It was an early start for GB on the second day of the European Championships and with two strong wins the day before, the team were looking confident as they took to the field against the Belgian national team.
Slow Start
After GB batted so well against both Netherlands and Germany in day one, they looked to do the same today, however it was to be a slower start to the game as they only scored one in the first inning. Chelsie Robison started the team rolling with a double to the centre field and she was then scored by Chris Yoxall who singled into left field; however, this was to be the only GB RBI. As the team took the field to defend, their gloves were just as strong as day one, with the team dismissing the first three batters in the Belgium lineup with two outs from Zoe Le Roux in right field and a ground out fielded by Smith and Miller.
Now We’re Rolling
The GB bats switched gears in the second inning and returned to the form shown in day one, with Smith and Miller both singling up the middle. Joe Grantham then singled through the left side of the field to score the first RBI of the inning and the team continued to string together base hits as Le Roux singled too. As Studholme stepped up to bat, he hit well through the right side of the field to score another two RBIs and push the runners allowing Robison to score an RBI as she hit a single too. By the time Hazard stepped into the box it was two down, however this would never faze an experienced batter who parked another homerun for the tournament scoring three RBIs himself. Crista Reed-Thomas had been hitting well for the tournament so far and when she stepped up, she lined the ball into the gap in rightfield to hit a stand-up triple. Josh Smith followed with the same also tripling in rightfield and scoring yet another RBI for the inning. GB still weren’t done scoring yet though as Kim Miller singled into leftfield to score the final GB run, leaving the score at 10-0 to GB going into the bottom of the second inning. The Belgians simply couldn’t answer the GB scoring machine and despite their leadoff Meurs singling to left field, the following three Belgian batters would all be caught out with a line-drive hoovered up by Grantham and flyouts caught by Robison and Hazard.
Two Down Rallies
With first two GB batters failing to reach base it looked like they’d cause less damage to the scoreline in the third inning, but the rest of the batting order didn’t seem fazed as Chris Yoxall stepped up to hit a standup double to centerfield. Katie Jessop then secured the first run of the inning with a single to the centerfield and was followed by Hazard and Reed-Thomas who took walks to load the bases. In his third at bat of the game Josh Smith lined into rightfield for a single scoring two RBIs in the process and turned the wheels on when Miller hit a single to centerfield scoring the final two runs for GB this inning. The score had reached 15-0 as GB went back to defence, and although Decorte hit a homerun for the Belgians, the rest of their batters would continue to struggle against Grantham’s pitching with outs coming from Studholme in leftfield, and Grantham himself fielding a pop-up and a grounder.
The GB scoreline kept ticking over as they reached the top of the fourth inning, with Robbie Studholme kicking things off with his first homerun of the tournament. Yet again there were already two out when Yoxall took to the batter’s box, but his experienced showed as he took a walk followed by Jessop, and when Hazard smashed the ball down third-base line he scored the second RBI of the inning. Whilst Reed-Thomas also hit well to load the bases, unfortunately that was to be it for the GB scoring, however they had built a commanding lead of 17-1 as they went to the bottom of four. Yet again, Grantham continued to make the Belgian batters’ lives hard as three outs were generated from the next four batters. Robbie Studholme continued to defend the left side of the field with a catch, and Smith fielded well at second base for the second out, with the final out of the inning coming from Kay in rightfield. In the top of the fifth inning there were hits from Miller and Grantham however this would be it for the offence, but the score still sat at 17-1 and might just be enough to get GB’s third mercy rule win of the tournament. The GB defence settled in to hold their lead, but Meurs led off with a homerun for the Belgians, who now only needed one more run to keep the game alive. After a solid out from Smith at second base, there was another Belgian hit – this time a single up the middle, however there was never any doubt of GB losing composure. Steve Hazard fielded the second out, but the final out came from Chelsie Robison for a catch deep centre left.
Unstoppable Performances
With three mercy rule wins the GB Coed Slowpitch team are looking in fine form as they compete with the top teams in Europe. After the game Dan Spinks said.
“The team challenge was to maintain the levels we set ourselves yesterday….and we did that incredibly well with another mercy rule victory against a well-prepared Belgium team. We utilised the depth of our squad in this game and those players coming in delivered with intent! The team as a unit are pushing each other to perform at their best, you can feel it! The hits were flatter, harder and stinging at times. Again, our defence locked it down holding them to only 2 single home runs. A superb start to Day 2 and full focus is now on the Irish match later today.”
The team go again at 3pm (BST) today when they face Ireland, which again will be streamed here;
Coed Slowpitch European Championship (softballeurope.tv)