By Bob Fromer
Friday 3 July – The GB Men’s Fastpitch Team managed only two hits yesterday and struck out 13 times against Argentina at the Men’s Fastpitch World Championships in Saskatoon, Canada, and their 2-0 defeat means that GB’s playoff hopes are over.
Argentina scored their two runs in the top of the first inning after leadoff hitter Juan Malarczuk smashed a ball up the middle and off the leg of GB starter Kyle Linton. The ball caromed into right field for a double, but Linton was clearly still feeling the effects as he allowed a single to Teo Migliavacca, then threw two wild pitches to Huemel Mata that allowed Malarczuk to get to third and then score. Meanwhile, Migliavacca came round to third on the wild pitches and scored on a single to centre by catcher Bruno Motroni.
And those were all the runs necessary for young Argentinian starter Roman Godoy, who pitched the first six innings for the South Americans, allowing GB just two singles and a walk while striking out 10.
Even though Godoy had struck out the side in the sixth inning, as he peppered a generously-called outside corner with hard drop balls, Argentina took no chances, bringing in their veteran ace Juan Potolicchio to pitch the bottom of the seventh. The result was three more strikeouts, as Rich Haldane looked at a called third strike and James Darby and Kenny Pregnell both went down swinging to end the game.
GB will finish fifth in their pool, just outside of the playoff places, and just as they did two years ago in New Zealand after a loss to the USA in their final round-robin game. For what it’s worth, GB will now be one of the top two seeds in the Consolation Playoffs that start tomorrow and will determine final placings in the bottom half of the tournament.
Scoring chances
Kyle Linton settled down after the first inning and held Argentina scoreless until he gave up a triple to left field to Bruno Motroni leading off the sixth inning and was replaced by Rich Haldane. We’ll come back to that in a moment.
Linton had to wriggle out of a minor jam in the second inning and a more serious problem in the third when Motroni doubled with one out and reached third on a wild pitch. However, Juan Zara grounded out to first with Motroni holding and Linton struck out Fernando Petric to end the threat.
GB’s one possible scoring chance came in the bottom of the first inning, when Rich Haldane singled to right field with two out and James Darby drew a walk. But Kenny Pregnell grounded out to second base and after that, GB’s only other baserunner was Darrin Newson, who reached on a single to open the GB fifth inning and was promptly erased on a double play.
Violence
The game erupted into a mass brawl in the top of the sixth inning, right after that triple by Bruno Motroni that ended Kyle Linton’s day and brought Rich Haldane to the circle. Juan Brandauer pinch-ran for Motroni, and after Juan Zara had popped up to first base for the first out, a snap pick-off throw to third caught Brandauer off base and he was caught in a rundown. As he finally attempted to score, he smashed a forearm into the face of GB third baseman Darrin Newson, who was covering the plate, dislodging the ball, knocking Darrin down and inflicting a cut under the eye.
Both benches emptied, and in the subsequent pushing and shoving, an Argentinian substitute, Santiago Carril, threw a punch at GB left fielder Luke Peters, cutting Luke badly enough under the eye that he was forced to leave the game.
After all the dust had cleared, the umpires called Brandauer out for violent play, and ejected both him and Carill. When the game finally resumed, Rich Haldane got Fernando Petric to ground out to third to end the inning.
“All I have to say is to apologise for the team," said Argentinian Head Coach Julio Gamarci after the game. "I’m sure these things should not happen. Unfortunately, the players sometimes get too emotional and they can’t control themselves in a situation like that. Not only my players. Sometimes these things happen, even in pro baseball it happens. Always it’s a shame because it’s hurting the game.”
GB had one more storm to weather, as Argentina again tried for an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning. This time, shortstop Gustavo Godoy led off with a booming triple to right field that almost cleared the fence. But with the GB infield playing in to cut off the run at the plate, Rich Haldane got Mariano Mayoral to ground out to short and Mariano Montero to ground out to third before striking out Juan Malarczuk to end the inning.
But all of those run-prevention heroics were for nought because GB simply never looked like scoring, or making the adjustments that could give them a chance to deal with Argentinian pitchers exploiting the tendency of the home plate umpire to widen the strike zone.
Standings
Below are the final standings in Pool A:
Canada (7-0)
Argentina (5-2)
Czech Republic (5-2)
New Zealand (5-2)
Great Britain (3-4)
Guatemala (2-5)
Philippines (1-6)
Indonesia (0-7) (withdrawn from the tournament)
The Pool B standings are below:
Dominican Republic (6-1)
Australia (5-2)
Venezuela (5-2)
Japan (4-3)
USA (4-3)
Mexico (2-5)
Denmark (2-5)
Netherlands (0-7)
Japan finishes fourth because of their 5-4 victory over the USA last Sunday.
What happens now?
The playoffs begin today. For the top eight teams (the top four from each pool), there will be a Double Page Playoff, whereas the bottom eight teams will play knock-out quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final to determine final places. So GB, as the fifth-place finisher in Pool A, will play the Netherlands, the eighth-place finisher in Pool B, at 10.30 am (5.30 pm in the UK) in the first consolation quarter-final. The others will pit Guatemala against Denmark and Mexico against the Philippines, while the USA, which would have been paired against Indonesia, will get a forfeit win and a place in the consolation semi-finals.
Meanwhile, in the top end, the two 3 v 4 Page Playoff games, where the losers will be eliminated, will be Venezuela v New Zealand and the Czech Republic v Japan. Late today, the two 1 v 2 games will be played: Canada v Australia and the Dominican Republic v Argentina.
Scores
Here are all the scores from pool play:
THURSDAY POOL A
Argentina 2, GB 0
Guatemala 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
New Zealand 11, Czech Republic 1
Canada 12, Philippines 0
THURSDAY POOL B
Dominican Republic 4, Venezuela 0
Japan 9, Netherlands 1
USA 9, Denmark 2
Mexico 10, Australia 3
WEDNESDAY POOL A
New Zealand 9, Guatemala 1
Czech Republic 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
Canada 11, GB 1
Argentina 7, Philippines 0
WEDNESDAY POOL B
Venezuela 5, Denmark 4
Dominican Republic 8, Netherlands 3
Australia 8, USA 0
Japan 11, Mexico 4
TUESDAY POOL A
GB 10, Philippines 2
New Zealand 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
Czech Republic 6, Guatemala 5
Canada 7, Argentina 5
TUESDAY POOL B
Mexico 12, Netherlands 0
Australia 8, Denmark 2
Dominican Republic 4, Japan 1
Venezuela 3, USA 2
MONDAY POOL A
Czech Republic 4, Argentina 2
Canada 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
Great Britain 4, Guatemala 0
New Zealand 9, Philippines 2
MONDAY POOL B
USA 4, Netherlands 1
Mexico 6, Denmark 2
Dominican Republic 5, Australia 3
Venezuela 3, Japan 0
SUNDAY POOL A
Guatemala 4, Philippines 0
Czech Republic 4, GB 2
Argentina 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
Canada 2, New Zealand 1
SUNDAY POOL B
Denmark 2, Netherlands 0
Dominican Republic 4, Mexico 3
Japan 5, USA 4
Australia 5, Venezuela 1
SATURDAY POOL A
Philippines 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
Argentina 7, Guatemala 0
Canada 10, Czech Republic 2
New Zealand 9, GB 1
SATURDAY POOL B
USA 6, Dominican Republic 4
Japan 5, Denmark 2
Australia 8, Netherlands 0
Venezuela 6, Mexico 1
FRIDAY POOL A
Czech Republic 12, Philippines 5
GB 7, Indonesia 0 (forfeit)
Canada 6, Guatemala 0
Argentina 3, New Zealand 2
FRIDAY POOL B
Dominican Republic 8, Denmark 1
Venezuela 11, Netherlands 1
Australia 1, Japan 0
USA 7, Mexico 0