By Chelsie Robison
Sofia, Bulgaria: 13 July – The GB Slowpitch Team put three more wins on the board yesterday at the European Slowpitch Championship, but two of them weren’t that easy, and in one of them GB had to come back from an early five-run deficit.
But the team remains undefeated and at the top of the standings after two days of pool play in what will be a double round-robin followed by a Page Playoff and a fifth-place game for the two teams that finish at the bottom of the six-team pool.
GB’s opponents yesterday were Germany at noon, then Bulgaria at 2.00 pm and finally the Czech Republic at 5.00.
Here’s how the games went.
GB v Germany
This was a game that everyone knew would be a tense battle. Both teams fought hard and the game remained close for the first three innings, but GB gradually pulled away after that for a 16-11 win.
The game started a little aggressively. With Wolfgang Walther on base after a lead-off walk, Germany's Max Zerhusen turned a three-base hit into an inside-the-park home run by charging through GB’s Kim Dubovec Miller at third base. Pitcher Dan Spinks made a strong throw to the plate, but Zerhusen was called safe – a call GB disputed – and the Germans were on the board first with two runs.
In the bottom of the first inning it looked as though the German tactic of loading one side of the field for certain batters was working, with lead-off hitter Neil Selvester and Emily Clifford the first outs to fall.
However, Wolfgang Walther then walked Chris Yoxall, Claudine Snape took the automatic walk as two were out, Dan Spinks reached on a hard line drive that third base couldn’t handle, and with the bases loaded, the pressure started to rise for Germany.
Kimberly Hendry’s line drive to left field scored Chris Yoxall and two more runs followed when Mike MacDowell walked. GB now led 3-2 and a single by Duncan Waugh brought in two more runs before the third out came on a good play by pitcher Wolfgang Walther.
Dan Spinks shut down the German bats in order in the top of the second inning, and GB took full advantage, scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning, two of them driven in by Dan, making the score 8-2.
But Germany ralled to score five runs in the top of the third inning. A couple of GB errors, a strong hit by Barbara Herzgen and eventually an inside-the-park home run by Felix Schwan brought the score to a competitive 8-7.
But Chris Yoxall’s two run home run in the bottom of the third inning gave GB a bit of a margin.
The game plateaued after that as GB gradually took control, and the team continued to bat strongly despite the Germans’ defensive shifts.
GB outscored the Germans by 6-4 over the final four innings, but it was the top of the sixth that confirmed GB's win as Dan Spinks once again shut out the Germans’ bats completely while GB added a final run on Neil Selvester’s hit that went through the German right fielder.
Max Zerhusen’s solo home run in the top of the seventh inning was only a gesture that brought the final score to 16-11 for GB.
If nothing else, however, this game was an indication that this GB team, unlike at recent European Slowpitch Championships, may have to work hard for some of their wins.
GB v Bulgaria
GB beat the host nation on the mercy rule after four innings.
The final score finished up at 33-5, with everyone stringing hits together and scoring throughout the line-up. Kimberly Hendry went 5-for-5 to help produce GB's biggest win of the tournament so far.
GB scored 10 runs in the top of the first inning and 14 more in the top of the third. Bulgaria changed pitchers three times during the game, but couldn't hold down the GB bats and also gave eight walks away.
The game continued this way throughout and finished after GB had scored a further seven runs in the top of the fourth inning and Bulgaria could only reply with three.
GB had finished their games at Field One for the day and would visit Field Two for the first time to play the Czech Republic at 5.00 pm.
GB v Czech Republic
With two wins under their belt, GB was ready to take a third win against the Czechs and remain undefeated on the day and for the tournament.
But the Czech Republic had other ideas, and their bats and defense gave them an 8-3 lead after three innings of play, including two-run home runs from Bartolomej Rizek and Jakub Prochazka.
This game was to be the closest that anyone had come to beating GB in quite some time.
But GB dug deep and pitcher Brad Gilmour shut down the Czech offense completely during the third and fourth innings.
GB then exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and seven more in the bottom of the fifth, and that turned the game around. The Czechs put a few more runs on the board, but the final score was 19-12.
GB’s rally in the bottom of the fourth inning started with a hard-hit ball to shortstop by Mike MacDowell, whose speed beat the ball to the bag. This was the spark that GB needed.
Now the bats started to light up and runs started to score. Big hits came from substitute Ruth Macintosh, driving in two runs, and then a grand slam inside-the-park home run by Mike MacDowell.
The Czechs had one more flurry, and three runs in the top of the fifth inning cut the GB lead to 12-11. But the Czechs didn’t seem to have quite the energy they had showed at the start of the game.
GB pounced on the lack of drive from the Czechs and continued to base hit like the team we all know and love, scoring from left, right and centre to add a clinching seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, including Brad Gilmour’s first over the fence home run for GB.
The team still had to close out the Czech offense one last time and they did it in the most accomplished of ways. Emily Clifford did well to take a hard-hit ball to first base on this not-so-reliable field, and then after Otakar Hladik had singled, Marketa Sulcova grounded into a slick 1-4-3 double play and the game was done.
Emily Clifford said, “That's probably the toughest Czech team we've had to face offensively,” and it goes to show how the standard of slowpitch is developing in Europe.
Today, Great Britain will start on the second half of the double round-robin, and will face the Czech Republic at 10:00 am, Bulgaria at 1.00 pm and the Germans once again at 5.00 pm.
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