Wednesday 23 August – Play began on Wednesday for The Mix in the European Women’s Cup in Zagreb, Croatia and continued for the Barbarians in the European Women’s Cup Winners Cup B in Moergestel in the Netherlands.
The Mix got off to a winning start in their European Cup tournament, coming from behind with four runs in the top of the seventh inning to defeat the Bulgarian team Angels Dupnitsa by 7-4 on Wednesday morning. In the afternoon, against the host team Princ Zagreb, The Mix scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning, five more in the bottom of the fourth, and rolled to a 9-0 win.
For the Barbarians, however, Challengers Zurich from Switzerland proved more than they could handle, and the British team went down to a three-inning 15-0 mercy rule defeat, dropping their record in the European Women’s Cup Winners Cup B round-robin to 1-3.
The Barbarians will probably need to win their last two round-robin games – against the Thunderbirds from Israel on Thursday and the Titans from Botswana on Friday – to gain a place in the bronze medal game on Saturday.
EUROPEAN WOMEN’S CUP
Apart from the pandemic year of 2020, when no competition was held, The Mix have played in the European Women’s Cup every year since 2018, reaching the final in 2019. This year, with only four teams competing, The Mix will feel that they have a real chance of winning the tournament and gaining promotion to the Women’s Premier Cup for 2024 -- and two wins on the tournament’s opening day was a good way to start.
The Mix 7, Angels Dupnitsa 4
In the opening game of the day and the tournament, The Mix took on the Bulgarian team Angels Dupnitsa and built up an early 3-0 lead, only to see the 
Bulgarians overtake them with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Suddenly, it was the top of the seventh inning, and The Mix had their backs to the wall, still trailing by 4-3.
But a four-run rally by The Mix turned the game around, and they held off an attempted Angels comeback in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the win.
Anna-Be Bartels pitched a complete game for The Mix, giving up six hits and three walks, but keeping the Angels off the scoreboard in every inning except the fourth, when a single, a walk, two errors and a double by Mariya Fetvova produced the four Bulgarian runs.
Anna-Be also had help from her defense, particularly centre fielder Alana Snow, who threw a Bulgarian runner out at home in the first inning and made a fine running catch on a fly ball in short right centre field to end the game in the bottom of the seventh.
The Mix took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Alana Snow walked, went to second on an illegal pitch and scored on a single by Jade Yerex. The lead became 3-0 in the top of the fourth inning after singles by Barbara Killer and Megan Beard, a Bulgarian error, and a double by Crista Reed-Thomas.
But then came the four Bulgarian runs in the bottom of the fourth, and Bulgarian pitcher Simona Yordanova, who also threw a complete game, preserved that 4-3 lead until the top of the seventh inning.
At that point, a walk to Crista Reed-Thomas, a single by Alana Snow and a Bulgarian error on Chelsie Robison’s bunt loaded the bases for The Mix with no one out. One run scored on a fielder’s choice, two more came in on a clutch double to centre field by Mary Murray, and a final run scored on an error, putting The Mix ahead by 7-4.
An error and a single put two runners on base for the Angels with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Nikol Yordanova grounded out to third and Simona Yordanova hit the ball that Alana Snow caught on the run in short right centre field to end the game.
The Mix 9, Princ Zagreb 0
Wednesday afternoon’s game against the host team Princ Zagreb was never in doubt for The Mix after they scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and watched pitcher Mary Murray give up only one hit to their Croatian opponents over the first four frames.
The Mix then scored five more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take the game into mercy rule territory as the Croatians’ defense began to fall apart.
Chimene Snijder set down the Croatians in the top of the fifth inning at the cost of a walk, and The Mix had a 9-0 win that puts them in first place in the round-round table at the end of the first day’s play.
After the Croatians went down in order in the top of the first inning, The Mix got their bats going quickly. Alana Snow led off with a walk against Zagreb pitcher Lara Kljucaric, and then Chelsie Robison tripled to left field, Jade Yerex singled up the middle, Megan Beard doubled, Mary Murray reached on an infield single, and Crista Reed-Thomas hit another double to left, which all added up to four runs.
The Croatians put two runners on base in the top of the second inning, but couldn’t score, and went down in order in the third and fourth innings. Meanwhile, it seemed only a matter of time before the The Mix added to their score, and that came in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Sian Wigington led off with a walk, went to third on a single by Alana Snow, then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Chelsie Robison. Then Croatian mistakes started to come in: a dropped fly ball in left field, a misplay at short, and a hit batter preceded singles by Emma Agostini and Crista Reed-Thomas. By the time the Croatians got the third out, The Mix led by 9-0, and the game was over a few minutes later when Princ Zagreb failed to score in the bottom of the fifth.
The Mix had nine hits to go with their nine runs, with two apiece for Alana Snow and Crista Reed-Thomas, and they will face Princ Zagreb again on Thursday morning before taking on the only team they haven’t yet seen, the Warsaw Diamonds, on Thursday afternoon.
Scores and standings
The four teams competing in the 2023 European Women’s Cup are playing a double round-robin from Wednesday through Friday, with the final round-robin standings determining which teams will play in the gold and bronze medal games on Saturday.
Scores on Wednesday were:
The Mix (Great Britain) 7, Angels Dupnitsa (Bulgaria) 4
Princ Zagreb (Croatia) 4, Warsaw Diamonds (Poland) 0
Angels Dupnitsa 8, Warsaw Diamonds 4
The Mix 9, Princ Zagreb 0
Standings after the first day of round-robin play are:
The Mix (2-0)
Princ Zagreb (1-1)
Angels Dupnitsa (1-1)
Warsaw Diamonds (0-2)
Looking ahead
On Thursday 24 August, The Mix will play a late morning game against Princ Zagreb, followed by an early afternoon game against the Warsaw Diamonds.
On Friday, when the double round-robin concludes, The Mix will play the Warsaw Diamonds and Angels Dupnitsa.
EUROPEAN WOMEN’S CUP WINNERS CUP B
Challengers Zurich 15, Barbarians 0
Zurich pitchers Rio Sanchez and Leandra Simitovic combined to throw a three-inning no-hitter against the Barbarians, while Swiss batters gathered 16 hits against Yuki Ono, who pitched the first inning for the Barbarians, and Cheyenne Vogel, who pitched the rest of the game.
The game was called with one out in the bottom of the third inning when a single to left centre field by Carmen Lutz-Demetz drove in Zurich’s 15th run.
The Swiss team took advantage of a number of errors by the Barbarians to supplement their batting attack in scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning, eight in the bottom of the second, and the final two runs that brought the mercy rule into play in the bottom of the third. Only 10 of those 15 runs were earned.
The only time the Barbarians mounted a threat was in the top of the third inning when Megan Longman’s leadoff bunt was mishandled for an error and Niamh Cogley-Rock was hit by a pitch. But the next three Barbarians grounded out to third or short, and their only scoring chance was gone.
The Barbarians’ final two round-robin games – against the Israeli team Thunderbirds on Thursday and the Titans from Botswana on Friday – will determine whether the British team’s first-ever foray in Europe can end with a medal game on Saturday.
Scores and standings
Seven teams are competing in the 2023 European Women’s Cup Winners Cup B, and they are playing a full round-robin over the course of the week to determine which teams will play in the bronze and gold medal games on Saturday.
Scores on Wednesday were:
Challengers Zurich 15, Barbarians 0
Crazy Chicklets 12, Medvenica Mrki Medvedi 1
Titans 5, Thunderbirds 1
SV Roef 3, Crazy Chicklets 0
Standings after Wednesday’s games are:
SV Roef (4-0)
Crazy Chicklets (3-1)
Challengers Zurich (2-1)
Titans (2-2)
Thunderbirds (1-2)
Barbarians (1-3)
Medvenica Mrki Medvedi (0-4)
Looking ahead
The Barbarians will play a single game on Thursday against the Thunderbirds from Israel and will finish the round-robin phase of the tournament with a game against the Titans from Botswana on Friday.
The top two teams in the round-robin standings after Friday will play the gold medal game on Saturday afternoon. The teams finishing third and fourth will play for the bronze medal and the teams finishing in fifth, sixth, and seventh place will play a round-robin on Saturday to determine final placings.