By Ieuan Gale
Thursday 7 July -- After Day One at the Under-23 Men’s European Championship in Sezimovo Usti in the Czech Republic, Great Britain may be 0 and 2, 
but they proved that they are here with just one goal in mind, and yesterday took great strides towards achieving it.
Game 1: GB v Czech Republic
Well, where to begin…? Everyone who is even vaguely aware of men’s fastpitch softball in Europe knows the reputation and quality of the Czech National Team programme, and in the first game of the week for both nations, the Czechs did exactly what was expected of them. Every single one of their players has played at the highest level of international club softball in Europe, the Men’s Fastpitch Super Cup, which attracts world class talent from around the globe, and a number of them are also on the Czech Senior Men’s Team.
Olly Howley started in the circle for GB and came out on the wrong side of a patient and very hard-hitting line-up that could compete with the very best senior men’s teams in Europe. The umpire’s zone was tight and the Czech hitters took advantage.
Six line drives, including two home runs, and four walks resulted in Olly giving up 11 earned runs in the top of the first inning. But in between those hard hits Olly made some great pitches and there were some sparkling defensive plays by Tom Russell at third base and Bruce Candlish in left field.
In the bottom of the first inning, Czech pitcher Adam Buchner went straight at the GB batters, throwing hard with good tight spin. Dominic Stephenson, making his debut for GB, led off and, after a fight, went down looking. Harvey Robinson was up next and met a similar end, this time striking out on a great change-up. Tom Russell followed and after a good at-bat struck out swinging at a tightly spinning rise ball.
In the top of the second inning, Bryn Davies came in to pitch and initially faced the same problems: a tight strike zone and a still very patient hard-hitting line-up.
Bryn’s first inning was similar to Olly’s. Both pitchers were just missing the zone, possibly trying to be too fine with their locations, which then forced them to come into the zone and get hit hard when they did. This time, Bryn gave up 10 earned runs. However, much like the previous inning, there were some excellent defensive plays made by the GB fielders, in particular by shortstop Edan Lord, who at just 17 years old is the youngest player on the team and was making his GB debut.
In the bottom of the second inning the GB hitters made their adjustments, with Bruce Candlish leading off with a great at-bat that ultimately led to a strikeout swinging, but not before smoking two long foul balls.
GB debutant Lucas PreFontaine followed and had a great seven-pitch at bat that resulted in a walk. Then Bryn Davies came to the plate but went down swinging after the Czech pitcher went straight at him, clearly determined to make up for giving up the walk to Lucas. And before the next batter, Edan Lord, could try to make the most of a runner on base, Lucas was picked off on a sharp play from the Czech catcher.
In the top of the third inning Bryn was back on the mound and had clearly shaken off any nerves he may have had about making his Under-23 debut, because he shut down the Czechs. Despite giving up a walk, Bryn induced three fly outs in quick succession.
That brought GB up to bat again. Edan Lord struck out swinging, then Max Fagan singled up the middle. Finally, Kai Owens came to the plate, another young player making his debut. He ended up striking out while Max was caught stealing on a great tag by the Czech shortstop.
At that point the first game ended on the mercy rule. A tough loss for GB, but perhaps not an unexpected one. Despite the scoreline, positives were taken away by staff and players alike, and Head Coach Richard Brown had gotten what he had wanted out of the contest, with many of his new and younger players getting game time early in the tournament.
The team left in high spirits considering the result, with their eyes firmly set on the next game against Israel.
Final score: Czech Republic 21, GB 0.
Game 2: GB v Israel
The game against Israel could not have been more different than the opener against the Czech Republic.
GB were up and ready, the atmosphere in the dugout was electric, and the anticipation for an opportunity to show what they were made of was palpable.
A much more experienced line-up was assembled by Richard Brown for this game, but GB started slowly in the top of the first inning. Lead-off hitter Josh Stanley struck out despite working a seven-pitch at-bat; the second hitter, Jack Scholes, also struck out; and Tom Russell grounded out to shortstop.
In the bottom of the first, GB starting pitcher Matt Eder induced a fly out to right field, then was saved by Josh Stanley in centre field, who made a great catch over the outfield fence, robbing Alon Gil of a home run. This was a sign of things to come, as GB would go on to put on a showcase of great defensive plays over the course of the game. The final out of the inning was recorded by the silky-smooth glove of shortstop Josh Smith, another player making his GB fastpitch debut.
The second inning began with second baseman Bruce Candlish smashing a line drive to right field – alas, straight at the right fielder. Lucas PreFontaine was up next and went down swinging after another good at-bat. Then Pitcher Matt Eder helped the cause with a stand- up double, but Ben Tomlin went down swinging to end the inning.
The bottom of the second inning began with Ben Tomlin hoovering up a ground ball at third base and throwing out the Israeli runner, Shani Hadar, something that Ben would make a habit of during this game. The next Israeli batter walked on what seemed to be tough call by the plate umpire and the third Israeli hitter, Benjamin Ross, lined a pitch straight back at Matt Eder, hitting him in the hip. Matt recovered to make the play but the runner was already safe. The ball had hit Matt hard, but after a quick consultation with the team’s Sports Therapist, Kila O’Boyle, Matt was determined to carry on.
Perhaps feeling a little discomfort after being hit, Matt surrendered a single to left field by Ivri Margolin, but Jack Scholes did an excellent job getting the ball in quickly, holding Israel to just one run on the hit.
Knuckling down, Matt then struck out the next batter and now, with two out, was poised to escape the inning relatively unscathed. However, the next Israeli hitter, Itai Dabush, proceeded to drive the ball into right field, seemingly a perfect hit to drive in another run. But Lucas PreFontaine made a stunning diving catch to rob Dabush of the hit and get GB out of the inning with just the one run conceded.
GB responded immediately in the top of the third inning, with Max Fagan and Olly Howley both reaching on infield hits. Josh Stanley then reached safely when Israel attempted a double play but ended up getting no outs, and suddenly the bases were loaded for GB with none down.
Jack Scholes was up next and after a good battle went down swinging for the first out. Then Tom Russell hit the ball hard into the ground and the Israelis tried to turn two up the middle. But Tom beat the throw at first and so Max Fagan scored GB’s first run of the tournament. The next GB batter went down swinging to end the inning but GB had responded well to Israel taking the lead and had tied the score at 1-1.
In the bottom of the third inning, Israel responded by loading the bases themselves, but unlike GB, they could not convert any of those base runners into runs. After a strike out, a pop-up in foul territory to first baseman Max Fagan, and then a hard ground out to third base that was once again hoovered up by Ben Tomlin, GB had bent but not broken and kept the game tied at 1-1.
For the next three innings Israel and GB traded blows, each team getting runners on base but neither team managing to make the most of it. So, after a tense few frames highlighted by some stellar defense by GB, including another fantastic diving catch by Lucas ProFontaine in right field and Ben Tomlin continuing to gobble up anything hit remotely close to him, the teams found themselves in the in the top of the seventh inning with the game still tied at one run each.
Ben Tomlin led off the seventh inning for GB and battled hard at the plate, but unfortunately went down looking. Then Max Fagan, on the first pitch of his at-bat, hit a hard line drive towards the opposite field. GB players and fans alike were immediately on their feet thinking this was the spark the team needed, but unfortunately the ball was hit straight at the Israeli second baseman, who barely had to move.
So, with two out, DP Olly Howley came to the plate, at this point already 1-for-2 on the day, but his hard hit also found an Israeli defender and so the game went to the bottom of the seventh inning. Could GB keep the game tied with their solid defense and force extra innings?
The bottom of the seventh started off well, with Matt Eder inducing an easy fly out to centre field from the first batter, Oren Bobrov. However, the second Israeli batter, Alon Gil, reached base when the GB defense, stellar up to this point, cracked with an error. This was followed by a single up the middle and so Israel had a runner in scoring position with just out out.
Up stepped the next batter, Shrim Bar-Arie, and he proceeded to smash the ball back up the middle. Despite a great diving effort by second baseman Bruce Candlish, he couldn’t come up with the ball in time and Israel scored on a walk-off hit, winning what had been a superb game.
Disappointed but with their heads held high, GB will be filled with confidence from this game, as they played outstanding defense, outhit the Israelis until the last inning and sent a clear and decisive message: this GB team isn’t just here for the experience, they are serious contenders for one of the spots available at the World Championship in Argentina.
Final score: Israel 2, GB 1.
Lessons learned
The coaching staff was quick to commend the performance against Israel, with some describing it as the best performance from a Junior GB Men’s Team at a European Championship in the last 10 years.
Head Coach Richard Brown was very happy with the team, and said, "Day One was a positive experience for the debutants, throwing them in against the best of Europe and showing then the standard that they need to be at in the years to come when it's their time to be senior players. Although the score line against the Czechs seems like a heavy defeat, many lessons were learned and I was impressed by the team dynamic. After the game their spirits remained high as they immediately turned their attention to the next game.
“In Game 2,” Richard continued, “the team were all upbeat and put on a performance that any coach would be proud of. Their defense in particular was outstanding. After the day's events, during the team meeting, each player took time to reflect on the games and their performances, and I am glad to see that the team's confidence and determination is still there."
Scores and standings
Scores on the first day of play at the European Under-23 Men’s Championship, which is beginning with a double round-robin for the four teams taking part, were:
Denmark 8, Israel 5
Czech Republic 21, GB 0 (3 inns)
Israel 2, GB 1
Czech Republic 10, Denmark 1 (5 inns)
Standings after the first day of the tournament are:
Czech Republic (2-0)
Denmark (1-1)
Israel (1-1)
GB (0-2)
Today (Thursday), GB will play Israel again in the first game of the day, at 10.00 am Czech time (9.00 am in the UK) and will then face Denmark at 4.00 pm local time.