Barbarians’ opening game on Monday against the host team SV Roef from the Netherlands had been competitive for a while, but the Barbarians’ first game on Tuesday, against the Crazy Chicklets from Austria, was over pretty much as soon as it began.
The Austrians scored 11 runs in the top of the first inning against Barbarians’ starter Cheyenne Vogel and reliever Lea Maartens on eight hits, including three triples, plus a walk and two hit batters, and there was no way back for the British team.
Four more Austrian runs in the top of the third inning took the score to 15-0, and after the Barbarians went down in order in the bottom of the third on three infield groundouts, the game ended on the mercy rule.
The Barbarians weren’t able to post a hit against either of two Chicklets pitchers, and their only baserunner came when Lea Maartens drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the second inning.
Scores and standings
Seven teams are competing in the European Women’s Cup Winners Cup B this year, and they are playing a full round-robin over the course of the week to determine which teams will play in the bronze and gold medal games on Saturday.
Scores on Tuesday were:
Crazy Chicklets 15, Barbarians 0
Thunderbirds 3, Challengers Zurich 1
Barbarians 4, Medvenica Mrki Medvedi 2
SV Roef 11, Titans 7
Standings after Tuewsday's game are:
SV Roef (3-0)
Crazy Chicklets (2-0)
Challengers Zurich (1-1)
Thunderbirds (1-1)
Titans (1-2)
Barbarians (1-2)
Medvenica Mrki Medvedi (0-3)
Looking ahead
The Barbarians will play a single game on Wednesday morning against the Swiss team Challengers Zurich, and will finish the round-robin stage of the competition with games against the Thunderbirds from Israel on Thursday and the Titans from Botswana on Friday.
The top two teams in the round-robin standings after Friday will play the gold medal game on Saturday afternoon. The teams finishing third and fourth will play for the bronze medal and the teams finishing in fifth, sixth, and seventh place will play a round-robin on Saturday to determine final placings.