By Mary Murray
ENSCHEDE, the Netherlands: 24 July – The Great Britain Under-15 Women’s team ended the European Under-15 Women’s Championship on a high note on 
Saturday, defeating Croatia by a score of 14-9.
Due to an injury to a GB athlete on Friday, the Under-15 Women were down to an eight-player roster. However, the Croatian Softball Federation and their Under-15 team was gracious enough to lend GB a player, Adela Hrgarek, allowing both teams to play out their final game of the tournament.
Due to an administrative error by the British Softball Federation, the Great Britain Under-15 Women’s team was not able to officially compete in the European Under-15 Women’s Championship and automatically finished ninth. As such, each game played by the GB Team was officially scored as a forfeit loss by a score of 7-0. In our coverage of the tournament, we have highlighted the performances of the athletes in Enschede and reported the games as they were played out on the field.
You can see the Federation’s statement regarding this situation here.
Great Britain 14, Croatia 9
Croatia got out to a strong start in this game, but GB’s spirit and fight never wavered. A 10-run fourth inning proved to be the difference-maker in a hard-earned victory for the young GB squad.
Jenna Thompson led off the game with a bunt single to third base, and after she stole second base and took third on a wild pitch, Anna Kingston grounded out to the shortstop, wasting no time in getting the first run on the board for GB. Two more groundouts left another British runner on first, but the team headed into the bottom of the first inning with the lead.
A one-out single by Marta Šavorič started the offensive momentum for Croatia, and a two-out double down the left field line from Mia Primec scored Šavorić to tie the game. Two errors allowed another Croatian run to score and put runners on second and third, and a single to the pitcher by Maša Jadan scored another teammate to put Croatia up 3-1. A swinging strikeout ended the inning.
Guest player Adela Hrgarek drew a walk for GB to start the top of the second inning and scored two batters later when Amber Frost reached and advanced to second base on a throwing error. Two ground outs ended the inning and brought Croatia back to the plate, but the GB Under-15s were now trailing by only a run.
However, Marta Šavorić hit a two-out double to left centre field and ended up scoring on wild pitches in the bottom of the second inning, restoring Croatia’s two-run lead.
In the top of the third inning, Sydney Teague drew a walk with one out, and Hope Schultz followed with a single through the left side to put runners on first and second. Adela Hrgarek drew another walk, and two more walks drawn by Emma Biles and Amber Frost tied the game at 4-4. But GB left the bases were loaded and Croatia came back to bat as the back-and-forth contest continued.
Mia Primec drew a lead-off walk for Croatia in the bottom of the third inning and a fielding error allowed Primec, who had advanced via stolen bases, to score and Franka Strugar to reach first base. Sara Pokrajac came in to pinch-run for Strugar, and a walk to Matea Orešković resulted in Pokrajac scoring while Orešković was thrown out at second base. With the bases cleared, Maša Jadan hit an infield single and Karla Belec walked to put runners at first and second with one out. The bases were soon loaded because of an error, and a groundout to first base allowed Jadan to score. However, a fly out helped GB get out of the inning with Croatia back in the lead at 7-4.
Jenna Thompson led off the top of the fourth and decisive inning with a hard line out to centre field, but Anna Kingston hit an infield single to reach base. Sydney Teague then singled to left field, followed by a throwing error that allowed Hope Schultz to reach base and Anna to score from second. The next batter, Isla Dodson-Richi, hit a single to left field that brought Hope to score. Adela Hrgarek added an infield single, and then a walk and a single up the middle by Amber Frost kept the momentum going for GB, scoring Hope.
Cerys Jones then hit an infield single that scored Adela, and one through nine in the British line-up were getting hot. Jenna Thompson headed back to the plate and smashed a three-run inside-the-park home run up the middle. With two outs, Sydney Teague drilled a ball off the massive fence in left centre field that would have been over with a shorter fence and legged out a triple. Though a walk and an error put more runners on, Croatia was able to get out of the inning – but the damage by GB was done. The British had scored 10 runs on seven hits.
A few walks and a single to centre field from Mia Primec saw the Croatians try to get the momentum back, but a fly out and two strikeouts ended the game and gave GB the 14-9 win.
Scores and Final Standings
Scores of placing and medal games on Saturday at the European Under-15 Women’s Championship were:
8-9th Place Game
GB 14, Croatia 9 (4 inns) (scored as a 7-0 forfeit to Croatia)
5-6-7th Playoffs
Germany 10, Lithuania 1 (5 inns)
France 18, Lithuania 11 (5 inns)
Germany 9, France 3
Bronze Medal Game
Netherlands 10, Ukraine 9
Gold Medal Game
Czech Republic 10, Italy 0
The final tournament standings were:
1 -- Czech Republic (9-0)
2 -- Italy (7-2)
3 -- Netherlands (7-2)
4 -- Ukraine (5-4)
5 -- Germany (5-5)
6 -- France (5-5)
7 -- Lithuania (2-8)
8 -- Croatia (1-8)
9 -- Great Britain (0-9 officially, but 3-6 as played on the field)
The top two finishers in the tournament, the Czech Republic and Italy, have earned a spot in the Under 15 Women’s World Championship next October in Japan.
Despite their finishing position due to forfeits, the amount of growth and development the athletes on the GB Under-15 Women’s team have had over the last 12 days has been incredible to watch.
Thank you to all of the parents and supporters who cheered on GB both in Enschede and from around the world!
Photos by David Morris