By Bob Fromer
Tuesday 11 July – The GB Women’s Fastpitch Team opened the WBSC World Cup Group A tournament today in Balbriggan, Ireland, with a thoroughly-deserved 2-0 win over World #9 Australia.
The win may have surprised a number of people in world softball, but the GB Women came into this came with confidence and executed a perfect game plan against an Australian team coming off a fifth place finish in the Tokyo Olympics.
GB pitcher Georgina Corrick had to throw 135 pitches, but pitched a confident three-hit shutout against a powerful Australian offense. Australia managed only three scattered singles, plus one walk and one hit batter, and no Australian runner got as far as third base. Australia had two runners on base only once – in the second inning -- as Georgina struck out seven while the GB defense played flawlessly behind her.
At one point late in the game, the announcer on the WBSC broadcast said, “Great Britain is looking like the Aussies and the Aussies are looking like Great Britain”, and there is no doubt that Great Britain was the better team in this game.
The GB offense put up seven hits, including some great execution on bunts for sacrifices and singles, and looked comfortable in their at-bats against veteran Australian pitchers Ellen Roberts, who threw the first five innings, and Kaia Parnaby, who threw the final two.
On the board
After the first three innings were scoreless, with GB getting bat to ball more often than the Australians, GB broke the deadlock in the top of the fourth inning when centre fielder Kendyl Scott led off and drove the first pitch from Ellen Roberts over the fence in left field.
After that Georgina Corrick got even stronger, striking out the side in the bottom of the fourth inning around a single by Clare Warwick, and then retiring nine of the 10 batters she faced in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. The only blemish was a solitary walk to Kylie Steemers with one out in the seventh inning on 3-2 pitch that looked very much like a third strike.
Having broken the deadlock in the fourth inning, GB mounted a serious threat in the top of the fifth on consecutive infield singles by Morgan Salmon and Katie Burge and a single to right field by Chloe Wigington, but failed to score because Morgan Salmon was called out for leaving first base too early.
Nothing daunted, Great Britain attacked relief pitcher Kaia Parnaby in the top of the sixth inning and scored their second run. Tia Warsop used her speed to beat out a bunt single with one out, went to second on a passed ball and took third as Georgina Corrick singled to left field. With Alana Snow at the plate, GB pulled off a double steal, the ball was thrown to second base, and a rattled Australian defense wasn’t even able to throw back home as Tia Warsop scored.
GB put two runners on base again in the top of the seventh inning, trying for further insurance, on a walk to Morgan Salmon and a bunt single by Sydney Brown, but Kendyl Scott struck out to keep the score at 2-0.
But two runs was more than enough, as three infield groundouts in the bottom of the seventh inning as the rain started to fall, sandwiched around that walk to Kylie Steemers, ended the game.
Looking ahead
GB’s win over Australia got Group A of the WBSC Women’s World Cup off with a bang, and is going to force some recalculations, since very few people saw this result coming.
Later today, the USA is playing Chinese Taipei while the host team, Ireland, will face Botswana.
GB’s next game, on Wednesday at 10.00 am, will be against World #3 Chinese Taipei.