The GB Slowpitch Team continued to roll over all opposition on the third day of competition at the European Slowpitch Championships in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria yesterday, registering a 26-5 win over the Czech Republic and a 26-6 win over Germany.
Great Britain's final game of the day, against Bulgaria, was postponed due to rain and lightning and was scheduled to resume at 8.00 am this morning.
The team has now put up seven straight blowout wins in the tournament in difficult conditions, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees and very 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."
GB v Czech Republic
Unlike the first two days of the tournament, when GB specialised in scoring a demoralising number of runs at the beginning of games, it look them longer to get started yesterday against the Czechs, and GB only held a 6-1 lead after four innings. But six runs in the top of the fifth inning, three in the sixth, and then an 11-run outburst in the top of the seventh put paid to any lingering Czech hopes of pulling off an upset.
The GB team pounded out 26 hits, including Steve Hazard’s eighth home run of the tournament and Dan Spinks’s third, and both Dan and Jenny Ball had four hits, while Danny Gunn, Emily Clifford and Brad Gilmour each had three.
Teams are now walking Steve Hazard as a matter of routine, preferring to give up two bases and even a run or two rather than risk the ball sailing over the fence. Steve was walked four times in this game by Czech pitcher Radek Janovsky, but when he did get to swing the bat towards the end of GB’s 11-run seventh inning, he belted a three-run home run, and his five RBIs took his total for the tournament to 24 in six games.
The Czechs managed 13 hits of their own in this game, making them the first team in the tournament to get to double figures against GB pitching -- in this case Dan Spinks -- and the five runs the Czechs scored were the most GB has allowed in any game so far.
But GB has now scored 156 runs in seven games and conceded only 21, making 22-3 the average result across all their games. In slowpitch softball, if you are holding opponents to three runs a game while averaging over 22 runs yourself, the only word that fits is “dominance”.
GB Slowpitch teams have often dominated in European Slowpitch Championships, particularly over the past 8-10 years, but this year, at least so far, may be the most extreme. The GB Team has been getting better during the time that Steve Patterson has been the Head Coach and slowpitch in other countries seems to be going backwards in comparison – though it might be a little different if Slovenia, Austria or Belgium was competing here -- and at the next Europeans in 2017, there could be a team from the Netherlands.
For now, though, the GB juggernaut rolls on.
GB v Germany
GB shortstop Steve Hazard went 5-for-5 with three more home runs and 11 RBIs, pitcher Dan Spinks went 4-for-4 with three homers and seven RBIs, Chris Yoxall chipped in with a home run and Ed Watkinson had four RBIs as the GB Slowpitch Team crushed Germany 26-6 for a five-inning mercy rule win on Thursday afternoon, their seventh straight victory in the tournament.
The British scored in all five innings, and capped the game off with a 14-run explosion in the top of the fifth. GB had 20 hits in all and were also the beneficiaries of seven walks and four German errors.
GB actually fell behind in this game for the first time in the tournament. Steve Hazard's home run to left field was the only British run in the top of the first inning, and Germany scored three in their half on a single, an error, a double by Bob Degener and a triple by Vanessa Hahn.
But Team GB came back with six runs in the top of the second inning, including a three-run home run by Dan Spinks and a two-run double by Steve Hazard, and after that it was a matter of adding on, mostly via the long ball.
Chris Yoxall and Dan Spinks hit solo home runs in the top of the third inning, and Steve Hazard hit a three-run shot in the top of the fourth, and GB took a 12-5 lead into the fifth inning.
That's when GB put up yet another double-digit inning, their fourth of the tournament, scoring 14 runs on 10 hits, four walks and two German errors. There were three-run home runs by both Steve Hazard and Dan Spinks, a triple by Kim Hendry and a double by Dan Spinks as well as singles from Vicky Chapman, Ian Kulka, Jenny Ball, Emily Clifford, Katherine Golik and Steve Hazard.
Germany's only reply was a single run in the bottom of the fifth, keyed by a triple from Alina Kahlo, but that wasn't enough to prevent the mercy rule coming into effect with the final score at 26-6.
Results
The European Slowpitch Championships are being played as a double round-robin, with the top four teams going to a Page Playoff on Saturday and the bottom two teams playing off for fifth place.
Scores during the first three days of play are below:
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
Czech Republic v Ireland (postponed)
GB v Bulgaria (postponed)
Standings after the first three days of round-robin play are:
GB (7-0)
Czech Republic (4-3)
Ireland (4-3)
Germany (4-4)
Bulgaria (3-4)
Lithuania (0-8)
Final round-robin games to be played on Friday are:
Czech Republic v Ireland (to be resumed)
GB v Bulgaria (to be resumed)
Czech Republic v Bulgaria
Germany v Lithuania
GB v Ireland
GB v Lithuania
Germany v Czech Republic
Ireland v Bulgaria