By Donald Morris-Vincent
Thursday 14 July – In the easiest day so far for Great Britain at the European Co-ed Slowpitch Championship in Ljubljana, Slovenia,at least on the field, two run-away 
mercy rule wins on Thursday over Serbia and Belgium moved GB ever-nearer to Saturday’s gold medal game and World Cup qualification.
GB ran up a 27-0 four-inning win over Serbia in their morning game – a rare shutout in slowpitch softball – and then disposed of Belgium by 26-7 in five innings in the afternoon.
However, today’s performances by Great Britain stands as a testament to their skill and concentration in the face of sobering news. John Lehmann, a stalwart of British Softball for many years and a staff member on many GB Co-ed Slowpitch Teams, was hospitalised on Wednesday night after a severe heart attack.
Coach David Lee said, “All the staff and players were greatly affected and only superhuman concentration and dedication to the task in hand took us through to the desired results against Serbia and one of the best Belgian sides to grace this competition. I am immensely proud of the entire squad and softball community at large today, a timely reminder that none of us is immune. Best wishes to John and family from his larger family.”
Surprise result
The surprise result of the day, however, was a 9-8 victory by the Netherlands over previously unbeaten Germany, leaving the round-robin standings at the end of play on Thursday looking like this:
Germany (5-1)
GB (5-1)
Czech Republic (5-1)
Netherlands (4-2)
Slovenia (3-3)
Ireland (3-3)
Belgium (1-5)
Austria (1-5)
Serbia (0-6)
Assuming GB can take care of business on Friday in games against Ireland at 1.00 pm local time (noon in the UK) and Slovenia at 7.00 pm – and those games are by no means a given -- then tomorrow’s game between Germany and the Czech Republic at 3.00 pm local time will determine who will play GB in the gold medal game on Saturday.
Whichever two teams contest the gold medal game will already be sure of places in the 2023 WBSC Slowpitch World Cup, and they will be joined by the team that wins the bronze medal game.
GB v Serbia
In a performance of great efficiency, Great Britain rolled over Serbia in the space of three-and-a-half innings and continued their pursuit of a 12th gold medal in this competition.
There were two singles and a fly out in the top of the first inning for Serbia that was only notable for the double play that the GB defense turned on a dropped infield fly ball.
In the bottom of the inning, an inside-the-park home run from Joe Grantham plus a progression of doubles and singles and a couple of Serbian throwing errors netted 13 runs for the British.
Four-up and three-down by Serbia against pitcher Joe Grantham brought GB back to the plate and ready to score more in the bottom of the second inning -- and they did not disappoint. A frozen rope two-RBI double up the middle by Jenny Ball and inside-the-park home runs from Mike MacDowell and Joe Grantham were the key hits as GB added eight runs to their total, bringing the score to 21-0.
Joe Grantham looked in total control in the top of the third inning as Serbia went three-up, three down.
In the bottom of the inning, Mike MacDowell hit a three-run home run to left field and Joe Grantham hit another inside-the-park home run as GB added six more runs.
Four-up and three-down for Serbia in the top of the fourth inning, with no runner crossing the plate, ended the game.
Final score: GB 27, Serbia 0.
Mike MacDowell went 4-for-4 with two home runs and seven RBIs, Joe Grantham was 3-for-4 – all home runs – with five RBIs, and Tash Humphris and Kat Golik chipped in three hits each.
GB v Belgium
In typical fashion, GB used an early rush of runs to set a firm base for control of this game and then left it until the later innings to ice the cake with more.
This was a game in which both teams scored in every one of the five innings played, but in most innings, GB just scored a whole lot more.
Starting as they surely meant to go on, GB put up nine runs in the top of the first inning on the back of inside-the-park home runs by Dan Spinks, Duncan Waugh and Robbie Studholme, plus five singles, a double and a walk. Both Robbie Studholme and Jenny Ball had two hits in the inning.
One run for Belgium in the bottom of the first left the score GB 9, Belgium 1.
GB only managed one run in the top of the second inning when Megan Beard singled to bring home Chris Yoxall, and they also allowed the Belgians to answer that run in the bottom of the second with two errors before pitcher Dan Spinks closed out the frame. GB 10, Belgium 2.
The third inning was another one of tit-for-tat between the two teams. Jenny Ball’s inside-the-park home run to left field brought two in for GB, but not to be outdone, Stijn Tangle also hit a one-out two-RBI inside-the-park home run for Belgium. Steve Hazard ended the inning with two 6-3 ground out throws to Amy Rice. GB led by 12-4.
Now it was time for further GB insurance. Singles from Megan Beard and Dan Spinks in the top of the fourth inning were converted to runs by Amy Rice’s double to centre field followed by inside-the-park home runs from Duncan Waugh, Jenny Ball and Steve Hazard to bring in five runs. Chiya Louie then tripled and scored on Mike MacDowell’s sacrifice fly. Eight runs had crossed the plate.
Belgium had a string of singles in the bottom of the fourth inning, but only one runner scored while three were left on base. The score was now stretched to GB 20, Belgium 5.
Which brought up the top of the fifth inning and a final six runs for GB.
Josh Smith hit a two-out inside-the-park home run to score two runs, Megan Beard singled to score Mike MacDowell and Chelsie Robison, and Dan Spinks brought himself and Megan home on a hit and a throwing error.
The Belgians kept trying and scored two in reply, but it wasn’t enough to stave off the mercy rule.
Final score: GB 26, Belgium 7.
Scores
Scores from Day 3 of the European Co-ed Slowpitch Championship were:
Czech Republic 13, Belgium 12
Germany 15, Slovenia 7 (6 inns)
GB 27, Serbia 0 (4 inns)
Netherlands 9, Germany 8
Czech Republic 14, Ireland 9 (6 inns)
Netherlands 13, Slovenia 7
Austria 29, Serbia 16 (5 inns)
GB 26, Belgium 7 (5 inns)
Ireland 14, Austria 10 (6 inns)