Auckland, New Zealand: March 4 – After three days of frustration, the GB Men's Fastpitch Team began what they hope will be a late charge towards the playoff places here in Auckland this morning with their first win of the tournament – a crushing 10-0 four-inning mercy-rule rout of Indonesia.
Rich Haldane pitched his second straight game for GB and went all four innings, giving up only three hits and no walks in keeping Pool A's inexperienced bottom team at bay and picking up the win.
Meanwhile, the GB offense, held without scoring through the first three games of the tournament, poured it on with four runs in the second inning and six in the third, on nine hits (including a home run by James Darby), three walks, a hit batter and two Indonesian errors.
The road ahead
The GB Team came into this game knowing that wins in their last four round-robin games would almost certainly be a necessity if they were to reach the playoff round. This win over Indonesia was a start, and wins over South Africa tomorrow and the USA on Thursday seem at least possible. Both teams, like GB, are currently 1-3, and they have each given up a lot more runs than the British team.
So the crunch game will probably be against the Czech Republic on Wednesday. The Czechs have won multiple European Championships, and GB has rarely beaten them, though games between the two sides in recent years have often been close.
My kingdom for a run
The first inning of today's game gave no indication of what was to follow, at least for GB. The Indonesians went up and down in order in the top of the first inning, and though Ryan Martin led off the bottom of the first with a single, third baseman Darrin Newson popped out and catcher Kevin Stockford grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
Indonesia went down again in the top of the second without scoring, despite a two-out single by Dikdik Dermawan.
And then the GB run drought was broken in emphatic fashion, as James Darby, playing centre field in this game and leading off in the bottom of the second inning, hit a 2-0 pitch from Indonesian starter Hasbby Akhmal out of the ball park to give GB a 1-0 lead.
That seemed to open the floodgates.
Rich Haldane followed with a single, and that was enough to send the Indonesians to the bullpen, with Reza Chustriawan replacing Akhmal. It may have been a mistake.
Chustriawan immediately walked both Luke Peters and James Chalmers to load the bases, struck out Kenny Pregnell, but then gave up a single to left fielder Curt Taylor that drove in both Michael Williams, pinch-running for Rich Haldane, and Luke Peters. James Chalmers went to third on the hit and Curt Taylor took second on the throw back from the outfield.
The Indonesians did cut down James Chalmers trying to score from third on a grounder to second baseman Iid Munadi, but Curt Taylor scored a moment later on a wild pitch before Darrin Newson struck out swinging to end GB's first productive inning of the the tournament. It left them with a 4-0 lead.
Icing the game
Indonesia got a runner to third base in the top of the third inning when Aditye Rachman led off with a single and advanced to third on a pair of groundouts. But Rich Haldane struck out Ahsya Darwis to end the threat, and GB then proceeded to put the game on ice in the bottom of the third.
For Indonesia, it was one of those nightmare innings that seem to go on forever.
It opened with Reza Chustriawan walking Kevin Stockford, and the Indonesians promptly went to the bullpen again, summoning Aditye Hamzah. Hamzah hit James Darby with a pitch, then gave up a double to Rich Haldane that drove in Kevin Stockford and a single to Luke Peters that plated Steve Rice, running for James Darby.
Then the Indonesian defense began to crumble. Rich Haldane scored on a passed ball, James Chalmers reached on an error by shortstop Andospa Saputra, and then, after pinch-hitter Michael Lee struck out, another pinch-hitter, Darryl Herrmann, singled to score Luke Peters. Morgan Ottridge, in for James Chalmers, was tagged out trying to advance to third, but Darryl Hermann took second.
Ryan Martin then singled to advance Darryl to third, stole second with the Indonesians declining to make a throw, and both runners scored on GB's fifth hit of the inning, a single by Darrin Newson.
That made the score 10-0.
Indonesia put the leadoff hitter on base in the top of the fourth inning on a single by Fricharda Oestabima, but there he remained as the next three batters popped out to the infield and the mercy rule came into effect.
By the end, Head Coach Russ Snow had got virtually every GB player into the game, and the taste of a long-delayed victory was shared by all.
GB still have it all to do to reach the playoffs, but at least they've made a start. And the team has played good softball from the beginning of the tournament. The game against Indonesia was the third errorless contest for the GB defense in four outings, and with the exception of one bad inning against Australia, GB pitching has been strong.
GB has now played the toughest teams in their pool, and the weakest. How can they do against the rest?
Scores
Results from Day 4 were:
Argentina 11, Netherlands 1
Great Britain 10, Indonesia 0
USA 10, Czech Republic 7
Mexico 8, Philippines 6
Japan 9, Colombia 2
Australia 9, South Africa 1
Venezuela 4, Samoa 3
Canada 9, New Zealand 7 (8 innings)
Standings
The standings after three days of play (the top four teams in each pool will make the playoffs) look like this:
Pool A
Australia (4-0)
Venezuela (4-0)
Samoa (3-1)
Czech Republic (2-2)
Great Britain (1-3)
South Africa (1-3)
USA (1-3)
Indonesia (0-4)
Pool B
Canada (4-0)
New Zealand (3-1)
Argentina (3-1)
Colombia (2-2)
Japan (2-2)
Mexico (2-2)
Netherlands (0-4)
Philippines (0-4)
In each pool, it looks to be all about the race for the fourth and final playoff spot. Australia, Venezuela and Samoa look to have playoff places just about locked up in Pool A, with four teams – GB, South Africa, the Czech Republic and the United States – all in with a chance at fourth place. Since GB's last three games are against the other three teams competing for that spot, their fate remains in their own hands.
In Pool B, New Zealand, Canada and Argentina look playoff bound, but will it be Colombia, Japan or Mexico that joins them? Mexico v Colombia tomorrow and Mexico v Japan on Thursday may be decisive games.