by Bob Fromer
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada: July 19 -- It wasn`t the way the GB Women`s Fastpitch Team wanted to end the 2012 World Championships, or to end an era that has seen the GB programme rise from obscurity to become one of the top teams in Europe and one of the better middle-rank teams in the world.
This success has been achieved as a collective effort by many different people, and has taken place despite the myriad disadvantages that GB teams have to contend with: no public funding since 2007, a small player pool to choose from both inside and outside Britain and no opportunity to train together as a team until just before major competitions.
But on the field over the past few years, GB success has largely been due to a core group of highly talented players who are deeply committed to the programme and each other, and above all to the extraordinary ability and dedication of pitcher Stacie Townsend -- and many of these players have now played their last game for GB. High-level softball tends to end early for even the best players, just when they should be reaching their peak. Instead, life takes over. The GB programme will need to rebuild for the European Championships next year and the attempt to qualify for the 2014 World Championships in Holland, the first-ever Women`s World Championships on European soil.
In this context, an 8-0 five-inning defeat to Australia today was particularly disappointing, since the GB team was desperate to go out on a high. It means that Great Britain finishes the competition out of the playoffs with a 2-5 record, the same mark as two years ago in Venezuela. But because of the way other results have fallen, that 2-5 record will probably mean a 13th place finish here in Whitehorse, whereas in Venezuela it put Great Britain into 11th place.
But as so often seems to happen, GB was placed in by far the tougher of the two eight-team round-robin groups, and there was no margin for error if the team was to make the top four in the group and reach the playoffs. Getting four wins from a group with three of the top four teams in the world (Japan, Canada and Australia), plus Italy, Chinese Taipei and New Zealand, was always going to be a tall order. Only Mexico presented an obvious victory, and GB duly despatched them by 10-0 on Tuesday. GB`s other win was Stacie Townsend`s 1-0 no-hitter against Chinese Taipei, who nevertheless will grab the fourth playoff spot in the group. Defeats to Italy and New Zealand were the ones that hurt.
Crumbling defense
Last year, when the GB Women played so well in both the World Cup of Softball and the European Championships, defense was one of the team`s main strengths. That has been less true this summer, and it has cost GB both runs and games, as it did in the opener against Italy last Friday and as it did again today.
The fact that Australia was 4-0 up in this game after two innings, but didn`t get a hit until the fourth inning, was down to a nightmare second inning in which three GB errors opened the floodgates against a dangerous team that will take advantage of any mistakes. Two of the errors may have been down to GB players playing in pain with knee injuries. When Verity Long-Droppert opened the Australian second inning with a sharp bouncer snared by Kristi Yoshizawa at third, Morgan Parkerson, battling a knee injury sustained just before the team convened in Vancouver, couldn`t quite stretch enough for a high but catchable throw at first base. Two outs later, with Australian runners at second and third, GB shortstop Jess Legendre, just back from a serious knee injury sustained in the Canadian Open, couldn`t plant properly on a throw from the hole, and the throw sailed high and pulled Morgan Parkerson off the bag.
That produced the first Australian run, and three more followed, thanks to a hit batter, two walks and another error.
Against a team of Australia`s calibre (fourth in the world), that was effectively the ball game. And the GB bats were silent yet again, as they have been throughout much of the tournament. Stacie Townsend, who never gives up no matter what the odds, got a first-inning double and a third-inning single for the only two GB hits. As she did two years ago in Venezuela, Stacie will finish as one of the top batters in the World Championships, and she will lead all pitchers in strikeouts in the round-robin phase, which concludes today.
But the problem is that GB has been shut out in four of their seven games and scored only single runs in two others. The 10-0 win over Mexico was the team`s only sustained offensive outburst, and asking Stacie Townsend to fashion wins with so little run support was asking too much -- just as it was probably asking too much to expect GB players, most of whom no longer play softball regularly or at all, to hit successfully against pitching at World Championship level.
Quick ending
After the second inning debacle, Stacie Townsend set Australia down in order in the third inning. But Australian shortstop Stacey McManus singled to open the bottom of the fourth, Melinda Weaver was hit by a pitch and GB were in trouble. Two singles, two stolen bases, a walk and a sacrifice fly produced four more runs and the game ended quickly on the mercy rule at 8-0 when GB went down in order in the top of the fifth.
GB players were certainly making contact against Australian starter Kara Parnaby and Justine Smethurst, who closed out the game in the fifth, and there weren`t many strikeouts. But only Stacie Townsend was putting the ball in play with any authority.
Vacation time
The GB players, along wit the other seven teams that fail to make the playoffs, will now have three days to explore the joys of Whitehorse and watch the playoff rounds, culminating in the Grand Final at 4.00 pm local time on Sunday. Everyone expects the US to square off against Japan in the final game, but you never know.
With Italy failing tom upset Canada this evening, the playoff qualifiers from GB`s group (Pool B), are Japan, Canada, Australia and Chinese Taipei. The Canadian team was bolstered yesterday by the late addition of two big stars from the US Pro League, pitcher Danielle Lawrie (who defeated Australia last night) and shortstop Jennifer Salling, so Canada will look to the playoffs with some optimism.
In Pool A, the United States, China, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico have qualified. The major surprise in Pool A has been Venezuela, the sixth-best team at the World Championships two years ago in Caracas, who finished on 2-5, the same record as GB.
Friday`s playoff matchups in the double Double Page Playoff that the ISF uses at World Championships are:
Netherlands (A3) vs. Chinese Taipei (B4)
Australia (B3) vs. Puerto Rico (A4)
USA (A1) vs. Canada (B2)
China (A2) vs. Japan (B1)
All playoff games are available live via webstream: www.sportscanada.tv/worldfastpitch2012.