by Frank Juzenas
Brampton, Ontario, Canada: July 5 -- The Great Britain Under-19 Women's Softball Team will have to settle for a consolation round appearance at the 10th International Softball Federation (ISF) Junior World Championships.
Great Britain fell 4-2 to Korea Thursday on a sticky afternoon in their round-robin game in Pool A. The loss left the team with a 3-4 record and a possible 10th place finish, though final placings have yet to be officially confirmed.
The day before, GB had turned in a solid performance in a 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic, a familiar opponent, but could not match that against the Koreans, a team that the GB players had not faced before.
Head Coach Rachael Watkeys admitted she was disappointed in the result.
"I think we thought we had the game won before we played it," she said.
Consolation round
Korea, coming into the game with a 2-4 record, proved to be a much better opponent than GB was expecting.
"Korea was sharp in the infield. We didn't make mistakes but we didn't execute like we had been," said Rachael Watkeys.
The loss leaves both GB and Korea with 3-4 records, but based on the head-to-head result, Korea will finish fifth in Pool A and Great Britain sixth.
Both teams will now play consolation round games today. Korea will face winless Botswana, the eighth-place team in Section B. The Africans came very close to picking up their first win of the tournament on Thursday afternoon, leading Mexico 3-2 until the bottom of the sixth when Mexico scored twice for a 4-3 victory.
Great Britain will take on Singapore, who wound up seventh in Section B. Singapore earned just one win, against Botswana.
Early lead
In its wins over New Zealand and the Czech Republic during the week, Great Britain had jumped out to early leads. This time, though, it was Korea which took the early lead and they never relinquished it.
The Koreans scored twice in the first inning and added single runs in the third and fifth. Great Britain managed runs in the fourth and sixth.
The Player of the Game was clearly Korea pitcher Hyein Jung, who the Great Britain batters were unable to figure out. She allowed four hits and walked three but struck out six. She was also a star at the plate, going two-for-three and driving in three of the four Korea runs.
"We were swinging at a lot of pitches that weren't strikes," said Rachael Watkeys. "In the sixth inning, when she walked three [consecutively], she only threw one strike."
Amy Wells was the bright spot for Great Britain as she collected two of the four hits. Lauren Evans and Charlotte Wells also had hits. Amy Wells is one of three players, along with Nicole Ratel and Keeli Waugh, who will be leaving for Prague upon completion of this tournament to join the GB Women's Team at the European Championships.
GB runs
Amy Wells started off the fourth inning for Great Britain with a triple. Nicole Ratel was thrown out at first on a ground ball but was credited with the RBI when Amy scored.
Great Britain had another threat going in the sixth inning when, with one out, Amy Wells, Nicole Ratel and Emma Bridge drew consecutive walks. Lauren Evans drove in one run on a fielder's choice, but that was the only other run the team managed.
Emma Bridge pitched the complete game and her record fell to 2-2 as she allowed six hits, and two walks with three strikeouts.
Looking forward
Despite their disappointment with the loss, the GB Team unfurled a banner after the game in front of the group of parents who had taken in all their games, which read "Thank you for your support".
The consolation round contest with Singapore is scheduled for this afternoon and on paper at least it would seem that Great Britain is the favourite. The two teams played an exhibition game prior to the tournament which went four innings and Rachael Watkeys said GB handled the opposition easily, but she is taking nothing for granted. Singapore has brought a very young team to the tournament as some of its more experienced players were unable to attend because of school.
Singapore has allowed the most runs of any team in the tournament – 85 in all – including a 20-0 loss to the Netherlands and a 17-0 loss to Japan on Thursday.