by Bob Fromer
Surrey, British Columbia: July 2 -- Leaving 20 runners on base over two games and 14 innings either means that you're blowing your opponents away or you're making life unnecessarily hard for yourself.
For the GB Women's Fastpitch Team, playing their opening games
yesterday in the Elite Division at the Canadian Open Fastpitch Championships after a rainout on Saturday, it was definitely the latter.
As a result, despite out-hitting Team BC (a British Columbia All-Star team made up of college or college-bound players) by 11-3 in Game 1, and putting up 10 more hits in Game 2 against five for a scrappy team from Jakarta, Indonesia, the GB Women could only manage a rather tense pair of wins by scores of 3-1 and 4-0, and that 4-0 scoreline against the Indonesians was a lot closer than it sounds.
But wins are wins, especially for a team that has only been together for four days and for whom the Canadian Open is more about preparing for the World Championships to come than an end in itself.
Twenty-one hits over two games is certainly a promising sign, as is the single run allowed to the two opponents. It's just that a few base hits with GB runners in scoring position would be a welcome addition to the GB arsenal!
Game 1: GB 3, Team BC 1
In both games, it was one player who was able to come up
with those big hits with runners on base while the rest of the team struggled, and in Game 1 against Team BC, it was Leah English, usually the GB catcher but this time playing first base.
In the top of the first inning, after Stacie Townsend drew a two-out walk, it was Leah who ripped a double into the gap in right-centre field off Team BC starter Jamie Randall that brought Stacie all the way around to score and gave GB a 1-0 lead.
And in the third inning, after singles by Kristi Yoshizawa and Jessica Legendre plus a walk loaded the bases, it was Leah who drove a single up the middle to drive in two more runs and give GB some breathing room at 3-0.
Meanwhile, GB starting pitcher Stacie Townsend, who has yet to allow a run over 17 innings in two scrimmage games and two tournament games, was her usual efficient self, giving Team BC just two hits over five innings, with no walks and six strikeouts.
But Team BC changed pitchers after those two GB runs in the third inning, and GB hitters had a tougher time scoring against new pitcher Jennine Walsh, despite singles by Sarah Jones and Ali Parkerson in the sixth inning and two more base hits by Leah English and Amy Moore in the seventh.
Meanwhile, GB relief pitcher Carling Hare, who lives in the Vancouver area and has played with or against every Team BC player, entered the game in the sixth inning, got two quick outs and then ran into trouble. Team BC leadoff hitter Larissa Franklin walked, went all the way to third on an infield hit by Tessa Loewen that had GB chasing runners with throws, and then scored on a wild pitch.
But Carling pulled herself together, got Chelsie Jenner to fly out to right to end the inning, and then pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, with the final out recorded on a fine running catch by GB centre fielder Karlene Headley-Cooper. One win was in the bag, with a night game against Jakarta from Indonesia to come.
Game 2: GB 4, Jakarta 0
In the second game, the GB saviour at the plate was Steph Pearce, 
also usually a catcher but this time playing right field. Steph went three-for-three, hit the ball harder than anyone else against Jakarta pitcher Isti Dewiyanti, and drove in three of the four GB runs, including two keys runs with a line drive single to centre in the fifth inning that broke open a tense 1-0 game that might have gone either way until that point. When Ali Parkerson followed with a single to right field to make the GB lead 4-0, the game began to feel safe. But up to that point, it had felt anything but.
And the fact that Britain was able to win the game at all was down to one key play in that productive fifth inning -- a bad mistake by the Indonesian shortstop and a slice of luck for GB -- that led to a prolonged but unavailing Indonesian protest and changed the game entirely.
But we'll get to that play later.
Stacie Townsend again opened the pitching for GB, but this time, as planned, threw only three innings, giving up just one hit, with no walks and three strikeouts.
By the time she left the game, GB might have been expected to have more than a 1-0 lead against one of the minnow teams in the elite division, but the sole GB run to that point came in the bottom of the second inning when Jess Legendre singled to right, Sarah Jones walked and Steph Pearce bounced a single up the middle to drive Jess home. That left GB with two runners on base and no outs, and more runs looked likely. But Isti Dewiyanti struck out Ali Parkerson and Sara Robb in quick succession and got Kristi Yoshizawa on a soft line drive to first base.
With GB's third pitcher in this tournament, pitching coach Megan Brown, unavailable due to flu symptoms, Carling Hare took over on the mound in the fourth inning and things quickly got tense as a single by Prilla Kinanti, a walk to Andari Putrianti and a wild pitch gave Jakarta runners on second and third with two out. But Carling, who is developing a reputation as an escapologist, froze Jakarta catcher Jessica Ratri with called strike three and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the fourth, GB again threatened to score -- and didn't. There was only one out when Steph Pearce and Ali Parkerson drove sharp line drive singles to centre field and moved up to second and third when the centre fielder bobbled Ali's hit. But Steph, going on contact, was out at home trying to score on Sara Robb's ground ball that didn't make it past the pitcher, and Kristi Yoshizawa grounded out to first.
Up came the Indonesians in the top of the fifth and it was cardiac time once again. Yuka Ramadhina singled, went to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground ball and, just like Steph Pearce in the previous inning, went on contact on a bouncer back to Carling and was out -- just -- at the plate. But Cresida Mariska singled to right, Arvie Amanda walked to load the bases and the inning only ended when Carling again fired a call third strike past Prilla Kinanti. Somehow, the Indonesians had failed to score.
And then came the fateful bottom of the fifth inning.
Karlene Headley-Cooper led off for GB with a single to left. Carling Hare struck out, but Leah English reached after a poor throw by the Indonesian catcher on her sacrifice bunt. Jess Legendre flied out to left, and it looked like another scoring threat by GB was over when Sarah Jones hit a bouncer to Indonesian third base player Sarah Apapayanti, who turned to tag the bag for the force play on Karlene. But just as Karlene neared the base, Jakarta shortstop Arvie Amanda suddenly appeared from stage right and barged into Karlene, who stumbled over her foot and sprawled just short of the base.
"Obstruction," said the third base umpire, which it clearly was, and more than ten minutes of protest followed, with the Indonesian team twice leaving and returning to the field, long conferences by the umpires, long discussions with the Indonesian coaches and then the summoning of the tournament Protest Committee. But nothing was going to change the call, and when play finally resumed, GB had the bases loaded and the on-fire Steph Pearce at the plate and the rest is history.
Steph drove her third single of the game to left-centre field, Ali Parkerson singled to right, three runs scored and that 4-0 lead that might never have been gave GB the comfort zone they needed,
Carling Hare faced only seven deflated Indonesian batters in the sixth and seventh (a single by Sarah Apapayanti was their only remaining resistance) and a long night came to an end with GB's second win on the day.
Coming up
Today (Monday), GB will play a single game against one of the tournament favourites, the US travel ball California A's. GB and the A's played a scrimmage game last Friday, and the 1-1 seven inning standoff promises another tense affair later today.
On Tuesday morning, GB will play Peru in the game that was rained out on Saturday, and later that day will take on the host team White Rock Renegades.
Always assuming, of course, that the heavy showers predicted for today and tomorrow stay away!