By Donald Morris-Vincent
Friday 15 July – The GB Co-ed Slowpitch Team beat Ireland today and were leading Slovenia 10-0 in the second inning when the game was abandoned due to rain at the European Co-ed Slowpitch Championship in Ljubljana, Slovenia. This was enough to clinch GB’s qualification for the inaugural WBSC Co-ed Slowpitch World Cup in 2023 and a place in the gold medal game tomorrow.
The pressure was off after GB beat Ireland early this afternoon by 19-14 and Germany then beat the Czech Republic, because GB could have lost to Slovenia in this evening’s game and still have finished second in the round-robin standings. As it was, the abandoned game was declared a draw, which had no effect on the standings or the seedings for the final playoff games tomorrow.
Coach David Lee said, “Job done – now bring on the Germans!”
The final round-robin standings after today’s play (shown at the end of this story) mean that the line-up for placing games on Saturday is:
Gold Medal Game
GB v Germany
Bronze Medal Game
Czech Republic v Netherlands
Fifth-Place Playoff
Ireland v Slovenia
Seventh-Place Playoff
Belgium v Austria
The gold medal game has been moved up because of a threatening weather forecast and will now start at 3.30 pm local time (2.30 pm in the UK) on Saturday.
Since GB and Germany cannot now finish lower than second, they have already qualified as two of the three European teams that will play in the inaugural WBSC Slowpitch World Cup for national teams in 2023.
They will be joined by the winner of the bronze medal game.
GB v Ireland
Great Britain never really looked in danger against Ireland, despite the Irish taking a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Regular run-scoring and reasonable GB defense kept the Irish at bay throughout the game.
The Irish scored those four runs in the top of the first on four singles, a double and a fielder’s choice.
But GB replied immediately to banish any jitters with six runs in the bottom of the first on four singles, RBI doubles from Steve Hazard and Jenny Ball, and a sacrifice fly from Amy Rice.
GB pitcher Dan Spinks held the Irish to one run in the top of the second inning and GB took advantage with a rash of singles and a two-run inside-the-park home run from Jenny Ball. Five runs scored, which extended GB’s lead to 11-5.
Although Gary O’Shea tripled to score three runs for Ireland with one out in the top of the third inning, Dan Spinks shut it down after that to keep a reasonable GB lead.
A 6-3 double play pulled off by the Irish in the bottom of the third inning concentrated GB minds and they quickly resumed an attack. Steve Hazard doubled to right field, Chiya Louie walked and Steve scored on an error. Chris Yoxall, pinch-hitting for Mike MacDowell, then singled to score Chiya and Dan Spinks tripled to score two more. Four runs restored GB’s sense of balance and pushed their lead back out to 15-8.
Neither side scored in the fourth inning, but Ireland tried to fight back with three runs in the top of the fifth, including Wayne Cullen’s inside-the-park home run. GB’s response was muted -- two runs driven in on a Josh Smith single -- but it meant that Ireland had only shaved a run off GB’s lead.
Another three-run Irish outburst in the top of the sixth inning, on a three-run triple by pinch-hitter Hazel Kilduff, got GB’s attention and cut their lead to just 17-14.
But there were two final runs for GB in the bottom of the sixth and then the game was called on time.
Final score: GB 19, Ireland 14.
GB v Slovenia
GB scored three runs in the top of the first inning and seven more in the top of the second before the rains came, while Dan Spinks held Slovenia to a harmless single in the bottom of the first inning.
Despite GB’s 10-0 lead, there had not been enough inning played to produce a result, and since calling the game a draw had no effect on the standings, there was no need to re-schedule it, which would have have had everyone breathing a sigh of relief.
In the top of the first inning, Steve Hazard, Chiya Louie and Chris Yoxall drove in the runs – Chris on a solo homer.
In the top of the second inning, GB had two singles, four doubles and a triple by Chris Yoxall, good for seven runs.
And then the rain poured down and the game and the four-day round-robin was over.
Scores and standings
Scores from Day 4 of the European Co-ed Slowpitch Championship were:
Slovenia 14, Ireland 11
Germany 25, Serbia 4 (4 inns)
Belgium 19, Austria 13 (6 inns)
Belgium 17, Netherlands 16 (5 inns)
GB 19, Ireland 14
Germany 16, Czech Republic 5 (6 inns)
Czech Republic 27, Serbia 4
Netherlands 15, Austria 7
GB 10, Slovenia 0 (1.5 innings – game declared a draw)
Final round-robin standings were:
Germany (7-1)
GB (6-1-1)
Czech Republic (6-2)
Netherlands (5-3)
Slovenia (4-3-1)
Ireland (3-5)
Belgium (3-5)
Austria (1-7)
Serbia (0-8)