By Duncan Waugh

All photos: WBSC/Aneta Šimůnková

The Co-Ed Slowpitch European Championship Final was a storybook matchup on paper, which more than delivered in reality. Defending back-to-back champions an undefeated top-seed Great Britain squared off against the tournament hosts Czechia in front of a packed crowd of local and international supporters.

A Steady Start

This was the first time the Czechs had made it to a gold medal game in the competition’s history, who earned their way with a 6-2 record by playing with an abundance of confidence, discipline and camaraderie all week. Meanwhile, GB ran the table in convincing fashion despite being well tested by the Czechs in a 19-12 victory in the last game of the round-robin. This meant GB would need to defeat them twice in a row - never an easy feat, especially when playing in front of a very pro-Czech crowd.

The 1st inning started with some excellent pitching and defence from both teams, with all scoring coming via home runs from Jakub (Kuba) Prochazka (2 RBI’s) and Mike MacDowell (1 RBI). MacDowell also robbed extra bases from Andrea Hanakova with an outstanding diving catch for the second out in the top of the 1st.

The cagey start continued for both teams in the 2nd as the Czechs only got one person on base - Kristyna Bajerova grounded out to the pitcher Roger Grooms, Karolina Hanakova flew out to MacDowell in right-centre field and Tomas Mertlik struck out looking.  Despite the scoreless inning from Czechia, GB couldn’t muster more than one run as GB co-captain Steve Hazard drew a walk and eventually came around to score off a Roger Grooms single up the middle.

The scoring finally started to open up in the 3rd, with the gritty Czechs scoring 4 runs (all on two outs) from a rally started by Helena Novotna who smoked a ground-rule double to centre field, followed by Kuba hitting a ground-rule double of his own to left. From there, they took advantage of a couple of errors and scored two more to take a 4-run lead. GB came back with a solid response, scoring 3 runs on a two-run dinger from MacDowell (his second of the game) and a solo shot from Steve Hazard. This made the score 6-5 to the Czechs going into the 2nd half of the game.

Czech Comeback

With the game hanging in the balance, the Czechs exploded with an offensive barrage that amounted to 10 runs, totally shifting the momentum and control of the game squarely to their side. This rally forced Roger Grooms out of the game without recording an out in the 4th inning, capped by a huge home run from Czechia’s SS Michal Filip.  This brought Joe Grantham into the game as the new pitcher, who struck out Kristyna Bajerova initially but then gave up 5 hits to the bottom of the Czech lineup, making the scoreline 16-5 with 1 out.  Grantham then managed to get Novotna to fly out to centre field and Andrea Hanakova to ground out to Tom Russell at second base to mercifully end the inning.

GB’s response in the bottom of the fourth could not match the Czech’s explosive top half of the inning, but managed to score 3 runs starting with a walk from GB co-captain Chelsie Robison, followed by a footwork error by Filip at 2nd base on a potential double-play ball hit to 1B Vendula Hanakova. This brought in PH/LF Chris Yoxall who drew a clutch walk to score Robison from second base. With one out, 3B Crista Reed-Thomas then drew a walk to load the bases bringing up Mike MacDowell, who hit a deep two-run single off the fence for 2 more RBI’s. However the inning would end on the next at-bat when C Kim Miller hit a hard liner caught by P Tomas Mertlik, then proceeded to double off Reed-Thomas at second base in a close (and contested) call.

GB Rally

This made the score 16-8 going into the 5th inning. With their backs against the wall this is when GB finally responded in resounding fashion. It started with the gloves by getting a 1-2-3 inning by way of a fly out to Chris Yoxall in LF, a groundout to Hazard at SS, and perhaps the play of the game by Zoe Le Roux in RF stealing a home run from Lukas Pavlak by making an over-the-fence catch to end the inning (which needs to be seen to be believed). This shifted the momentum back in GB’s favour who put 6 runs up by batting through the lineup. 1B Kirstie Leach started the rally with a single up the middle, followed by an opposite-field single from PH Josh Smith. Chelsie Robison followed up with a single to left field, loading the bases for Joe Grantham who also ripped a single to LF for two runs.  Zoe Le Roux, fresh off her inning-ending catch, followed up with an RBI single putting runners on second and third off of a fielding error in the outfield. This brought up Chris Yoxall, who proceeded to send the first pitch over the centre field fence for a 3-run dinger, and just like that the game was within 2 runs. After a single from Reed-Thomas, this would be the end of Tomas Mertlik’s day on the mound, relieved by Lukas Zaruba who would get the final two outs by a dropped ball fielder’s choice in LF and then striking out PH Katie Jessop.

Once again - it was anyone’s ball game. GB had managed to close the 11-run deficit with 2 innings left to play.

Unfortunately for the Czechs, they struggled to get anything going in the top of the 6th. Karolina Hanakova hit a weak ground ball to 2B Josh Smith (who stayed in the game for Tom Russell) for the first out. P Lukas Zaruba then drew a walk in his first plate appearance of the day, however this amounted to nothing as Vendula Hanakova grounded out to Joe Grantham for out #2 followed by leadoff batter Petr Preclik flying out to deep right-centre field to MacDowell for the third out.

This brought about the deciding bottom of the 6th inning, where GB Head Coach brought his players together for a team huddle, no doubt focusing their intent. At this point - GB’s bats caught fire at the perfect time, putting up a 9-spot on the scoreboard. Steve Hazard led off with a double to centre field, followed by a pop out to SS by C Rebekah Kay (who stayed in the game for Kirstie Leach). Josh Smith was next up with an RBI single to centre field, followed by Chelsie Robison with a single of her own. This brought Joe Grantham to the plate with two runners on, who hit a sharp grounder to SS which was fumbled by Filip making everyone safe. However Filip was slow to gather the ball and didn’t pay attention to Smith on 3B, who sprinted home on a heads-up play to score the tying run, making the score 16-16.

Zoe Le Roux would then follow up with a fly out to left centre field for the 2nd out, bringing up Chris Yoxall once again who proceeded to destroy a clutch 3-run home run over the centre field fence (just about the same location as his first bomb). Crista Reed-Thomas then followed up with a bloop single to left field just out of reach of the diving Helena Novotna. This brought Mike MacDowell to the plate who then cranked his 3rd homer of the day - a two-run shot that made the score 21-16 to GB

This would take Lukas Zuraba out of the game, putting Czechia’s slugger Kuba Prochazka in as their third pitcher to close out the game. His first batter would be Katie Jessop, who hit the ball near the 1st base line just out of reach of the right fielder for a single.  Steve Hazard would be next, who would hit the 2-1 pitch just fair down the left field line and into the trees for his second home run of the game. This would round out the scoring in the inning, despite a nice single from Rebekah Kay, giving GB a 7-run lead going into the last inning.

With the score 23-16, the Czechs would be sending the top of their lineup to the plate with Helena Novotna leading off. Unfortunately Novotna got under the first pitch and popped it up to Hazard at SS for the first out. Kuba Prochazka was next up, who drilled a solo homer to close the gap to 23-17 (ultimately making him the tournament home run leader). Andrea Hanakova would hit next with bases empty, who grounded the ball to SS but Hazard uncharacteristically threw the ball into the Czech dugout, putting her on 2B. SS Michal Filip then followed up with a single putting runners on 1st and 3rd. This brought up Kristyna Bajerova who hit a sacrifice fly to Le Roux in right field to reduce GB’s lead to 5 runs.

With the Czechs down to their last out, Lukas Pavlak stepped in to keep the inning alive, but one flyball to Mike MacDowell in centre right field later and GB had retained their crown as champions of Europe in one of the best finals this competition has seen in years!  This marks the third straight victory for GB and the 13th time they have had the title of European Champions.

Debutante Head Coach Dan Spinks had the following to say about the final:

“What an occasion, and a fitting end to the week for a team that rose to the occasion game after game and left it all on the field in the final! The Czechia crowd were in fine voice and supported their team to the very end superbly well. We knew they would be coming for us, the target on our backs never shrinks and it showed having to come back from 16-8 runs down at the top of the 5th inning.

It’s much easier playing the game with a lead, but when you need to come back into a game, especially a European final you need to find that extra special something. That shows what a team is made of! Every player in this team has that. The 4th inning required a pitching change and the 5th inning required some further fielding changes. GB are blessed with great pitchers who have superb control and we forced the same of our opponents to show what they had.

The intention was to create a spark in the line up to generate some runs and gain some momentum putting further pressure on their pitching rotation. That coupled with our exceptional plate discipline seemingly led to a relentless roar from the GB dugout and our travelling supporters right until the end of the game, hit after hit after hit.

This tournament means a lot to the GB program and the Slowpitch community in the UK. I have no doubt that this trophy will not be given up without a fight. I’m so incredibly proud of our team staff and the fantastic group of talented, focused and committed big game players who drive the game of Slowpitch forward week after week in the UK. They have made memories that will last a lifetime, forged new friendships and the game of Slowpitch is better for it!

This is one proud coach, an amazing job by everyone involved in our journey and happy to say that GB have once more been crowned the Coed European Slowpitch Champions of 2024!”

 

GB will look to defend their title as hosts of the 2026 European Championships at the spiritual home of slowpitch in Europe, Farnham Park.