Monday 7 August – The Travelling Dodgers and H20, the two British entries in the 2023 European Co-ed Slowpitch Cup competition 
being played in Sofia, Bulgaria this, both got off to strong starts on Monday with a pair of wins.
The tournament is starting with two round-robin groups – Group A with seven teams and Group B with six teams, and The Dodgers started off this morning in Grup A with a 21-8 win over the German team Berlin Hangarounds, then followed that up with a 23-11 victory over Dodder Dynamoes from Ireland.
Meanwhile, H20 played back-to-back games this morning in Group B, prevailing by 25-16 over the Asko Linz Bandits & Witches from Austria, then defeating the other Irish team, BatPark, by 22-3.
As a result, both British teams have finished the opening day of the tournament with a share of first place in the group standings.
Details on their games are below.
Travelling Dodgers v Berlin Hangarounds
The Travelling Dodgers scored three runs in the top of the first inning, and added slowly but steadily to that total over the first five innings of the game. But the Berlin Hangarounds hung around and did much the same, and at the end of the fifth inning the Dodgers were clinging to a slender 9-8 lead.
Then everything changed: the Dodgers put up 11 runs in the top of the sixth inning, added one more in the top of the seventh, and held the Hangarounds scoreless over the final two frames to emerge with an ultimately comfortable 21-8 win.
Both teams had plenty of hits – 22 for the Dodgers to 18 for the Hangarounds – and there was only one walk in the game. But that sixth-inning outburst by the Dodgers was the difference in what was otherwise an even contest, and it was built on power.
The Dodgers had four home runs in that decisive sixth inning, including two three-run home runs by Tyler McGoveran, one inside the park and the other over the fence. In between, Nick Wingate added a solo home run over the fence in left centre field, and Daniel Downes had an inside-the-park home run after a triple by Macy Cortez, Daniel’s second home run of the game.
Both Tyler and Daniel finished the day with six RBIs each.
Matt Burnett for the Dodgers and Kai Lody for the Hangarounds both pitched complete games.
Travelling Dodgers v Dodder Dynamoes
In this game, the Travelling Dodgers scored in every inning, and having fallen behind 4-1 after the first inning to the Irish team Dodder Dynamoes, the Dodgers kept the Dynamoes scoreless over the next three frames and steadily pulled away. By the time the Irish team scored again, in the bottom of the fifth inning, the British team was 16-4 up and coasting.
Once again, the Dodgers relied on power, and particularly on right fielder Tyler McGoveran. The team had nine home runs in the game, and Tyler had four of them, three of them leading off an inning. Pitcher Matthew Burnett and second baseman Nick Wingate each had two home runs, and left fielder Sam Steele chipped in with one. Twelve of the Dodgers’ 23 runs came on home runs, and many of the others were the result of eight doubles hit by five different players.
Tyler McGoveran, Nick Wingate and Sam Steele had four hits each in the game, and Matthew Burnett had five.
Dodder Dynamoes managed 18 hits off Matt Burnett, but Matt worked his way around baserunners in the second, third and fourth innings to keep the Irish team off the scoreboard, and that was the key to the game.
The Dodgers had 27 hits off Dynamoes’ pitcher Brian Connolly, as both pitchers threw complete games.
H20 v Asko Linz Bandits & Witches
The Asko Linz Bandits & Witches from Austria scored runs in every inning in this game off H20 and pitcher Roger Grooms, mostly in ones, twos, and threes. But H20 put up nine runs in the bottom of the second inning and eight in the bottom of the sixth, and those two outbursts were the difference in a hard-fought 25-16 win.
It was the Bandits & Witches who put on the power display in the game, with eight home runs, seven over the fence, from their powerful Latin American male contingent. H20 managed only three home runs, all over the fence: two by Josh Smith and one by catcher Cheyenne Vogel. But H20 out-hit the Austrians by 31-18, and 16 of those hits were concentrated in the two big innings that decided the game.
The Austrians were leading 4-0 when H20 came up in the bottom of the second inning, but that lead was quicky erased. Josh Smith led off with a double, and this was followed by singles from Matt Tomlin, Kat Golik, Kirstie Leach and Mike MacDowell and a double from Roger Grooms. Tthe Austrians didn’t help their cause with three errors, and only four of the nine runs scored were earned as H20 took a 9-4 lead.
For the next three innings, the teams traded runs, and as H20 came to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning, their lead stood at a not entirely comfortable 17-12.
But eight more runs in the bottom of the sixth put the game away.
Singles by Roger Grooms, Kat Golik and Robbie Studholme started the inning, and after an out on a fly ball, Mike MacDowell doubled, Barbara Killer singled, and Josh Smith blasted a three-run home run. Four more singles followed, with Roger Grooms getting the last of them and picking up two RBIs before the inning finally ended with H20 leading 25-12.
The Austrians rallied in the top of the seventh with four runs, including a three-run home run by Richard Adames Lopez, but H20 were never going to be caught and the game finished with British team ahead by 25-16.
H20 v BatPak
H20 were back on the field not long afterwards to take on BatPak from Ireland, but this game was a much easier affair.
H20 scored in every inning of a five-inning mercy rule game, with six runs in the top of the first inning, seven runs in the fourth inning, and five more in the sixth.
Meanwhile, BatPak scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and never scored again against Roger Grooms and an errorless H20 defense.
H20 had four times as many hits as the Irish – 28 hits to seven – and that pretty much told the story.
Every player in the line-up had at least two hits; Josh Smith, Kirstie Leah, Joe Grantham, Josephine Cherson, Matt Tomlin and Roger Grooms had three hits each; and Kat Golik had four, including a double and a triple. There were home runs for Josh Smith – his third in two games – and Joe Grantham.
Scores and standings
The 13 teams competing in the 2023 European Co-ed Slowpitch Super Cup have been divided into two groups, Group A and Group B, for an initial round-robin that will be played from Monday through Wednesday lunchtime. Group A has seven teams, while Group B has six teams, with one British entry in each group.
Scores from Monday were:
GROUP A
Dodder Dynamoes (IRE) 25, BSC Buffaloes (BUL) 6
Waynes Pardubice (CZE) 23, Beveren Reapers (BEL) 21
Textown Tigers-Eastpro (NED) 22, Dodder Dynamoes (IRE) 16
Travelling Dodgers (GBR) 21, Berlin Hangarounds (GER) 8
Beveren Reapers (BEL) 15, Textown Tigers-Eastpro (NED) 13
BSC Buffaloes (BUL) 7, Waynes Pardubice (CZE) 1
Travelling Dodgers (GBR) 23, Dodder Dynamoes (IRE) 11
Textown Tigers-Eastpro (NED) 23, Berlin Hangarounds (GER) 8
GROUP
Poperinge Frontliners (BEL) 25, Akademiks Sofia (BUL) 5
H20 (GBR) 25, Asko Linz Bandits & Witches (AUS) 16
H20 (GBR) 22, BatPak (IRE) 3
UCE Travellers (GER) 21, Akademiks Sofia (BUL) 2
Asko Linz Bandits and Witches (AUS) 23, BatPak (IRE) 8
UCE Travellers (GER) 14, Poperinge Frontliners (BEL) 8
BatPark (IRE) 21, Akademiks Sofia (BUL) 12
Group standings after Monday's games are:
GROUP A
Travelling Dodgers (2-0)
Textown Tigers-Eastpro (2-1)
Waynes Pardubice (1-1)
BSC Buffaloes (1-1)
Beveren Reapers (1-1)
Dodder Dynamoes (1-2)
Berlin Hangarounds (0-2)
GROUP B
H20 (2-0)
UCE Travellers (2-0)
Poperinge Frontliners (1-1)
Asko Linz Witches and Bandits (1-1)
BatPak (1-2)
Akademiks Sofia (0-3)
After this first round robin, the top three teams from each group will be forward to a six team Championship round-robin that will determine which teams will play in the medal games on Saturday.
Looking ahead
On Tuesday, the Travelling Dodgers will have three games: back-to-back morning games against Textown Tigers-Easpro from the Netherlands and defending champion Waynes Pardubice from Czechia, followed by a late afternoon game against the Beveren Reapers from Belgium.
Meanwhile, H20 will take on the host team Akademiks Sofia on Tuesday morning, followed by an afternoon game against the Belgian team Poperinge Frontliners.