by Bob Fromer
Antwerp, Belgium: August 9 -- Rain fell heavily in Antwerp last night and softball fields were flooded this morning, so the organisers at the 2011 European Cadette Championships spent the day chopping and changing times and fields in an attempt to dodge still more rain and get games played.
Originally, the GB Under-16s were due to play Italy at 10.00 am at Duerne, then it was 1.30 at Hoboken, then 3.30 at Hoboken, and when the game finally got underway at 4.45, it was on a field that was never meant to be part of the tournament at all, somewhere on the fringes of Antwerp airport.
Deja vu
Having gone down 9-0 yesterday to a polished Czech Cadette Team, GB took on the Italians today, who if anything were even better.
The result was the same -- a four-inning 9-0 loss -- and once again, GB didn't manage a single hit against the two pitchers who threw against them.
But the pattern of this game was different. Yesterday, neither the GB team or pitcher Ellie Pamenter were ready for the Czechs, and seven runs were surrendered in the first inning.
Today, Ellie Pamenter threw an excellent game from the very beginning, striking out seven Italian hitters in four innings, mainly on well-disguised change-ups.
But the GB defense committed six errors, the Italians had eight hits, and Italy scored three runs in the first, second and fourth innings for an easy win.
Bad luck
GB teams never seem to get good draws in tournaments, and they never seem to get much luck either. The Italian first inning was a perfect example of this.
Italy's leadoff hitter, Federica Andolfi, hit a little pop fly that fell just out of the reach of GB fielders behind first base. Nadia Ballarin popped up to Chloe Wigington at shortstop, then Marta Gasparotto was fooled on a curve ball and just got the end of her bat on the ball. The field on which this game was being played wasn't a proper softball field with a dirt infield, but a grass field with dirt cutouts and Gasparotto's hit came down in foul territory just to the right of home plate, then hit the lip between the dirt and the grass and jumped into fair territory, too late for anyone to do anything about it.
Ellie Pamenter could well have been out of that inning after three hitters; instead, Italy had two runners on base with one out. When the next batter, Alice Nocolini, hit a line drive that was dropped by Holly Strachan at second base, Italy were in business and three runs were the eventual result.
More errors
Two more GB errors were instrumental in helping Italy score another three runs in the second inning and GB committed another two errors in the fourth inning, when Italy scored their final three runs.
It certainly wasn't a coincidence that GB committed no errors in the third inning and Italy failed to score, and GB catcher Gabry Sassoli made a fine throw to shortstop Chloe Wigington to nail Italy's one baserunner of the inning who was trying to steal third.
On the other hand, it's certainly a bit worrying that the GB Cadettes have now gone two games without a single hit. Yesterday, the Czechs at least gave up a walk to Amy Trask; today, Italian starter Veronica Comar walked Chloe Wigington to lead off the game. But Chloe was picked off first and after that Comar and reliever Teresa Cernecca set GB hitters down in order in all four innings, registering eight strikeouts along the way.
But these Italian pitchers throw hard, and some of the younger GB Cadette players have seldom faced pitching at this level.
Coming up
Tomorrow, weather permitting, GB will play a back-to-back doubleheader against France and Russia.
France took on Italy today, just before Britain did, and the French struggled just as badly. So GB will have hope of a more even game against the French.
Russia won this tournament two years ago, upsetting the Dutch in the final, but this year's Russian team is younger and reputedly not as good, so perhaps that game will be a contest as well.
From Thursday through Saturday, GB will play the teams that finished third through sixth in the other group, and the results will determine where GB finishes in the final rankings.
Lack of experience
The players who currently make up the GB Under-19 Team have had quite a lot of competition experience in the past few years as Cadettes and now as Juniors, and this was evident in some strong performances last summer at the European Junior Championships and this summer at the Canadian Open Fastpitch Futures Tournament.
Most of the current GB Under-16 players, in contrast, have had little competition experience in the UK or abroad, and it's evident in the two games played so far at this tournament. Lack of experience is the continuing obstacle that British softball has to overcome, since we don't have the numbers playing fastpitch or the strong domestic fastpitch league that countries like the Czech Republic and Italy enjoy.
But tournaments like this are certainly a learning experience, even if some of the lessons are hard and that's the thought that should stay with the GB players during and after this Championship.