By Bob Fromer
Wednesday 12 July -- Another day and another fantastic 2-0 win by the GB Senior Women’s Team, this time over World #3 Chinese 
Taipei, has got GB off to a dream start at the WBSC Women’s World Cup Group A tournament in Balbriggan, Ireland.
This game was completely different from GB’s 2-0 win on Tuesday against Australia, when Australia had only three hits and very few baserunners against an increasingly dominant performance from GB pitcher Georgina Corrick.
Today, Chinese Taipei, a predominantly left-handed team that likes to bunt and run, had seven hits and had runners on base in every inning except the bottom of the seventh, when Georgina Corrick set them down in order for the only time in the game.
After throwing 135 pitches against Australia, Georgina threw another 111 today, and had 10 strikeouts. But she had to fight her way out of major threats by Chinese Taipei in four of the seven innings, with the help of some outstanding plays by the GB defense.
Oh – and GB’s two runs? They came in the top of the fourth inning when centre fielder Kendyl Scott drew a walk, and Georgina Corrick blasted a long two-run home run against the wind and over the centre field fence off Taipei starting pitcher An-Ju Chiu, who was immediately removed from the game.
GB managed only three hits against Chiu and Ya-Ting Tu, who pitched the rest of the way, and their only other real threat came in the top of the second inning when Alana Snow walked and Amy Moore reached on an error with one out.
But as it was against Australia, two runs was enough. In two consecutive days in Balbriggan, the GB Women’s Team has beaten two countries ranked in the world’s top 10, and virtually assured themselves a place in the Page Playoff on Saturday.
What’s more, GB now has a real chance of finishing in the top two places in the round-robin phase of the tournament, which has real significance, because for the teams in first and second place, the Page Playoff is double-elimination.
Pitching and defense
GB managed to hang on in the face of constant pressure from the Chinese Taipei offense with that time-honoured combination of pitching and defense. Georgina Corrick stepped up her game when she had to, and got tougher as the game went on, just as she had against Australia.
And three outstanding plays by the defense helped keep Taipei off the board.
In the bottom of the first inning, Taipei led off with a bunt single by Yi-Ting Yang and then GB got a break when the next batter, Feng-Chen Lin, lined a double to right centre field. The ball took one hop over the fence, which meant it was a ground rule double and Yang, who would otherwise have scored, had to stop at third.
Georgina Corrick then struck out Taipei’s #3 and #4 hitters and got Chia-Hui Ko to bounce out to third base.
Back came Taipei in the bottom of the second inning and loaded the bases with one out on a single, a walk and an error. But Georgina struck out lead-off hitter Yi-Ting Yang and then left fielder Tia Warsop made a fantastic sliding catch just off the turf on a pop fly ball that looked like it might fall between Tia and shortstop Sydney Brown.
In the bottom of the third inning, a good throw by catcher Amy Moore and a fantastic catch and swipe tag by shortstop Sydney Brown on an attempted steal of second base nipped a Taipei threat in the bud.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, with a Taipei runner on first and one out, Morgan Salmon at third had the reflexes to snare a hard-hit line drive and throw back to first for the double play.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, after the first two Taipei batters singled, Georgina Corrick struck out the next three, and in the bottom of the sixth inning, after a one-out single by Hsuan Liu, Georgina struck out the next two.
The pressure put on by the Taipei offense throughout the game was relentless, but GB found a way out of it every time.
What it means
The GB Women have opened this tournament against two of the world’s top teams and beaten them both. Georgina Corrick’s pitching has been the key, but a young GB team has played mature and composed softball under pressure, and the wins have been thoroughly deserved.
GB will now get a bit of a rest, with their next game, against Ireland, scheduled for 6.30 pm on Thursday. Ireland got their tournament off to a good start on Tuesday with an expected 7-0 win over Botswana, but are facing both Australia and Chinese Taipei today.
On Friday, GB will play Botswana and the USA back to back, but their performances over these past two days means they can approach the rest of the week with confidence.