by Bob Fromer
Antwerp, Belgium: August 8 -- GB youth teams almost never do well in the opening game at European Championships.
This is partly because we are often putting a small number of overseas-based players together with the majority of GB-based players just before the tournament begins, and it takes time for the combination to gel. It's also because our players have less competition experience than most of their opponents, especially GB teams at younger age levels. And because of this, our players are often nervous and under-confident, not knowing how things will go but fearing the worst.
So it was just another typical first inning today in GB's opening game at the 2011 European Cadette (Under-16) Championships on the outskirts of Antwerp in Belgium when the Czechs scored seven runs in their first at-bat on six hits and two errors.
The only way is up
After that, the GB Team settled down, starter Ellie Pamenter pitched a scoreless second and third inning while striking out four (and six in total) and the final score when the game was called on time (not runs) at the end of the fourth inning was Czech Republic 9, GB 0.
The game was called early because about an hour of heavy rain during the morning had forced the first game of the day between Germany and the Netherlands to be abandoned and delayed the start of GB's game with the Czechs. The organisers are trying to make up time and so games are being played to six innings or 90 minutes, whichever comes first. More rain is forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, so things could get worse.
Searching for offense
While GB's pitching and defense improved markedly after the first inning, the offense never showed up. GB had no hits and only one baserunner (a walk to Amy Trask in the fourth inning) against two Czech pitchers who were good but certainly not unhittable. However, most of our younger players get so few at-bats against decent live pitching that it's no surprise when they struggle initially in competition
There is no doubt that GB's batting will improve during the week.
Group from hell
Eleven countries -- a record number for the European Cadette Championships -- are here in Antwerp. Originally, there were twelve and the tournament would have started with four groups of three. The GB Cadettes would have been in a group with Germany and Spain, with two teams advancing, and that might have been manageable.
But after one country dropped out, the organisers went to a format of two initial round-robin groups of six and five teams, and GB wound up in the five-team group from hell, along with the Czech Republic, Italy, Russia and France.
The other group, which has the Netherlands, Spain, Slovakia, Belgium, Germany and Serbia, is decidedly easier (apart, of course, from the Netherlands).
The reason GB wound up in such a strong group is technical and there's no point going into the details. The key is that Italy didn't compete when the tournament was last held in 2009 and has to re-enter with a low seeding position, despite their talent, and they will distort whichever group they wind up in.
Since there is a law of nature (something like Planck's Constant or the Second Law of Thermodynamics) that decrees that GB and Italy will be in the same group in every softball tournament they both enter, there was never any doubt that they would distort the group GB was in.
So it could be something of a rough week for a GB team that has a number of younger players who are one, two or more years from aging out of the Cadette category, which makes things even tougher when playing against teams consisting largely of 16-year-olds.
The best format?
Making matters even worse in terms of GB having any chance to advance in this tournament is the decision of the ESF -- a decision they are unwilling to reconsider, even for the future -- that only two teams from each group will go forward to the trophy playoffs. This means that those top four teams will play each other in the second round just to establish a ranking, then play each other all over again in the Page Playoff, while the remaining seven teams spend most of the week just playing for places.
Traditionally, the ESF sent three teams forward from two first round groups, and the second round was used to determine which four of six teams would go to the Page Playoffs. It certainly meant that more teams had more meaningful games. It's hard to think that the new format is an improvement, or provides much motivation for teams that have spent a lot of time and money to get here.
Coming up
Tomorrow, GB will play Italy, and then, on Wednesday, France and Russia.
After that, unless GB has made it into the top two in their group, they will spend the last half of the week playing the teams that finished 3-6 in the other group.
Personnel
The 2011 GB Cadette Team consists of:
Players
Grace Dickinson
Maisie Dowd
Lucy Hall
Amie Hutchinson
Fran Meakin
Ellie Pamenter
Chelsie Robison
Gabriella Sassoli
Holly Strachan
Imogen Thomas
Amy Trask
Chloe Wigington
Sian Wigington
Staff
Sarah Jones (Head Coach)
Joss Thompson
Jeremy Thomas
Vicky Hall (Team Manager)