Friday 25 August – Two more wins by The Mix on Friday at the European Women’s Cup in Croatia have put them into Saturday’s gold medal game, but the Barbarians lost again at the European Women’s Cup Winners Cup B in the Netherlands and will set their sights on achieving a fifth-place finish on Saturday.
The Mix had to work hard in Zagreb on Friday for the two wins that preserved their unbeaten record at the European Women’s Cup. In the morning, pitching and defense were the keys to a 1-0 win over the Warsaw Diamonds, and in the afternoon, The Mix were tied at 5-5 with the Bulgarian team Angels Dupnitsa after the top of the fifth inning before a six-run rally in the bottom of the fifth sealed the game.
Meanwhile, in Moergestel in the Netherlands, the Barbarians finished the round-robin phase of the European Women’s Cup Winners Cup B when they took on the Titans from Botswana, guesting in a European Cup competition, after rain had delayed the start of play.
The result was a 9-1 five-inning defeat for the Barbarians, who struggled to generate offense while the Titans scored in every inning but the first.
This means that the Barbarians, in their first-ever European tournament, have finished in sixth place in the seven-team round-robin, but will have a chance to move up to fifth place in the final standings if they can come up with two wins in a three-team placing round-robin on Saturday.
EUROPEAN WOMEN’S CUP
The Mix 1, Warsaw Diamonds 0
On Thursday, The Mix had beaten the Warsaw Diamonds 8-1 with a seven-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth inning. But that game had been tied at 1-1 until the bottom of the fourth, and foreshadowed Friday morning’s re-match, in which both teams struggled to score.
The Mix had more hits and more baserunners over the course of the game, but their only run came in the top of the fifth inning, and owed as much to Polish miscues as their own efforts.
Alana Snow led off the inning by reaching on an error, and after the Diamonds failed to get an out on Emma Agostini’s ground ball, a bunt single by Jade Yerex loaded the bases with no one out. Those three runners remained on base while the next two batters struck out, but with Sian Wigington at the plate, Alana Snow came home on a wild pitch to break the deadlock.
Chimene Snijder had pitched the first five innings for The Mix, giving up only two hits and two walks while keeping the Diamonds off the scoreboard.
Mary Murray took over the pitching in the bottom of the sixth inning and retired the Polish team in order. But things got tense in the bottom of the seventh inning when Camille Czarnecki doubled to left centre field with one out.
Alicja Gontarczuk came in to pinch-run for Czarnecki, and the next batter, Angelika Piotrowski, hit a little pop fly between the pitcher and second base. Mix shortstop Jade Yerex moved towards the ball but collided with Alicja Gontarczuk, who was called out for interference. Now, instead of one out and a runner in scoring position, the Poles had two out and a runner on first, and the game was over a few moments later when Klaudia Rudyk lined out to shortstop.
The win guaranteed a place for The Mix in the gold medal game on Saturday regardless of the result in their final round-robin game against Angels Dupnitsa on Friday afternoon.
The Mix 12, Angels Dupnitsa 5
This game was also more of a struggle for The Mix than their first game against the Bulgarians had been on Wednesday, though it didn’t look likely to be that way when the British team built up a 5-0 lead over the first two innings.
Mix starter Anna-Be Bartels wriggled out of a jam in the top of the first inning without allowing a run, and then Alana Snow led off the bottom of the inning with a triple. Alana promptly scored on Chelsie Robison’s single, and then a walk, a Bulgarian error and another walk forced in a second run. The Mix, with the bases loaded and no one out, were looking for more. But Angels starter Martina Efremova retired the next three batters on a strikeout, an infield pop-up, and a fly ball to centre field, and The Mix had to settle for just the two runs.
That didn’t seem to matter when The Mix scored three more runs in the bottom of the second inning. Two walks, an error, a sacrifice fly by Megan Beard, a double to left centre by Sian Wigington, and an RBI groundout by Emma Agostini built The Mix’s lead to 5-0.
But then the British bats went cold and the Angels came to life, scoring four runs on four hits and an error against Anna-Be Bartels in the top of the third inning, and another run in the top of the fifth inning off relief pitcher Chimene Snijder to tie the score at 5-5.
The Mix then took a collective deep breath, and responded with six runs against Bulgarian relief pitcher Mariya Fetvova in the bottom of the fifth inning to make sure their unbeaten record stayed safe.
Three walks and five singles – by Crista Reed-Thomas, Alana Snow, Holly Newell, Emma Agostini and Chimene Snijder – did the trick, and when The Mix added a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning to stretch their lead to 12-5, it brought the game to an end on the mercy rule.
Jade Yerex walked to lead off the inning, Alana Snow reached on an error, and the Bulgarians intentionally walked Chelsie Robison to give them the chance of a force out at home. This worked for a moment when Holly Newell bounced to third base and Jade Yerex was forced out at the plate. But the next batter, Sian Wigington, walked on four pitches to drive in the game-ending run.
Scores and standings
The four teams competing in the 2023 European Women’s Cup have played a double round-robin from Wednesday through Friday, with the final round-robin standings determining which teams will play in the gold and bronze medal games on Saturday.
Scores on Friday with one game still to play were:
The Mix 1, Warsaw Diamonds 0
Princ Zagreb 1, Angels Dupnitsa 0
The Mix 12, Angels Dupnitsa 5
Warsaw Diamonds 5, Princ Zagreb 1
The final round-robin standings won’t be changed by the result of that final game, and the teams will finish in this order:
The Mix (6-0
Princ Zagreb (3-3)
Warsaw Diamonds (2-4)
Angels Dupnitsa (1-5)
Looking ahead
The host team Princ Zagreb will be the opponents for The Mix in Saturday’s gold medal game at 5.30 pm local time, while Angels Dupnitsa and the Warsaw Diamonds will play for the bronze medal at 3.00 pm.
The Mix have already beaten Princ Zagreb by scores of 9-0 and 10-4 in this competition, and another win on Saturday will see The Mix become the first British club team to be promoted to the Women’s Premier Cup, the top women’s club competition in Europe, for 2024.
EUROPEAN WOMEN’S CUP WINNERS CUP B:
Titans 9, Barbarians 1
The first game of the day on Friday in the European Women’s Cup Winners Cup B, between the Barbarians and the Titans from Botswana, was held up for a couple of hours by rain. But when the game was eventually played, the Barbarians struggled to mount much offense against Titans’ pitchers Dorcas 
Mokgweetsi and Taboka Nkalapi, and went down by a mercy rule score of 9-1 in five innings.
Yuki Ono pitched all five innings for the Barbarians and gave up 10 hits and three walks, but only three of the nine runs scored by the Titans were earned. The Titans put up one run in the top of the second inning, four in the top of the third inning and two more in the top of the fourth.
The Barbarians then scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, on their only two hits: a single to right field by Lea Maartens and a double to centre field by Julie Winkel.
That run made the score 7-1 to the Titans, but a final pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning took their lead into mercy rule territory. The Barbarians went down in order in the bottom of the fifth inning against the Titans’ second pitcher, Taboka Nkalapi, and the game ended in a 9-1 win for the Botswana team.
Scores and standings
Seven teams are competing in the 2023 European Women’s Cup Winners Cup B, and they have played a full round-robin over the course of the week to determine which teams will play in the bronze and gold medal games on Saturday.
Scores on Friday were:
Titans 9, Barbarians 1
Thunderbirds 6, Medvenica Mrki Medvedi 4
Crazy Chicklets 6, Challengers Zurich 1
SV Roef 18, Thunderbirds 1
Final round-robin standings were:
SV Roef (6-0)
Crazy Chicklets (5-1)
Thunderbirds (3-3)
Challengers Zurich (3-3)
Titans (3-3)
Barbarians (1-5)
Medvenica Mrki Medvedi (0-6)
Looking ahead
On Saturday, the host team SV Roef and the Crazy Chicklets from Austria will play the gold medal game at the 2023 European Women’s Cup Winners Cup B tournament, and Thunderbirds from Israel and Challengers Zurich from Switzerland will play the bronze medal game.
Before the medal games, the Barbarians, the Croatian team Medvenica Mrki Medvedi, and the Titans from Botswana will play a three-team round-robin to determine Places 5-7 in the final tournament standings.
The Barbarians will play back-to-back games at 12.30 pm and 3.00 pm local time on Saturday in the placing round-robin.