The London Angels from the London Fastpitch Softball League were Britain's representative this year in the European Women's B Pool Cup Tournament, played from August 15-20 in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria, and it marked their tenth straight season in European club competition since the team was founded in 2001.
The Angels finished sixth in Dupnitsa, but were proud of the accomplishment after a tough first round draw, especially as some of the teams had imported high-profile international star players to bolster their squads.
The Players
The Angels team that travelled to Bulgaria included two GB Women's Team players (Steph Pearce and Rachael Watkeys) and GB Under-19 player Vicky Keswick -- plus GB Women's Team Head Coach Hayley Scott.
The full team was: Becs Annan, Milena Borisova, Joke van der Hulst, Vicky Keswick, Chris Macleod, Kylie Marshall, Yanita Milrnkova, Nadia Pavlova, Steph Pearce, Hayley Scott, Maya Traykova, Rachael Watkeys and Simone Zurschmitten.
The First Round
The Angels were in a five-team group for the initial round-robin, and the results were:
Les Comanches (France) 3, Angels 0
Angels 2, Ladonas (Greece) 1
Nika Dahl (Ukraine) 11, Angels 1
Angels 7, Lisicke (Slovenia) 6
GB Head Coach Hayley Scott takes up the story of the first round games:
Comanches (France) 3, Angels 0
Angels' pitcher Kylie Marshall had a nervous start against the team from Nice headed by GB Women's Team Assistant Coach Celine Lassaigne and featuring a number of players from the French National Team. Kylie used her curve and off-speed pitches to force the French hitters to chase, resulting in a number of pop-ups and ground balls, but the French scored two early runs on two walks, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Celine.
The Angels struggled to hit French off-speed pitcher Raina Hunter and had their only scoring threat in the seventh inning when Nadia Pavlova doubled and was advanced to third by Steph Pearce. Unfortunately, the hitters that followed were not able to score Nadia and the game ended 3-0 to the Comanches.
But it was a good start to the tournament, as the Comanches eventually got to the tournament final and scored far more runs off other teams.
Angels 2, Ladonas (Greece) 1
Once again, Angels took a while to get started with the bats. But in the third inning GB players Rachael Watkeys and Vicky Keswick worked together to create the team's first run as Rachael hit a triple and scored on Vicky's single.
The Angels' second run came in the fifth when Rachael Watkeys doubled, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.
Joke van der Hulst did well to hold the Greek team for four innings and Kylie Marshall finished up, as Ladonas managed only two hits.
Nika Dahl (Ukraine) 11, Angels 1
Angels were no match for Nika Dahl in this game, as the Ukrainian team had Kelly Hardie and Brenda de Blaes from Team Australia as pick-up players and getting through their line-up undamaged proved too much for the Angels' pitching staff.
Angels 7, Lisicke (Slovenia) 6
This win allowed Angels to gain confidence both offensively and defensively. The game featured a long drive to the outfield fence by Rachael Watkeys, a home run by Nadia Pavlova, base hits throughout the line-up and two superb outfield catches in the fourth inning by Chris Macleod.
Angels scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning and Kylie Marshall held on in the top of the seventh to give the Angels their second win in a very tight and exciting game.
Second Round
The two Angels' wins in the first round were enough to place them third in their pool and send them forward to a second round-robin from which the top two teams would go forward to the Page Playoff.
Angels needed to win all three games in the second round to make the Page Playoffs, but this proved too difficult when they made several errors against Bizkorrak from Spain and couldn't link enough hits together against the Eagles from Switzerland, who had an American pitcher who kept the Angels’ hitters off balance.
Second round results were:
Bizkorrak (Spain) 10, Angels 0
Eagles (Switzerland) 3, Angels 0
Angels 3, Akademiks (Bulgaria) 1
Here's how the second round games went:
Bizkorrak (Spain) 10, Angels 0
The game against the Spanish team was an early morning start and Angels did not get started. The Spanish were quick slap-hitters who put the ball in play and put the Angels under pressure from the first inning. The Spanish scored four runs in the first to put the Angels on the back foot and the British team couldn't string enough hits together to put Bizkorrak under any pressure.
Eagles (Switzerland) 3, Angels 0
The game against the Eagles was a much more even contest. But the Eagles had an American pitcher as their pick-up player who threw the ball hard and had an effective curve and change-up that led to many Angel strike outs.
Several Angels hit the ball hard, including Nadia Pavlova, Steph Pearce, Simone Zurschmitten and Maya Traykova, but none of these hits were able to score any runs.
Defensively, Angels were strong throughout the game, giving up only one run in the first inning and two in the second on good Eagles' hits.
Angels 3, Akademiks (Bulgaria) 1
Angels knew they had no shot at the Page Playoffs by this time, so the win meant nothing but pride. And with many Bulgarians who now live in London playing for Angels, this was a bit of a local derby.
Rachael Watkeys set an aggressive tone by opening the game with a hard-hit double up the middle, but Angels needed five innings to score their three runs. Long-standing Angel Joke van der Hulst threw an excellent game, holding the Bulgarian club scoreless until the sixth inning, when back-to-back hits brought in a run. Angels managed to stay tough with their defense, ensuring the win that gave them their sixth place finish.
Top Angel Hitters
Nadia Pavlova (.368)
Kylie Marshall (.278)
Steph Pearce (.278)
Rachael Watkeys (.263)
Final Standings
1 - Nika Dahl (Ukraine)
2 - Les Comanches (France)
3 - Bizkorrak (Spain)
4 - Akademiks (Bulgaria)
5 - Eagles (Switzerland)
6 - London Angels (GB)
7 - MSK Szostka (Poland)
8 - Ladonas (Greece)
9 - Barracudas (Denmark)
10 - Lisicke (Slovenia)
Summing Up
Hayley Scott writes:
This tournament marked the Angels' tenth season in European softball after the club's humble beginnings as United Nations Fastpitch 2001. This team is the backbone of women's club fastpitch in the UK and brings in many players from different countries.
The ethos is special: play hard, create great friendships, practice and learn, and promote softball. All the players I have ever had the pleasure of playing with and coaching with the Angels have always given 100% effort and been great role models for the GB youth team programmes, with a commitment and love for the game that is unique.
Many thanks to Chris Macleod and Becs Annan for keeping all this going and to the players for their training and efforts.
As GB Head Coach and a long-standing member of Angels, I am proud of their accomplishments this season and know that with continued effort and commitment this club will continue to be one of the cornerstones of the London Fastpitch Softball League and European club softball.
Anyone interested in joining the Angels should email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).