Following hard on the heels of the GB Junior Men's Fastpitch Team competing in European Championships this summer for the first time since 2004, a Richings Park Men's Fastpitch Team travelled to Prague in the Czech Republic to compete in the European Cup-Winners Cup for Men from August 22-27. The team won two games and came last out of seven teams in the standings, but it was another big step for men's fastpitch in the UK. Team captain and organiser Stan Doney tells the tale:
August 22
HSV Spikes (Netherland) 8, Richings Park 0
The first game turned out to be against the eventual champions, HSV Spikes from the Netherlands, and it only lasted five innings as the mercy rule was applied. Ryan Martin and Geoff Clayton managed one hit apiece as HSV pitcher Francisko Sabate (who eventually received the Best Pitcher award at the end of the tournament) shut down our batters. The three rookies on tour -- Ben Taylor, Joshua Peat and Travis Brown -- received a rude introduction to the world of men's fastpitch, as Sabate had both good speed and movement.
August 23
MASK Pezinok (Slovakia) 14, Richings Park 1
I told the players before this game that our opponents were about the same level as us and it should be a good game. How wrong could I be? Our batting improved, with seven hits from 24 at-bats, but six errors proved costly as MASK Pezinok were error-free. Darryl Herrmann went 2-for-3 with our first RBI.
August 24
Radotinsky SK (Czech Republic) 10, Richings Park 3
Joshua Peat, who batted .500 at the European Junior Men's Championship in July, finally got his first hit of the tournament with a little blooper over first base. We were only out-hit by seven to five but once again four errors to us and one to them proved the difference, despite Curt Taylor pitching five good innings. Five separate Richings Park batters had one hit each.
August 24
Stenlose Bulls (Denmark) 13, Richings Park 0
Stenlose have won these tournaments before and are one of the best sides in the competition, so I decided to pitch this game myself as, in reality, it was not a winnable game. After giving up six runs in four innings, I decided to give Joshua Peat his first taste of pitching against men as opposed to boys, and did he get a lesson! He managed one out (a strikeout) but found it hard to find the zone due to nerves so Ryan Martin came in to finish the game and did a good job. We could only manage one hit (by Darryl Herrmann) off Danish national team pitcher Kim Hansen.
August 25
Chicaboos's Stabroek (Belgium) 5, Richings Park 2
Even though this was a loss, it was our best game of the tournament. Chicaboo’s finished third and were not a bad team and we kept up with them the whole game. Errors didn't hurt us this time and though the bats weren’t firing, the team was improving and getting used to one another. Curt Taylor went 2-for-3 and pitched a very good game, racking up five strikeouts in the process.
August 25
Richings Park 12, Cavigal Nice (France) 6
Finally, a win! We almost had more hits in this game than in the five previous games combined. This time there were three errors each and we out-hit Cavigal 16 hits to 6. This was the first game I put our strongest line-up out on the field and the pitching from Cavigal was more of a B-grade standard so it was quite easy to hit. Curt Taylor went 3-for-5, Ryan Martin 4-for-5 and Wesley Knapp went 3-for-4.
August 26
Richings Park 7, MASK Pezinok (Slovakia) 3
When I told the team on Day 2 that we were the same level as the Slovakians, we then got spanked 14-1. That was three days ago. The strongest line-up went out again and we won because they made six errors and we made three. Darryl Herrmann and Geoff Clayton each went 2-for-4 and Curt Taylor pitched well again, striking out four.
August 27
Cavigal Nice (France) 9, Richings Park 6
Ryan Martin had to leave the tournament, so it was not possible to start the same line-up as the previous two games (both wins), and that was the difference as we lost 9-6. The funny thing about this game is that it had a fairytale ending in the making. Down by three runs in the final inning with two out, leadoff batter Curt Taylor got on, as did second hitter Tony Kelly and when I was hit by a pitch, we had the bases loaded for clean-up hitter Kenny Pregnell. Kenny is the best man for this role and everyone was waiting for the grand slam. But the TUSA balls being used at the tournament were terrible (the home run title went to a guy who hit two home runs) and Kenny popped up and it was game over.
Summing up
Overall, Richings Park finished at 2-6, not bad considering we had a lot of ageing veterans, three rookies and a player who has just came back from knee surgery.
Special mention must go to Tony Kelly, who is going back Stateside after playing over here since 1995, so best wishes to “Taz” and a big thank you for the years of contribution to fastpitch (and slowpitch) in this country.
The team was a “team” in every sense and the rookies did a great job transporting the team kit bag and serving their time in that role. The only downside for the rookies was their combined contribution of two hits from 31 at-bats, an average of .064! They know what it takes now to compete at this level and the number of hours of training required to get to the standard where they will be respected by their opponents.
There were many memorable moments as there always are with teams spending a week together on and off the field, but I just want to thank all 10 guys who made the effort to put men's fastpitch from the UK on the diamond again in Europe.
Final Standings
1 - HSV Spikes (Netherlands)
2 - Radotinsky SK (Czech Republic)
3 - Chicaboo's Stabroek (Belgium)
4 - Stenlose Bulls (Denmark)
5 - Cavigal Nice (France)
6 - MASK Pezinok (Slovakia)
7 - Richings Park (GB)
GB Pitching Stats (Earned Run Average)
Curt Taylor - 4.47
Ryan Martin - 6.56
Stan Doney - 7.00
Kenny Pregnell - 10.50
Joshua Peat - 99.00
GB Batting Stats (Batting Average)
Stan Doney - .538
Ryan Martin - .364
Darryl Herrmann - .350
Geoff Clayton - .350
Curt Taylor - .304
Kenny Pregnell - .250
Wesley Knapp - .238
Tony Kelly - .158
Ben Taylor - .071
Josh Peat - .059
Travis Brown - .000