By Mary Murray
Friday 1 July – The GB Under-22 Women’s Team picked up two more mercy-rule wins today in the consolation playoffs at the European Under-22 Women’s Championship in Kunovice in the Czech Republic, and qualified for the ninth-place playoff game on Saturday.
This morning, the GB Team had a walk-off four inning 12-2 win over Sweden, and this afternoon brought another four-inning walk-off victory over Croatia, this time by 10-0.
Having been forced into the consolation playoffs by a 5-4 loss to France on Tuesday, GB has rolled out four straight mercy-rule wins by a combined total of 50 runs for and two against, showing they don’t really belong in this half of the tournament.
But as things stand, they can only try to achieve the highest possible finish by winning the ninth-place playoff game tomorrow.
GB 12, Sweden 2
In their first game of the day, the GB offense was led by three long balls from three different players – Morgan Salmon, Alexis Larrow, and Lauren King – and Lauren’s two-run home run with no one out in the bottom of the fourth inning brought the score to 12-2 and ended the game on the mercy rule.
Alexis Larrow, Imogen Gie and Cameron McGinnis had two hits each, and both of Cameron’s hits were doubles. Jessica Chan added another double to bring the number of extra-base hits in the game to six out of GB’s total of 12 hits.
After Sweden threatened to take an early lead in the top of the first inning with a one-out double from Linnéa Sandahl, two infield groundouts induced by GB pitcher Georgia Wilson ended the threat. And an explosive British offense got started immediately in the bottom of the inning.
With one out, Jessica Chan hit a ground rule double to deep left field and scored two pitches later on a throwing error by the Swedish shortstop, which allowed Molly Blackwood to reach second base. A fly out to right field allowed Molly to tag up and advance to third, and Cameron McGinnis brought Molly in with a two-out double down the left field line. Two consecutive home runs from Morgan Salmon and Alexis Larrow then gave GB a 5-0 lead heading into the second inning.
Georgia Wilson kept the momentum in the hands of the British, striking out the first two Swedish batters in the top of the second inning before inducing a ground out to second base, bringing GB back up to bat.
A lead-off single from Carys Lynch and a walk drawn by Katie Burge put two of GB’s fastest runners on base with no outs in the bottom of the second inning, and both tagged up on a deep fly ball to centre field and advanced into scoring position. Imogen Gie then legged out an infield single, scoring Carys and advancing Katie to third, and an error by the Swedish right fielder on a ball hit by Cameron McGinnis allowed both Katie and Imogen to score, with Cameron advancing to second base. A fly out ended the inning, but GB had added three more runs to hold an 8-0 lead.
Sweden broke through to score their only two runs of the game in the top of the third inning, and a lead-off single by Alice Heiman was the spark. Heiman advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a single by Paris Brienesse. With two outs, Sofia Eriksson singled to center field to drive in Heiman and bring Brienesse to third and another single from Emilia Tornemo brought Brienesse in to score. Emelie Eriksson reached on a passed ball after striking out, but Georgia Wilson ended the inning with a strikeout.
GB added another run in the bottom of the third inning, started by a single to right field by Alexis Larrow. With one out, Carys Lynch reached first on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a wild pitch. A Katie Burge single to centre brought Carys in to score.
Two fly outs and a ground out in just four pitches from Georgia Wilson would prove to be the sum total of Sweden’s last at-bat in the top of the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Molly Blackwood singled to centre field to lead things off, and advanced to third on a single from Imogen Gie. Molly Blackwood was caught stealing at home before Cameron McGinnis kept the hit streak going and drilled a double to deep centre, bringing Imogen in to score.
Lauren King then entered the fray as a pinch-hitter and ended the game by smashing a 2-1 pitch over the centre field fence, giving GB the 12-2 win on the mercy rule.
GB 10, Croatia 0
GB almost matched their 12-hit game against Sweden earlier in the day, racking up 11 hits in this one. Four different players had two hits each – Katie Burge, Jessica Chan, Molly Blackwood, and Imogen Gie -- and both Katie and Imogen had a double. Speed also made a difference on the bases, as Katie, Jessica, Imogen, and Carys Lynch each swiped a bag.
Jessica Chan earned the win in the circle and was just one hit away from throwing a perfect game. That one hit was a double by Tihana Hrzenjak in the top of the fourth inning to give Croatia their one and only baserunner. Jessica struck out seven, throwing only 56 pitches.
After the Croatians went down on a strikeout, a fly out, and a ground out in the top of the first inning, GB jumped out to a 6-0 lead.
Katie Burge led things off with a double and ended up scoring two pitches later after a throwing error on an infield single by Jessica Chan. Lauren King then singled to centre and Morgan Salmon walked to load the bases. Molly Blackwood also singled to centre, scoring both Jessica and Lauren and bringing Morgan to third, and Imogen Gie doubled down the left field line to drive in both Morgan and Molly. Carys Lynch’s infield single advanced Imogen to third and she then stole home.
The game was already looking out of Croatia’s reach, especially after they went up and down in order again on a fly out, a strikeout, and ground out in the top of the second inning.
But after Jessica Chan led off the bottom of the inning with a single to left centre, two line drive outs and a ground out produced a rare scoreless inning for GB and kept their lead at 6-0.
Jessica Chan, however, picked up where she left off, inducing a ground out and striking out two in the top of the third inning.
GB’s only baserunner in the bottom of the third was Michelle Shaw, who reached on a fielder’s choice and was left stranded.
With one out in the top of the fourth inning, Croatia’s Tihana Hrzenjak broke up the perfect game and her double to right centre field gave the Croatians some momentary life. But Jessica Chan was quick to take back control and struck out the next two batters.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Katie Burge reached on an infield single, followed by a walk to Jessica Chan. Two batters later, Morgan Salmon singled to drive in Katie and Jessica, who had advanced to second and third on a passed ball, putting GB up 8-0. Molly Blackwood singled to centre to put runners at first and second again, and Imogen Gie singled to center, scoring Morgan, with Molly advancing to third on the throw home and Imogen taking second.
Cameron McGinnis was intentionally walked, and Alexis Larrow entered the game to pinch hit. And for the second time in the day, a GB pinch-hitter ended the game. Alexis hit into a fielder’s choice and scored Molly to bring the score to 10-0 and give GB their fourth straight mercy rule win.
Scores and standings
Scores on Friday from the two consolation playoff groups were:
GROUP G
GB 12, Sweden 2 (4 inns)
Poland 12, Belgium 11
GB 10, Croatia 0 (4 inns)
GROUP H
Slovakia 10, Hungary 9
Austria 4, Israel 3
Final standings in those groups are:
GROUP G
GB (4-0)
Poland (3-1)
Belgium (2-2)
Sweden (1-3)
Croatia (0-4)
GROUP H
Austria (3-0)
Israel (2-1)
Slovakia (1-2)
Hungary (0-3)
Tomorrow (Saturday) will feature a series of placing games, with teams in the consolation playoffs playing for 15th, 13th, 11th and ninth place, followed at the end of the day by the bronze medal and gold medal games.
The GB Under-22 Women will play Austria for ninth place at 1.00 pm Czech time (noon in the UK).
The gold medal game, at 6.45 pmm local time, will be between the Czech Republic and Italy.
Details of what’s happening in both the consolation and Championship playoffs can be found here.