The Great Britain U22 Women’s National Team dropped the opening contest of the Super Round at the 2024 U22 European Championship on Thursday, 8 August, falling 8-1 to The Netherlands in five innings in Kutno, Poland.
The start of the game was delayed first by the opening game of the Super Round between Israel-France game, then by inclement weather. Once the skies cleared, the field was prepared quickly by the local grounds crew in Kutno, and the game got underway at 6:15 PM BST, with the Dutch as the home side.
Great Britain went down in order to lead off the game against Dutch starter J’dah Girigorie, while Mackenzie Langan, fresh off her 10-strikeout performance against Germany the day prior, got the start for GB, and stayed on from, striking out two in the home half of the first to strand runners and first and second.
Both sides traded a scoreless third inning, and GB threatened in the fourth by loading the bases, but The Netherlands struck first. Julia Kwakernaak led off the inning with a solo home run to left to break the scoreless draw. A one-out double from Amy Felix saw Elena Clark-Wilson enter the game to pitch, but she ran into trouble. Renske Tellekamp walked and Bente Zwanenburg launched a home run into the Kutno night to bring all three runs home. Julia Westhoek, pinch-hitting for Girigorie, then singled, before Clark-Wilson rallied to record the final two outs of the inning.
With a 4-0 deficit, Mia Krueger led off the fifth with a single, with Cara Edwards replacing her on base after a Fielder’s Choice. Edwards took second on a passed ball with two out, and scampered home on Tia Warsop’s RBI single for GB’s first run of the day. Jessica Chan then walked and Katie Burge was hit by a pitch, loading the bases, but Girigorie got Salmon to pop out to short to end the threat.
In the fifth, Lizzy Kwakernaak reached on a throwing error, before her sister Julia doubled to score her from second. Sietske Drijvers singled to right, but Julia Kwakernaak was caught between third and home, with Clark-Wilson applying the tag. After Felix singled to score Drijvers, Great Britain made another pitching change, with Kailyn Haig getting the call in a 6-1 contest. Haig got Tellekamp to fly out to centre before the skies opened and the game entered a weather delay. The game resumed after a half-hour stoppage with Zwanenburg and Girigorie both walking, before pinch hitter Reganied Franka was plunked, forcing home the seventh dutch run of the game. A single to right for Thaima Maximiliana scored the eight Duth run, and spelled the end of the night via run rule.
Great Britain leads the tournament ins several offensive categories, with Jessica Chan’s three home runs, Morgan Salmons’s six stolen bases and Katie Burge’s 4 doubles all leading their respective categories, and Burge adding 5 stolen bases of her own. In the circle, Mackenzie Langan is second in ERA (2.33) and third in strikeouts with 17.
Great Britain will finish the Super Round schedule tomorrow, first playing Israel at 12:30 PM BST, followed by Czechia in the tournament’s final game of group play at 6 PM BST. The top two teams following the Super Round will play in for Gold while the third and fourth place teams will face off for Bronze, with both games scheduled for Saturday. All games at the 2024 U22 European Softball Championships can be watched on softballeurope.tv.
Follow the Great Britain U-22 Women’s Team on social media @GBWomenSoftball on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and on the British Softball Federation website, britishsoftball.org.