by Steve Fullan
Amstelveen, Holland: July 26 – The GB Men's Fastpitch Team 
suffered their first loss at the 2012 European Men's Championships on Wednesday night against the Czech Republic, then defeated Belgium this morning to run their record to 4-1. If GB can get to the playoffs in either first or second place in the seven-team round-robin, World Championship qualification will already be assured.
GB v Czech Republic
Both the GB Men and the Czechs went into this game on Wednesday evening knowing that whoever won was pretty much assured of finishing first in the round-robin and guaranteeing a place in the 2013 World Championships next March in Auckland, New Zealand.
James Darby was on the mound for the
home team GB, with Ales Jetmar pitching for the Czechs.
The game quickly turned into a pitchers' duel as both teams failed to produce any runs in the first two innings. In the top of the third, however, the Czechs managed one run on a double, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. GB could not reply in the bottom of the third and were down 1-0 heading into the fourth.
The Czechs we nt down in order in the top of the fourth and GB came up hoping to take advantage of their second run through their batting line-up.
James Darby reached on a fielding error and this was followed by a single up the middle from Luke Peters. This brought Robbie Robison to the plate, who promptly hit a triple to right field scoring Darby and Peters and giving GB a 2-1 lead.
The Czechs tied the game in the top of the fifth on an error, a hit batsman and a bases-loaded walk, and GB had no reply in the bottom of the inning.
In the sixth inning, the Czechs managed three runs on three GB errors and no hits. So Team GB had gifted the game to the Czechs, and went down 5-2 in the end, setting up an important day on Thursday against two tough teams in Belgium and the Netherlands.
GB v Belgium
The GB Men went into today's game against a determined Belgium with a must-win scenario to guarantee making the Page Playoffs and bringing a second place finish and World Championship qualification a step closer.
James Darby was on the mound again, as Team GB hoped to avoid the kind of scare they had suffered the previous day against Israel.
And GB put a run on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Ryan Martin led off with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout by Morgan Ottridge. Kevin Stockford then doubled to right center, scoring Martin as GB took a 1-0 lead.
Neither team could score any runs in the second inning, but in the third the GB Men were the beneficiary of four runs on one hit and two Belgian errors.
After Steve Rice grounded out, Ryan Martin was walked again and advanced to second on a Morgan Ottridge sacrifice bunt. Kevin Stockford was intentionally walked, James Darby reached on a fielder's choice to shortstop to load the bases and Luke Peters came to the plate and hit a deep fly ball to right field which one-hopped the fence and scored three runs, while Peters himself scored on a throwing error.
From then on neither team could produce any runs, and Mark Elson came on in the seventh to close out the game for Team GB.
In the end, GB came away with a 5-0 win, with James Darby finishing with 13 strikeouts and Luke Peters leading the way with three hits.
This sets up an important match in the evening against the host Dutch team. Team GB will be looking for the win that will guarantee second place and a trip to the 2013 World Championships in Auckland next March.