by Bob Fromer
Ronchi dei Legionari, Italy: August 5 -- With an eerie backdrop of darkening skies, lightning, thunder and lurid orange clouds over the hills behind right field, the GB Women's Fastpitch Team played brilliantly in one of the most dramatic games in their history yesterday evening, a 4-2 eight-inning come-from-behind win over Russia that significantly increases GB's chances of reaching the final four in the 2011 European Championships and qualifying for next year's World Championships in Canada.
The win means that GB has finished second in their four-team second-round group, and will play the third place team from the other group at 12.30 pm today, with the winner advancing to the last four and the Page Playoffs. GB's opponents will be Spain, the lowest-ranked of the six teams still playing for prizes after France and Austria were eliminated yesterday. Holland and Italy have already advanced to the Page Playoffs, and Russia and the Czech Republic will also play at 12.30 pm today, with the winner of that game also advancing to the final four.
Though you always have to be careful what you wish for, GB would far rather be playing Spain today than either the Russians or the Czechs, especially after the struggle that GB had to get past the Russians last night.
GB won the game because of another courageous complete-game pitching performance from Stacie Townsend, a game-saving defensive play in the sixth inning and a perfect two-strike bunt in the top of the eighth inning by Laura Thompson that undid the Russian defense, a gutsy throw by Jessica Legendre that broke the Russian resistance in the bottom of the eighth inning and in general because the GB defense stood firm throughout the game and the Russian defense didn't quite do the same.
It was one of those games that are almost too full of incident, subtle changes of momentum and key coaching decisions, a tale of ever-increasing tension played against the most dramatic of physical backdrops. One of the key questions throughout the game was whether the lightning would force the teams off the field, but it remained far enough away for the umpires to resist and the rain never came until the game had ended.
In a meeting before the game, GB Head Coach Hayley Scott had implored the team to pay attention to the little things that make the difference between winning and losing games against the better teams, and she noted in particular the value of getting leadoff hitters on base as often as possible.
As things turned out, GB scored in three different innIngs during the game and the Russians in one inning, and on every occasion the rally was triggered by the leadoff hitter reaching base.
GB comeback
Neither team scored in the first inning, but the Russians used power and speed to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
Clean-up hitter Elena Povarova doubled deep to left field to open the inning, and scored on a fly ball triple by Ekterina Eronina that drifted over the head of GB centre fielder Naomi Jones. The Russians then put in the speedy Svetlana Tuzlukova as a pinch-runner for Eronina, and Tuzlukova raced home on a perfect squeeze bunt by Alexandra Larionova for the second run.
Now GB had a hill to climb, and they began the task in the top of the third. Catcher Leah English led off with a sharp single to right field and went to second when Russian third base player Alina Afanasyeva bobbled Jess Legendre's ground ball. Laura Thompson tried and failed to bunt the runners to second and third, but then slapped a single into right field to load the bases with one out.
At that point, the Russian coach started a game of musical chairs with his two front-line pitchers that was to continue at an ever-increasing pace throughout the game. He removed starter Daria Shembereyva and replaced her with DP Ekterina Eronina, and he flip-flopped these two players several more times between DP and pitcher before the evening was over -- though Eronina did the bulk of the pitching from the third inning on.
On this occasion, Eronina's first appearance, Kristi Yoshizawa greeted her with a line drive out to left field, deep enough to enable Leah English to tag up and score the first GB run.
In the bottom of the third inning, after another triple over the head of Naomi Jones (Stacie Townsend retired the next two hitters and stranded the runner at third), the GB coaching staff shifted Laura Thompson to centre field and Naomi Jones to right. It was a move that would save the game three innings later.
GB's tying run followed in the top of the fourth inning. Morgan Parkerson led off with a walk, went to second on a wild pitch and scored two outs later on another clutch single by Leah English.
Tension mounts
Now tied at 2-2, the game became more and more tense as each half-inning passed. It wasn't just about whether GB or Russia could take the lead; it was also about whether the game might have to be stopped for lightning or rain and whether it would be a legal game at that point and who might be ahead.
Each team had baserunners; neither team could push them across. The lightning faded, night came on, the scoreboard lights burned ever more brightly and the Halloween orange glow deepened behind right field.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Russians made their strongest bid to win the game. With one out, Elena Povarova singled, and after two outs, she was on second base with the dangerous Ekterina Eronina at bat. With one strike, Eronina hit a line drive single to centre field and Povarova rounded third and headed for home. But Laura Thompson charged the ball at speed, made a great pickup and fired a strike to Leah English. Povarova was out by 15 feet; Leah had to wait for her to get near the plate to tag her.
Russia had another chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh when Tatiana Belyukova singled with two out and stole second. But Stacie Townsend struck out Russian leadoff hitter Tatiana Sorokina on a pitch down and away and the game headed to extra innings and the tiebreak.
All about execution
The tiebreak means that from the eighth inning onward, until one team wins the game, each team starts its at-bat with a runner on second base. It's then all about execution. The offensive team needs to at least get that runner over to third and then home (the standard tactic is for the first hitter to bunt the runner to third). The defensive team wants to stop any run from scoring, but if you're the home team, you want to make sure that the visitors score no more than one.
GB won the game because they came up in the top of the eighth and scored two.
Jess Legendre was the tiebreak runner on second when the inning began; Laura Thompson, one of the best bunters on the GB team, was the batter. But Laura took strike one and bunted strike two foul. Now the bunt would have to come off. Laura took ball one. And then, to the surprise of the Russian defense, Laura put a gutsy two-strike bunt into fair territory, and when the Russian third base player made her second error of the game, GB had runners on first and third and no one out.
Now the Russian defense cracked still further. Kristi Yoshizawa hit a bouncer to second base. Tatiana Zhuchkova fielded the ball, looked at Jess Legendre dancing off third, then looked to throw to first, but saw Jess break for home. The throw was a good one, but Jess slid round the tag and GB had a run in, Laura Thompson on third and Kristi on first and still no one out.
That wasn't the case for long. Stacie Townsend hit the first pitch she saw into right field for a single and Laura scored that precious second run.
Morgan Parkerson sacrificed Kristi Yoshizawa to third and Stacie to second, and the Russians elected to walk Karlene Headley-Cooper intentionally to load the bases and set up a force play at home. But GB couldn't take advantage, as Eronina struck out Ali Parkerson and got Leah English to fly out to centre field.
But Stacie Townsend had two runs to work with as the Russians came up in the bottom of the eighth.
Holding firm
Trailing by two runs in a tiebreak means that bunting the tiebreak runner to third (in this case Tatiana Sorokina) no longer makes sense for the leadoff hitter, because you don't want to give up an out. So Tatiana Zhuchkova tried to slap the ball to left field instead, and Stacie Townsend struck her out swinging.
The next hitter was Darya Shembereva, who had spent the evening alternating between pitcher and DP, and she hit a smash down the third base line that caromed off Kristi Yoshizawa's leg and into foul territory. Sorokina rounded third and set off for home, but shortstop Jess Legendre recovered the ball, fired to Leah English and Leah applied a tag in a cloud of dirt and dust. The umpire called "Out!"
That broke the Russian resistance. Elena Povarova, the Russians' best hitter, took two strikes from Stacie Townsend and struck out swinging on the next pitch to end the game.
A GB Team that had played brilliant defensive softball at the World Cup in Oklahoma City, and at times here in Italy, had done it again; great defensive plays and great clutch pitching had won a game that was perhaps the best these European Championships have seen to date.
Previous reports from the GB Women's Team at the European Women's Fastpitch Championships can be found both on the Home Page and in the News column on this website.