by Bob Fromer
Ronchi dei Legionari, Italy: August 5 -- The GB Women's Fastpitch Team has done it again, and this time against all the odds. This evening's 2-0 win over the Czech Republic guarantees GB at least a third place finish at the 2011 European Championships here in North East Italy, and with it qualification for the 2012 World Championships in Canada.
Tomorrow (Saturday) GB will still be playing, and can finish second or even win the tournament if they can overcome the Netherlands and Italy. But the major goal that this extraordinary group set for itself -- players and staff alike -- has been achieved.
Against the odds
GB had the smallest squad, the toughest draw and the hardest schedule in the tournament, and still achieved what they came here to do. The core of this team has now been together for five or six years -- albeit only once a year -- and they are as talented, tough and professional as they come and they care about each other and about playing for Great Britain, which makes them a very tight team.
The one wholly new player -- shortstop Jessica Legendre -- has blended in beautifully and young former or current GB Junior players such as Steph Pearce, Ali Parkerson and Carling Hare, plus long-time London Angels player Rachael Watkeys, have played important roles this year, especially after second base player Sarah Jones broke her arm at the World Cup in Oklahoma, making a small squad even smaller.
Most members of the GB Team are no longer playing softball on a regular basis, but they turned up in Oklahoma for the World Cup, according to GB Trainer Alan Dean, "as fit as I've ever seen them" -- a tremendous tribute to their desire and dedication.
Another member of the squad in Italy, though here to learn rather than play, has been Steph Gillard from South Wales, twice Welsh Baseball Female Player of the Year but now taking on a new challenge with softball and lapping up both the atmosphere and the level of play on show at this tournament -- not least by a GB Team that has played very solid and sometimes outstanding defense.
Apart from one or two games against the weaker teams, GB has not been an offensive force in Italy, and hits have tended to come in isolation rather than in bunches. But team defense and game awareness, and above all else the pitching of Stacie Townsend, has brought this team its just reward.
A simple game
In contrast to last night's dramatic extra-inning Wagnerian epic against Russia, tonight's game against the Czechs was actually a fairly simple game of softball -- though played against a background of incessant noise from chants, drums and horns wielded by a full stand of Czech supporters. The brave British supporters' group was outnumbered and overwhelmed, but still managed to wave their British flags and make the odd bit of noise.
GB scored the only runs of the game in the bottom of the third inning when Czech starter Vendula Draha, who had cruised through the first two innings, walked Karlene Headley-Cooper and Naomi Jones and was promptly relieved of duty by Czech Head Coach Tomas Kusy -- though in fairness, Draha had pitched five innings against Russia earlier in the day.
In fact, GB probably had a slight advantage coming into this game because their 6-0 win against Spain at lunchtime, even though it went longer than intended, was nothing like the struggle the Czechs had at the same time in holding off a Russian comeback to win 7-6 in nearly two-and-a-half hours of softball.
In any case, Draha departed, Lucie Zappova came in to pitch and the first batter she faced, shortstop Jess Legendre, belted a double into the left field corner to score both Karlene and Naomi.
The rest of the game was about GB batters hitting too many harmless fly balls, and all about the pitching of Stacie Townsend and the GB defense.
Increasing tension
When the GB Women's Team finished second in the 2009 European Championships in Valencia, Stacie Townsend pitched almost every inning of 10 straight games in punishing heat, and visibly wore down by the end of the tournament. This year, Stacie has had valuable help from 18-year-old GB Junior pitcher Carling Hare, who pitched complete games against Hungary and Croatia and three innings yesterday and today against France and Spain.
As a result, Stacie had enough left to shut down the Czechs in order in three of the first four innings tonight with a minimum of effort, allowing only a single by Eliska Cerna-Pojerova along the way.
But the latter stages of the game, with GB holding that slender 2-0 lead, became increasingly tense.
In the Czech fifth inning, Cerna-Pojerova led off with another single, advanced to second on a groundout and tried to score on a single to right field by Teresa Jackesova. But GB right fielder Naomi Jones made sure of the ball, stood up and fired a strike to catcher Leah English that stopped the Czech runner in her tracks between third and home. Leah applied the tag.
Assists by the GB outfield on great throws have been a feature both here in Italy and in Oklahoma and have saved a number of important runs.
The Czechs got their leadoff runner on again in the sixth when Magdalena Loudova singled to left field. Loudova eventually got to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout to short, but she stayed there as GB got the third out on a very peculiar play.
Lenka Jacklova hit a ground ball off the end of the bat that started out so obviously in foul territory that she didn't immediately start running to first. But the ball was spinning viciously and suddenly took a sharp left turn and crossed the line into fair territory. GB first base player Morgan Parkerson reached for it, and though the spin took it out of her grasp, Morgan recovered the ball and was able to flip it to Stacie Townsend, who had the presence of mind to cover first in a bizarre situation.
The final countdown
When Eva Rendlova bounced out to Kristi Yoshizawa at third to open the Czechs' final at-bat in the seventh inning, GB supporters had hopes that the last inning might be a routine affair.
They were quickly dashed.
The next batter was the ever-dangerous Eliska Cerna-Pojerova, and she drove her third single of the game into right-centre field. Tereza Pochobradska then hit a sharp one-hopper to the left of shortstop Jess Legendre. Jess may have scented a game-ending double play, as she was moving towards second base to field the ball, but instead it tipped off her glove and into left field and the Czechs suddenly had the tying runs on base.
To make matters worse, the Italian home plate umpire, Gianluca Magnani, suddenly started squeezing the strike zone on Stacie, to the howls of the British supporters.
But this GB team does not lose its cool in these situations. Stacie induced a little pop-up into centre field from Tereza Jackesova that Laura Thompson gathered easily. When Sabrina Borecka bounced the first pitch back to Stacie, who flipped to Morgan Parkerson at first, the GB celebrations -- and not a few tears -- began.
Both teams finished the game with only four hits. But Stacie didn't walk anyone, whereas the two Czech pitchers walked three and two of those walks became the game's only runs.
Taking stock
For Great Britain -- a country with so few fastpitch players and no money for national teams -- to qualify two straight times for the World Championships is an unbelievable achievement, and the GB players and staff fully understand that.
Head Coach Hayley Scott has created a programme that has far outstripped the achievements of the more experienced coaches GB has had in the past. The programme now contains a blend of overseas-based and GB-based players, and soon it will become even more home-based as players from the current squad that have served Great Britain Softball so well inevitably move into the next phase of their lives.
But if money can somehow be found, qualification might mean that this group -- or most of it, and maybe some newcomers -- will get together one more time next year up near the Arctic Circle in White Horse, Canada. It is not just their achievement tonight, but the joy they get from playing and being together, that could make this happen.
Previous reports from the GB Women's Team at the European Championships can be found both on the Home Page and the News column on this website.
The final games from the 2011 European Women's Championships on Saturday, August 6, will be streamed live on http://www.europeansoftball.org.