The final day of round-robin play at the 2015 European Slowpitch Championships in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria began this morning with Team GB picking up their eighth straight win in a 24-9 five-inning victory over Bulgaria.
The game was originally started on Thursday evening, but suspended due to rain and lightning, and resumed on Friday morning.
Two more games were played after that (see results below), but then the rain set in and cancelled play for the rest of the day with five round-robin games still to be completed.
The organisers have now decided to play out the round-robin games on Saturday (weather permitting) and cancel all but one of the playoff games. A single playoff game between the third and fourth-placed teams in the round-robin will be held to determine who wins the bronze medal; but all other places will decided based mainly on the round-robin results. This means that Great Britain will win its 10th straight European Slowpitch Championships, because the pool standings with those five games still to play look like this:
GB (8-0)
Ireland (5-3)
Germany (5-4)
Czech Republic (4-4)
Bulgaria (3-5)
Lithuania (0-9)
So even in the unlikely event that GB was to lose its final two round-robin games on Saturday, they cannot be caught in the standings.
GB v Bulgaria
Bulgaria started this game well and held a 6-4 lead after the top of the second inning, two of those runs coming on a home run by Vladimir Markov. But the GB offense, as it has done throughout the tournament, soon swung into action, scoring six runs in the bottom of the second inning and nine more in the bottom of the third to bury Bulgarian hopes.
Steve Hazard, who had been leading the GB offense to this point, was rested for this game, but this is a GB Team where every one of the 18 players contributes. Against Bulgaria, Aaron Thomas blasted two home runs, good for four RBIs, while Danny Gunn went 4-for-4 with a home run and six RBIs, Areej Elmaazi was 3-for-3 with an inside-the-park home run, a triple and four RBIs, and Dan Spinks, as an extra hitter, was 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs.
GB had a tournament-high 27 hits (an average of more than five hits an inning), but the Bulgarians, with 15 hits and nine runs scored against pitcher Brad Gilmour, at least had the satisfaction of posting the best offensive performance against GB to date.
High level
The GB Slowpitch Team has now put up eight straight blowout wins in the tournament in difficult conditions, with temperatures (until today) sometimes exceeding 40 degrees, with few opportunities for shade.
GB Head Coach Steve Patterson said, "We have been playing a high level of softball for much of the tournament, and Team GB has gelled well, both on and off the field of play. But a key component of our success has been the depth of the squad. One of the biggest assets this team has is the quality and versatility of all 18 players. This has allowed me to manage both the game and the health of my players without any concerns about making outs or producing runs."
Team Captain Dan Spinks said, "Coach Patterson has continued to make intelligent substitutions at key points in the games, and those players chosen have consistently delivered."
Newly-appointed Vice Captain Emily Clifford added, "Excellent team spirit has meant that everyone has had the confidence and support to produce quality plays and at-bats in tough conditions."
Statistics
Some of the statistics posted by the GB Team through the first three days and seven games are astonishing, even by slowpitch standards.
Through those first seven games, GB was batting .579 as a team and GB pitchers Dan Spinks and Brad Gilmour had combined for an ERA of under two runs a game.
Steve Hazard, Dan Spinks, Brad Gilmour and Chris Yoxall were all hitting .800 or better, while Ian Kulka and Aaron Thomas were hitting over .700. Among GB’s women, Areej Elmaazi, Emily Clifford, Vicky Chapman and Ruth Macintosh were all hitting .500 or better, and only two players on the entire GB team were batting under .300.
However, the outstanding offensive performer in the tournament so far has clearly been Steve Hazard, with 11 home runs, 35 RBIs, 16 runs scored and 55 total bases.
Results
Scores through the point when games were suspended on Friday are:
TUESDAY
GB 23, Ireland 2
Germany 18, Czech Republic 7
GB 21, Lithuania 0
Ireland 21, Bulgaria 5
Germany 13, Lithuania 10
Czech Republic 14, Bulgaria 9
WEDNESDAY
Ireland 23, Germany 20
GB 18, Czech Republic 4
Bulgaria 21, Lithuania 1
GB 19, Germany 2
Czech Republic 15, Ireland 3
Bulgaria 18, Germany 9
Ireland 16, Lithuania 1
GB 23, Bulgaria 2
Czech Republic 24, Lithuania 6
THURSDAY
Bulgaria 24, Lithuania 4
Germany 15, Ireland 10
GB 26, Czech Republic 5
Lithuania 24, Ireland 9
Germany 20, Bulgaria 5
Czech Republic 14, Lithuania 4
GB 26, Germany 6
FRIDAY
GB 24, Bulgaria 9
Ireland 8, Czech Republic 7
Germany 20, Lithuania 7
Weather permitting, these games will be played on Saturday to complete the round-robin:
Czech Republic v Bulgaria
GB v Ireland
GB v Lithuania
Germany v Czech Republic
Ireland v Bulgaria