by Steve Fullan
Amstelveen, Holland: July 27 – The Page Playoffs 
are still to come in the European Men's Fastpitch Championships, but for Great Britain, the first goal has already been accomplished.
A 6-2 win over the Netherlands last night gave GB a 5-1 record in pool play, guaranteed second place going into the playoffs, and, because GB can't finish lower than third, guaranteed qualification for the 2013 Men's World Championships, to be played next March in Auckland, New Zealand.
The next goal, of course, is to win
the European Championships for the very first time, and to further that cause, GB will be looking for a rare win against the Czech Republic when the teams meet in the 1 v 2 Page Playoff game tonight. The 3 v 4 game will feature Denmark and the Netherlands.
Pressure
Team GB entered the game against Holland last night knowing that a win would mean a second place finish in the round robin and that would secure their spot in the 2013 World Championships next March. Even a loss with few runs conceded would have allowed the British to finish second, but the GB Men were going all out to win and remove any doubt about heading to New Zealand.
The Netherlands, on the other hand, had all the pressure on them as they needed to run the score up against the GB Team to have any hope of finishing second themselves.
Atmosphere
There was a great atmosphere for the game as the host Dutch team had the majority of the fans on their side, but Team GB had an fair share of supporters too, as the GB Under-19 Women had travelled up from their own European Championships an hour or so away in Rosmalen and were on hand to watch and cheer on the men.
In addition, some of the other teams and fans were rooting for the GB Men to beat the hosts.
Action
In the top of the first inning, Team GB raced out to a 1-0 lead as Robbie Robison reached on an infield single to third base, advanced to second on a groundout by Kevin Stockford and scored on a single to right field by James Darby. The Dutch had no reply in their half of the inning as James Darby set them down in order.
Steve Hazard was left stranded after opening the GB second inning with a double, and the Netherlands also managed to get their leadoff runner aboard in their half of the inning, but he was thrown out by GB catcher Kevin Stockford to eliminate any threat.
Stockford then gunned down another attempted steal by the Dutch in the third inning.
Momentum
A 1-0 lead is always vulnerable, and the Dutch eventually tied the score in the bottom of the fourth on two hits and an error.
But the tension was broken in the top of the fifth when the GB Men exploded for five runs on five hits.
Ryan Martin singled up the middle and advanced to second on a Robbie Robison single. Kevin Stockford stroked another single up the middle to score Martin and advance Robison to third. James Darby was intentionally walked to load the bases, but with a couple of strikes on Luke Peters, the Dutch pitcher threw a wild pitch that scored Robbie Robison. The Dutch then intentionally walked Luke Peters to bring Morgan Ottridge to the plate, but that move backfired as Ottridge singled to score Kevin Stockford. Steve Hazard rounded off the inning with a double to left centre to score Luke Peters and Carl Sharpe, pinch-running for James Darby.
The Dutch were deflated and GB were 6-1 ahead.
Qualification
The Dutch did manage to score a run on a couple of walks and an error in the sixth, so going into the bottom of the seventh, Team GB, at worst, could afford to give up five runs and lose 7-6 and would still have booked their place at the Worlds.
The inning started shakily, with a couple of walks and an error. But James Darby managed to strike out the last two batters for one of the biggest wins in GB history as the team booked their place in a third consecutive World Championship.
James Darby finished the game with 10 strikeouts, and Steve Hazard, Robbie Robison and Morgan Ottridge led the offense with two hits each.
The GB Men sometimes feel like they are Britain's forgotten national team, but their record over the past decade – four straight top three finishes in the Europeans, qualification for three World Championships and a current world ranking of eighth – is the best of all the GB fastpitch teams, and deserves more recognition and celebration.