By David Morris
Weiner Neustadt, Austria: 3 August – Both British teams recorded wins on Tuesday at the European Slowpitch Super Cup in Vienna, but H20 slipped to second in their pool with a win and a loss, while Chromies recorded two wins and remained unbeaten.
DNAce (Czech Republic) 10, H2O 9
H2O were unlucky to lose their third game of the tournament, having led up to the sixth inning.
It was the H2O women doing most of the hitting, as Annie Dubovec smashed a three-RBI home run in the first inning. Chris Yoxall hit another, good for two runs, in the second inning, but H2O were anxious not to waste any further home runs for less than three runs, having already hit two of their three home runs allowed by virtue of the ground rules on Field 2 by the end of the second inning.
A Katherine Golik hit put H2O 6-0 up before DNAce started to work their way back into the game by consistently hitting singles into gaps. Eventually, hits by Bartolomej Rizek and Lenka Bartova tied the score, but Kim Miller put H2O back in front by knocking in Stewart Butcher from third base.
The pivotal moment came when H2O loaded the bases with two outs, with Chris Yoxall stepping into the box. There was great anticipation as he geared up to go for the grand slam, but instead he lined out to third base.
DNAce crept ahead for the first time by a single run going into the final inning. With H2O behind by 8-7, Stewart Butcher unleashed a deep fly ball for two RBIs, putting his team back in front at 9-8. However, H2O could not contain DNAce's disciplined at-bats, as they singled their way to a 10-9 victory.
H2O were clearly disappointed not to win the game, and Captain Roger Grooms remarked on the frustration caused by the three home run limit. But they looked forward to getting back on track against TNT from Ireland later in the day.
In the meantime, some of the squad got away from the intense heat for a few hours before regrouping for their afternoon game.
London Chromies 19, Afterburners (Belgium) 1
The London Chromies kept up their 100% record in their third game of the tournament, destroying Afterburners from Belgium by 19-1 in five innings.
Starting brightly, Chromies went 4-0 up in the first inning despite losing Michaela Sulcova to a hamstring injury.
Pitcher Pat Hoey was instrumental, keeping the Belgians off the board and hitting an RBI single. Chiya Louie was also on fine form, helping Chromies to extend their lead to 8-0 in the second inning with a two-RBI triple.
Afterburners could not respond, and smart hitting allowed the Chromies to further extend their lead through the middle innings. Back-to-back home runs by George Bartlett and Paul Gough in the fourth inning put the game well out of Afterburners' reach, although Chromies did allow one home run by Jan Ghekiere.
There was also a landmark in the fourth inning, when David Lee hit the 1000th home run of his competitive softball career. The arithmetic behind this remarkable statistic seems a little hazy but this is a fantastic achievement nevertheless, and Lee was congratulated with great enthusiasm by his teammates after rounding the bases.
After no runs were scored in the fifth inning, the game ended early on the mercy rule at 19-1 to Chromies.
H2O 20, TNT (Ireland) 5
Anxious to recover from their loss earlier in the day, H2O took a 3-1 lead in the first inning, though a two-run homer from Neil Selvester was met with muted celebration in the H2O dugout as they hoped to save big hits for occasions with more runners on base. Thankfully, however, TNT scored just one run in reply.
In the second inning, with one out and the bases loaded, Chris Yoxall was given the green light to try for the grand slam, but was caught at the fence in left centre field. However, H2O continued to hit well and were cruising at 8-1 up after the second inning.
With the bases loaded again in the third, Neil Selvester drilled the ball straight to the TNT third baseman. Thinking the ball had been caught, Claude Snape began to retreat back to third before realising Paul O’Hare had dropped it, giving him plenty of time to throw Snape out at home.
On defense, Mike MacDowell excelled for H2O in right centre field, making two fine catches, but TNT managed to squeeze in a few more runs to cut H2O’s lead to 10-4 and bring back memories of the lead lost earlier in the day.
However, H2O extended their lead to 16-4 in the fourth inning thanks to two-run homers from Roger Grooms and Mike MacDowell, while Katherine Golik clubbed another two-RBI single. And MacDowell capped off a great performance by firing the ball home from another catch deep in the outfield to help shut out TNT once again.
H2O added a further four runs in the fifth inning before Chris Yoxall breached the small field's three home run limit for the third out. TNT managed one more run before the game ended in a 20-5 victory for H2O on the mercy rule.
London Chromies 16, Linz (Austria) 1
David Lee pitched a fine game and there was another hit parade by the Chromies, as their intent was signalled with their first swing of the bat. Michael O’Sullivan hit a bomb to right centre field to put his team ahead after Linz were shut out in the top of the first inning. O’Sullivan’s teammates tried to follow suit, but the next three batters were all caught in the outfield.
Another zero for Linz in the top of the second inning preceded a monster 10-run haul for Chromies in the bottom of the frame, as they batted around the order. There was a lead-off home run from David Lee before a series of well-placed singles wore down Linz. Danny Gunn then joined the party with a three-RBI homer to right centre field, and Hannah Pittman and Moera Flett added doubles in a furious hitting display. It was one of those feeding frenzies that the Chromies sometimes put up on offense, with seemingly nothing able to contain them.
The third and fourth innings produced only a single run for each team, with Brandie Kinser finally getting Linz off the mark thanks to a slightly comical series of fielding errors by the Chromies. However, by now the London side was 11-1 up and enjoying the game enough to put their mistakes behind them.
It was all over by the end of the fifth inning as Enmanuel Estevez launched a three-RBI hit over the fence, leaving the Chromies needing one more run to invoke the mercy rule.
Areej Almaazi and George Bartlett promptly got themselves on second and third with no outs – Almaazi being the winning run on third -- but Hannah Pittman popped the ball up to third base without the runners advancing. Up stepped Pat Hoey, who dropped a fly ball just out of the reach of the Linz centre fielder and Almaazi dashed in to end the game at 16-1 for the Chromies after five innings.
STANDINGS
As the standings after Day Two show (see below), H2O have slipped to second in Pool A, behind their unbeaten victors DNAce. But Chromies remain on top in Pool B, with Sparks Mlade Buky from the Czech Republic hot on their heels.
The British teams will each have two more games on Wednesday, as the Chromies will take on Triple Play from Germany and Oddsox from Ireland, while H2O will play the Titans from Belgium and the host team Chucks from Wiener Neustadt.
Only the top three teams in each pool will go forward to Championship playoffs.
POOL A
DNAce (CZE): 4-0
H2O (GBR): 3-1
Akademics Sofia (BUL): 2-2
Weiner Neustadt Chucks (AUS): 2-2
UCE Travellers (GER): 2-2
TNT (IRL): 1-3
Titans BSC (BEL): 0-4
POOL B
Chromies (GBR): 4-0
Sparks Blade Buky (CZE): 3-1
Linz (AUS): 2-2
Mannheim (GER): 2-2
Triple Play (GER): 1-2
Afterburners (BEL): 1-3
Oddsox (IRL): 0-4
Photos by David Morris