News / 15 March 2016

GB Juniors retain their crown in Paris

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By Ian Tomlin

The GB Junior Fastpitch programme sent two mixed teams to the annual Tournoi des Expos in Ermont, near Paris on the weekend of 12-13 March, and while a young GB 2 squad did well to finish ninth, GB 1, led by player-coach Josh Peat, retained the tournament title.

The GB teams were a mixture of experienced squad players from the GB Under-19 Women’s and Men’s programmes, plus Under-16 players and Senior team pool players.

Pool Games: GB 1

GB1 started the day in Group A having to face another UK team, Lee Grafton’s Strays. The game was very close, but Josh Peat’s pitching proved too much for the Strays and some aggressive baserunning helped the GB team take the game 4-0.

In Game 2, GB 1 faced one of the best teams at the competition. The Dragons featured a giant of a pitcher and a strong batting line-up, and looked certain to reach the finals.

The Dragons took an early lead, scoring two runs in the first inning followed by another in the second, while GB struggled to get out of the blocks. But in the third inning GB managed to get the better of the Dragons’ pitcher, putting runners on first and second before a home run by Ieuan Gale levelled the match.

As the home team, GB had the final at-bat as time ran out, and a walk-off home run by Matt Tomlin sealed a 4-3 win.

In Game 3, GB 1 faced a very familiar opponent in BAT Paris. This was another close game, and one in which the local scoring rules cost the GB team. As the home team, GB was 8-7 ahead after three innings. BAT Paris then scored two runs in the top of the fourth, but time didn’t allow GB to take their last at-bat and the final score of 9-8 to the Parisian side stood, as there is no reverting back.

With two wins and a loss, GB needed to win one of their remaining two pool games to guarantee a semi-final place.

Game 4 was all about the GB pitcher. While GB 1 rattled up 9 runs against Les Felins, Josh Peat pitched a perfect no-hitter to book the team’s semi-final place.

And GB1 also dominated their final pool game against the Patriots first thing on Sunday morning as the whole team started to perform with the bat. Chelsie Robison, Emma Harris and Kai Benaim all contributed significantly to a 9-1 GB 1 win.

Pool Games: GB 2

The GB 2 team, a development squad made up of players from the Under-19 Men and Under-16 Girls, faced a different kind of weekend. Fielding such a young side in a senior mixed event was going to provide a real test for the players, both physically and mentally, and this would be a first senior tournament as pitchers for Izzy Quy and Sam Grafton and as catchers for Theo Longboy and Ben Tomlin.

The opening game gave the squad a taste of what was to come as they faced a very strong Les Caribous team that would dominate Pool B, winning all their group games.

In the initial exchanges, Les Caribou shut out GB 2 in the top of the first inning and then followed this by scoring five runs, mostly on walks and errors. However, after that first inning, the young GB side started to get into the game, loading the bases twice, but only managed to score one run on bunt single by Ben Tomlin followed by two stolen bases and a passed ball. GB 2 ended up on the wrong end of a 6-1 scoreline.

Game 2 was played in a great spirit against Les Templiers, and was a game that GB 2 should have done well in. On three occasions the team loaded the bases but could only convert these opportunities into one run in the final inning. After some poor decision-making by the GB Coach (me) sending runners on a suicide mission to steal home twice, and then the umpire ending the team’s last chance with a strikeout call of Izzy Quy that even the opposition couldn’t understand, the game ended 3-1 in favour of the French.

In Game 3, GB heads went down as a very talented Teddy Bears team came out of the woods to play. GB 2 only managed to get three runners on base over three innings on a single by Lily Ferragamo and walks to Theo Longboy and Georgia Street against a very effective pitcher. The Teddy Bears took charge in the second inning with aggressive baserunning which unnerved the inexperienced GB 2 squad. Seven runs were conceded and the final score was 11-0.

At this point, the decision to take such a young team to the competition looked to be a mistake. But after a long chat and some confidence-bolstering, the squad found another gear and lost their fear -- and an amazing transformation was to come.

GB 2’s next game was against the host team Les Expos, who were 2-0 at that point and cruising to the semi-finals. GB opened the game with a bunt single down the third base line by Ben Tomlin and then singles from Eliza Esiri, Jack Neilan and Izzy Quy. This was followed by a double from George Harris and then Lily Ferragamo, Tom Lang, Georgia Street and Jake Roberts reached base on hits or walks. With no outs and six runs scored, the mercy rule ended the inning.

The Expos rallied, scoring four, but the GB team was on a roll and some great pitching by Izzy Quy kept the Expos from inflicting further damage. GB 2 then scored a further five runs and the team went on to earn their first win of the competition by 11-8.

From that moment, the team grew in stature. Sam Grafton became a pitcher overnight, Eliza Esiri looked like she had been playing first base all her life and Jack Neilan and George Harris missed nothing at third and short. The fever spread and some excellent batting and positive baserunning led to an easy 9-3 win against Champagne Ardennes.

So the team ended pool play with two wins and three losses, and that missed opportunity against Les Templiers which would have secured a semi-final place had the game been won. As it was, with teams tied on points and the head-to-head rules applied, GB 2 Finished fifth in Pool B and faced one last game to determine whether they would finish ninth or tenth in the tournament.

Ninth place game

In this final game, against Les Felines, GB 2 rode their new-found confidence, scoring runs, striking out batters, taking catches and wiping out opposing base stealers, and the result was an 8-4 win that gave the team a 3-3 record for the weekend.

It was a job very well done by a young squad.

The Grand Final

Meanwhile, GB1 cruised to the Grand Final with a comfortable win against the hosts Les Expos in the semi-final. Now they faced a rematch with the talented Dragons.

The 90-minute final was full of drama, with the game initially dominated by the pitchers, including Josh Peat for GB 1, who retired the Dragons in order in the top of the first inning with three strikeouts.

The Dragons’ pitcher struck out Chelsie Robison and Matt Tomlin to open his own account, but then gave up a walk to Emma Harris. A single by Ieuan Gale moved Emma to third and Emma came home on a double steal to open the scoring.

The Dragons went down in order in the top of the second on a ground ball, a fly ball and a strikeout. In the bottom of the inning, Josh Peat led off for GB 1 with a walk, stole second and third and scored on a passed ball to widen the GB lead to 2-0.

The GB side took a firm grip on the game in the third inning, as runs scored by Emma Harris, Ieuan Gale and Josh Peat gave GB 1 a 5-0 lead.

The Dragons scored their only run of the game in the top of the fourth on two hits and a stolen base before Josh Peat recorded another three strikeouts. GB followed this by adding further runs through Chelsie Robison and Kai Benaim.

With time running out, the Dragons had one last attempt to get back into the game, but Josh Peat struck out two and Emma Harris gunned down a runner trying to steal second with a perfect throw to Matt Tomlin at short. GB 1 had a 7-1 win and a perfect end to the weekend.

Retaining the trophy and providing so many of our young players with great competition experience made the Tournoi des Expos an invaluable weekend for GB Softball.

The GB teams would like to thank Les Expos Softball Club for their hospitality
and would also like to thank all the parents who made the journey to support the team. Special thanks to Carlos Casal, Kerry Quy and Clare Tomlin for help with scoring and organising the players, and as ever to Jan Grafton for her excellent photographs.