On the 1 July the Under 23 Men's European Championships hosted at Snails softball kicked off in Kunovice, Czechia. The grounds here whilst small are immaculately kept by a crew of local volunteers associated to the club and the local community have been nothing but welcoming.
It is also worth mentioning that the tournament had to be adjusted last minute from featuring 5 team to 4 with the withdrawal of Israel.
Day 1
Game day one was predicted to be a challenging start with games against two experienced teams in Denmark and Czechia back to back.
That prediction came true in game one with a dominate pitching display by Victor Elsner who recorded 11 strike outs against 15 plate appearances by GB. Spectators commented that GB seemed quiet in this first game which is out of character for what is often known as one of the more vocal dugouts in past years. Maybe a sign of nerves of what is the youngest team on average at the tournament. The game ended 11-1 to the Danes.
That youth was on display in the next game against Czechia where a quarter of the team were under 18, one being starting pitcher Nathan Wyborn (16), and the remainder of the team having been part of the u18 GB squad who competed at the European Championships only two years previously. This was a clear strategy by head coach Richard Brown who is looking develop the youth for future tournaments. Certainly the team did not dissapoint and specifically Nathan Wyborn who had a personal best performance striking out three of the Czech line up topping out at 62mph. One for the future indeed.
Ultimately Czechia walked away 11-0 winners.
Day 2
Day 2 GB were scheduled to face the Belgians but started under a cloud. Experienced pitcher Bryn Davies fell ill leaving a a selection headache for coach Brown and his team. Not wanting to show the Belgians (likely the team GB will see in the 3 vs 4 placing game on Saturday) number one pitcher, Matt Eder, the only recognised pitcher to call on was Nathan Wyborn.
The game started positively with GB leading off the top of the inning with a smart hit to right field by Kyle Johnson followed by a homerun to deep centre left field by Danny Casey-Wright. (Sidebar, Cassey-Wright has now homered in u18s, u23s and Mens European Championships. I don't know if that is a record but it is a pretty cool stat!)
Unfortunately that good start was to be challenged by some good hitting by the Belgian team but also the inexperience and lack of depth of pitching staff held by GB. It is fair to say the signs of fatigue on the back of an exceptional performance by Wyborn the previous night were seen as he walked 10 and hit two of the batters he faced. Kyle Johnson relieved Nathan to see out the game which ended 17-2 Belgium.
Speaking to coach Brown after the defeat, whilst a less than ideal scoreline he was clear there were positives to build on. Take away the score and focus on the other stats, the GB boys were holding their own with the Belgian bats, 4 hits to their 5, and both teams committing one error each. It is not a difficult argument to make that with a full pitching staff available the outcome would have looked very different.
Day 3
Game day three threw up rematches with the Danes and Czechs. Unfortunately, Bryn Davies was still unwell. Matt Eder was named as starting pitcher and showed his ability drawing a quick first out with a line drive to left field which was well collected by Will Adams. A strike out followed and but for a ball just getting under shortstop Slane Maguire's glove, the inning would have ended scoreless but two runs scored.
The Danes elected to throw their number one pitcher William Melin who is an imposing figure on the mound throwing a range of rise, drop, curve and the occasional change up. The first three all sitting in the high 60s mph. This proved to be a challenge with four of the first six batters being struck out by Melin with only Slane Maguire getting on base with a hard hit to shortstop who could not collect the ball.
The Danish bats opened up in the second inning and after William Shaufuss homered to deep centre right to make it 9-0, GB decided to rest Eder brining in Wyborn for his third outting in as many days. A great start by the youngster getting the first batter to ground out to third and striking out the next to end the inning.
Defensively the third was much better for GB only letting the one run and ending the inning through a great backhand catch by Cassie-Wright at 1st.
GB could be excused in starting to feel down with score now at 10-0 but that just isn't this team and in the third the players started to relax and let the bats do the work. Will Adams led off with a chopper down the third base line for a single followed by a blooped double into right field by Luis Arrevillagas which scored Adams. Then up stepped Slane Maguire who promptly sent a deep drive to centre right for a no doubtabout it homerun. The inning ended 10-3.
The fourth inning was scoreless for both teams but in the fifth tiredness won and Wyborn's accuracy called for a pitching change with Kyle Johnson coming in. The Danes scored eight runs in the fifth and with GB only able to add one more the game concluded 18-4.
Everyone knew facing the Czech team later that day was going to be a tall order. This was made even more difficult with the Czech number 1 pitcher Matyas Zelinka starting the game. It was quite a pitching display by Zelinka who threw a range of pitches topping out at 79 mph to Luca Taylor.
GB, still struggling with pitchers wisely choose to use position players and save Matt and Nathan for the final two games of the tournament and hope that Bryn would be well enough to play some part. The game ended 17-0.
