Game Seven vs Norway
In day five of the European Championships, GB Coed Slowpitch would face Norway in their first game of the day, coming into the game with six solid victories. The Norwegians were yet to secure a win in the tournament, however GB looked ready to perform as they took to the field once more.
Calm and Composed Batting
As the away team, GB were to score first, and they demonstrated excellent patience from the start to build an early lead in the game. With an opening walk from Smith, Chris Yoxall hit his first homerun of the day to bring in the first two runs for GB. Singles from Jessop, Thomas and Brown would load the bases for Grooms, and taking a walk he scored the next RBI, with a walk from Tomlin scoring another GB run. A further walk from Smith also scored for GB, and with Kim Miller stepping up to hit a single, she scored the next two runs for GB. It was an excellent start, and the score sat at 10-0 when GB went out to defend in the bottom of the first inning. The Norwegians would only pull one run back, with a single homerun being the only hit of the innings, as outs came from Yoxall in leftfield, and Smith and Russell cleaning up in the infield. The start of the second innings would only see a hit from Russell who doubled through the left side, and with two down the team had to rally to keep the score rolling. But showing composure as in previous games, they would bring in eight runs despite the outs. With Thomas and Le Rous on base, Matt Tomlin hit a single, and the team took advantage of the fielding error to score four runs from the play. As Humphris reached base with a walk, Josh Smith hit a double to push them round, and Miller brought two runs in as she reached base. Chris Yoxall then stepped up to bat and parked his second home run of the game to bring in a further two RBIs. Tom Russell scored the final run of the innings with a triple down the leftfield line, and GB had built a solid lead of 18-1. The GB defence was to hold strong yet again, as only one more run was scored for Norway.
GB Keep Building
The middle of the game was to see more runs scored from GB but not at their normal powerhouse rate, with Josh Smith managing to reach home on a double down right field line, bringing in 3 runs in the process. After holding Norway in the bottom of the third innings, the score now sat at 21-2, a commanding lead, and the GB bats built again as another two runs were scored in the top of the fourth inning. With a hit from Russell and walks from Grantham and Le Roux, the bases were loaded when Tomlin stepped up to bat. Matt Tomlin proceeded to hit a double to right field, scoring two runs in the process and the score had reached 23-2 going into the bottom of the fourth inning. Whilst Norway did start to hit in the fourth inning, they were only to score three, and outs were taken from Robison coming in at third base, a strikeout from Grantham, and a pop-up taken by Le Roux at first base.
Strong Finish
Despite going two down at the start of the fifth inning, a walk from Leach would bring Tom Russell up to bat who hit his first homerun of the game and scoring the first two runs. Rebekah Kay then hit a triple and was shortly scored by a single to left centre from Grantham, but the scoring wasn’t to stop there. With Le Roux and Grantham on base, MacDowell was brought in as a pinch hitter and hit a homer to centerfield, bringing in three more runs for GB. With walks from Humphris, Smith and Robison loading the bases, Studholme also reached base and scored two RBIs from the shortstop’s fielding error. Kirstie Leach continued her consistent batting with a single to leftfield and GB capitalised on further Norwegian errors to bring in another two runs. Tom Russell stepped up to bat and hit his second homerun of the innings to bring in the final two RBIs – GB had scored twelve runs that inning, all from two down. It would prove too much of a mountain for Norway to climb back into the game and with outs from Grantham and two from Studholme in leftfield, GB secured another mercy rule win with a final score of 35-5.
Staying Focused
It was another dominant performance from GB, who continued to show consistency across the squad with key hits coming throughout the lineup. After the game Dan Spinks said.
“After securing our place in the final this game allowed further opportunities for the team to showcase their abilities.
The team are dialled in, and the emphasis was firmly on plate discipline and executing your hits to perfection. This was on display through the numerous walks, stinging line drives and timely home runs the team produced. A very thorough team performance played in hot weather conditions.
The last group game is now ahead of us. The team have done everything we have asked of them and some! GB are dialled in, ready to Roar!”
Game Eight vs Czechia
With seven wins from seven games, GB looked in great form as they were set to play Czechia in their final game which was to be a preview of the European Finals with both teams having already secured their spots in the gold medal game.
Starting Well
GB took to the field as the home team, and with the leadoff Czech batter hitting an over the fence homerun it looked to be a closer game, however Grantham’s pitching continued in great form and GB would secure three outs from the next three batters. The first came from a groundout to Russell, the second a catch from Studholme and finally a catch at the ankles by Leach at first base. With a one run deficit to make up for, the GB bats started rolling well with a leadoff single from Studholme and a standup double from Reed-Thomas. Mike MacDowell stepped up to score the first run of the game with a single, Steve Hazard scored three RBIs from his first homerun of the game. He was quickly followed by Tom Russell, who also parked another homerun for the day, and Robison safely made base and reached second base to capitalise on the Czech error. The innings ended there, and GB had secured a 5-1 lead. The gloves went to work in defence, and the consistency stayed with three outs from three batters. Robbie Studholme took the first catch in deep left field, Kay took the second catch in rightfield and finally Hazard took a groundball to close out the top of two. The GB bats slowed slightly, with Studholme capitalising on errors, he turned his single to a triple and was scored from a sacrifice fly from Reed-Thomas. Whilst MacDowell hit a standup double to centre left, he was to be left on base and the score had crept to 6-1.
Czech’s Building
With a Czech leadoff hit in the third inning, Studholme kept the next two batters at bay with a sliding catch and a catch in foul territory, however the Czech’s loaded the bases, and a grand slam homerun had brought them back into the game. The final out was another catch in outfield from Studholme, and GB came back into bat, the score now 6-5, it was time to build that lead again. Steve Hazard stepped up as leadoff and hit his second homerun of the game to bring in the first run and get the ball rolling. Russell then hit a single to rightfield, then he was pushed round by Robison who also singled, and Grantham then hit a double to bring them both home. With two down and Grantham on base, Robbie Studholme hit his first homerun of the game to bring in the final two RBIs of the innings. The score now sat at 11-5, and the GB defence went back to work. Three outs were quickly made from four batters, with a groundout fielded by Hazard and two outfield catches, another from Studholme and one from Kay.
GB Bats roll again
The bottom of the fourth inning started with a walk from Jessop, Steve Hazard hit yet another homerun to bring in the first two runs of the innings. He was followed by Russell hitting his second homer of the game and after Robison reached first from a hard hit at the third baseman, Grantham stepped up to get his first homer of the game and score the two final RBIs for GB of that innings. The score was now 16-5 as GB went back into the field to defend their growing lead. Joe Grantham continued pitching well, with a strikeout on the first batter to open the fifth inning, and the second out followed quickly with catch from MacDowell in centre right. The final out was a great pick by Russell at second base, making the throw in time to bring GB back to bat. The attack started with a leadoff hit from Studholme through the centre of the field and Reed-Thomas followed with a single, then Jessop scored the first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. However, this was to be the only run of the inning, but the score had ticked over again with GB still in the lead at 17-5. The Czech’s came back fighting in the top of the sixth inning, and whilst the GB defence did what they could, the Czech’s brought in five runs to narrow the gap back to 17-10. The bottom of the sixth inning was to only see two further GB runs brought in, with Roger Grooms scoring the first, and Robbie Studholme scoring the second from a walk. The score now, 19-10, GB went back to defence and whilst the first out was taken by Robison in centre right, the Czech’s brought back their bats with a two RBI double from Novotná. However, this was to be the end of the Czech comeback as Smith fielded the second out of the inning and Russell secured the final out from a groundball at shortstop.
First Test
It was the first real test for this new GB squad, and despite some solid Czech batting, the GB offence kept them in the game throughout, and they’d secured a clean streak of wins through their group games. After the game Dan Spinks said.
“The match we knew was coming! More of a test that we were anticipating the Czech match ups are always exciting. There has been no doubt in my mind the Czechs would be eager for this game and that was proven by their lead of batter hitting the first pitch for a home run. Our approach and game plan never changed.
We showed collective intent and knew this game was a precursor to the final. We are where we wanted to be and with the advantage we wanted to have.
This team has performed so incredible well this week, I couldn’t be prouder of every single player and member of staff. Now it’s time for cool heads and strong swings, we’re ready!”
GB go on to face Czechia again, this time in the gold medal game! The final will be streamed at 2pm UK time at the following link;
Coed Slowpitch European Championship (softballeurope.tv)