Friday 11 August – H20 and the Travelling Dodgers continued their march on Friday towards a possible meeting in the gold medal 
game at the European Co-ed Slowpitch Super Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria on Saturday, but it wasn’t completely straightforward for either team.
And because of the rain that delayed play for almost five hours on Thursday, two games from the Championship round-robin, both involving British teams, have been pushed to Saturday morning.
As a result, play in this group, which will determine who plays in the medal games on Saturday, was not finished on Friday as originally planned, and the two games on Saturday morning -- the Travelling Dodgers against the Textown Tigers and H20 against Waynes Pardubice – could have a bearing on what happens later on Saturday.
At the moment, the Saturday morning game between the Dodgers and the Textown Tigers will decide which of these teams gets to the final.
Today, both British teams recorded two more wins, but not without some twists and turns.
H20 rolled over the previously unbeaten Textown Tigers from the Netherlands on Friday morning in a surprisingly easy 17-3 win, but when they played the previously winless Asko Linz Bandits & Witches from Austria in the afternoon, H20 only just prevailed by 14-13.
The Travelling Dodgers had an early struggle with Waynes Pardubice from Czechia in their morning game, and in the middle of the fourth inning the score was tied at 9-9. But one monstrous inning from the Dodgers settled the contest. In their afternoon game against the UCE Travellers from Germany, however, the Dodgers had to come from behind late in the game, then hold off a German rally to preserve a 16-15 victory.
Here are some details on the games played by the British teams today.
H20 17, Textown Tigers 3
Joe Grantham pitched a stunning game for H20 against the powerful Dutch team Textown Tigers on Friday morning, holding them to three runs and just nine hits as the British team cruised to a 17-3 win and improved their record in the Championship playoff round to 3-0.
The Dutch team, previously unbeaten in this playoff round-robin group, had been averaging over 18 runs a game in the tournament so far, but in this game Joe Grantham and the H20 defense held them to just single runs in the second, third and sixth innings.
Meanwhile, H20 had 23 hits and scored in every inning, including five-run outbursts in the second and fifth, on the way to a win that was probably easier than they had imagined.
There was only one home run in the game – not surprisingly by Mike MacDowell, who went 4-for-5 with three RBIs – but Josh Smith also had four hits and Kirstie Leach had three hits, including a double and a triple, good for four RBIs.
In H20’s first five-run outburst, in the bottom of the second inning, singles from Cheyenne Vogel, Josh Smith and Josephine Cherson set things going, and this was followed by a two-run double from Kirstie Leach and a sacrifice fly from Barbara Killer.
When H20 made the game safe with five more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, a two-run triple by Kirstie Leach, an RBI double by Mike MacDowell, and RBI singles from Joe Grantham and Matt Tomlin were the key blows.
Travelling Dodgers 24, Waynes Pardubice 10
The Travelling Dodgers piled up an early 9-0 lead after two innings in this game against the defending European Slowpitch Super Cup champions, only to see Waynes Pardubice rally to tie the score at 9-9 after the top of the fourth inning.
But then the Dodgers scored 15 runs on 15 hits, including three home runs, in the bottom of the fourth inning, and the game was over as a contest.
With tournament officials applying time limits to games to make up for the rain delay on Thursday, the game actually ended about ten minutes later after the Czech team could only respond with a single run in the top of the fifth inning.
The Dodgers had 26 hits to 10 for the Czechs, and the Dodgers won the home run contest by 6-1, with Tyler McGoveran getting one to extend his lead over everyone else in the tournament, and Nick Wingate and Daniel Downes thumping two each. Dodgers’ pitcher Matthew Burnett had one.
Tomas Mertlik started the game in the circle for the Czechs, gave way to “Wayne” (Tomas Rambousek) when the Dodgers scored seven runs in the bottom of the second inning, and the two switched again in the midst of the Dodgers’ 15-run feeding frenzy in the fourth inning.
Here’s how that bottom of the fourth inning went. Katie Jessop singled and Nick Wingate homered to left centre field. Areej Elmaazi, Daniel Downes and Macy Cortez singled and Matthew Burnett doubled. Jenny Heglet reached on an error, Sam Steele and Rachael Collyer singled, and Tyler McGoveran doubled, at which point the Czechs made their pitching change. Undaunted by this, Katie Jessop singled (again), Nick Wingate homered (again), the Czechs finally got an out, but then Daniel Downes homered, Macy Cortez hit a triple and Matthew Burnett doubled. The 15th and final run scored on a single by Sam Steele.
Scary, and decisive.
H20 14, Asko Linz Bandits & Witches 13
The Asko Linz Bandits & Witches from Austria had a modest record in the opening round-robin at the European Slowpitch Super Cup, and came into this game 0-4 in the Championship round-robin, with no chance of playing in a medal game on Saturday.
However, the Austrians managed to come as close to beating an undefeated H20 team as anyone has so far, and the British team will count this one-run win as a lucky escape.
There were no particular signs of alarm for H20 as they scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning, and led 10-3 after two innings and 13-7 after three. Neither team scored in the fourth inning and the game looked to be moving towards a fairly predictable conclusion.
Then, in the top of the fifth inning, the Bandits & Witches scored six runs on six hits, including two home runs and two doubles, to tie the score at 13-all, and the game seemed very much in the balance when H20 went down without scoring in the bottom of the fifth inning.
But with time beginning to run out and no new inning called, H20 pitcher Roger Grooms set the Austrians – including power hitter Diego Capellan-Ramirez -- down in order in the top of the sixth.
H20 just needed a run to win in the bottom of the sixth inning, and they got it quickly. With one out, Matt Tomlin drove a double to left centre field, and Cheynne Vogel, on the first pitch she saw, singled Matt home.
Robbie Studholme and Matt Tomlin both went 4-for-4 in the game, and Joe Grantham had three hits, including H20’s lone home run.
H20 are already looking good for a place in the gold medal game on Saturday, but they will have one more Championship round-robin game to navigate on Saturday morning, against Waynes Pardubice, to guarantee a place in the final and keep their record as the tournament’s only unbeaten team.
Travelling Dodgers 16, UCE Travellers 15
The UCE Travellers have blown hot and cold in this tournament, but they were determined to upset the Travelling Dodgers in the last game of the day on Friday, and they very nearly did.
Travellers pitcher Wolfgang Walther stopped the Dodgers from hitting a single home run for the first time in the tournament, and with the British offense subdued, the Germans slowly and steadily built a lead over the first four-and-a-half innings of the game.
As the Dodgers came to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning, they were trailing 13-9 and were conscious of the fact that with games being time-limited, six innings was likely to be as far as the game would go.
So the Dodgers dug deep and came up with a seven-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning to turn things around and take the lead for the first time in the game.
Sherry Kenyon and Sam Steele started the rally with singles, and Jenny Heglet reached on an error to load the bases, flip the line-up over and bring Tyler McGoveran to the plate. The tournament leader in home runs didn’t manage a grand slam on this occasion, but he did hit a single to left centre field that brought in two runs. Katie Jessop, Nick Wingate and Daniel Downes then singled around a fly ball out to bring in two more runs, and a double from Matthew Burnett and a single by Sherry Kenyon completed the scoring.
The Dodgers now led by 16-13, but the game certainly wasn’t over as the UCE Travellers came to bat in the top of the sixth.
To the Dodgers’ relief, Wolfgang Walther flew out to start the inning, but Clara Zerhusen singled, went to third on a single by Jonas Habicht, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Barbara Herzgen.
The Dodgers now had two outs, but a single by Kai Becker scored Jonas Habicht to bring the score to 16-15, and when Marlen Kestel reached on an error, it brought the dangerous Max Zerhusen to the plate.
With everyone holding their breath, Max Zerhusen hit a ball to the right side of the infield and Marlen Kestel was out at second on a force play.
Breaths expelled, and one more win for the Dodgers on Saturday morning against the Textown Tigers will get them to the final. But the Tigers, who can reach the final instead if they can beat the Dodgers, are unlikely to make things easy.
Scores and standings
Because of the rain on Thursday, two games from the Championship round-robin at the European Co-ed Slowpitch Super Cup, both involving British teams, have been pushed to Saturday morning. As a result, play in this group, which will determine who plays in the medal games on Saturday, was not quite finished on Friday as originally planned.
The teams that finish first and second in this round-robin group will play in the gold medal game on Saturday afternoon, the teams finishing third and fourth will play for the bronze medal, and the teams finishing fifth and sixth will have a fifth-place playoff.
Scores in Group E on Friday were:
Textown Tigers-Eastpro 10, Waynes Pardubice 5
UCE Travellers 20, Asko Linz Bandits & Witches 4
H20 17, Textown Tigers-Eastpro 3
Travelling Dodgers 24, Waynes Pardubice 10
H20 14, Asko Linz Bandits & Witches 13
Travelling Dodgers 16, UCE Travellers 15
Standings in Group E, with two final games still to be played on Saturday morning, are:
H20 (4-0)
Textown Tigers-Eastpro (3-1)
Travelling Dodgers (3-1)
UCE Travellers (2-3)
Waynes Pardubice (1-3)
Asko Linz Bandits & Witches (0-5)