A European Men's Slowpitch Team took part for the first time in the annual Border Battle Tournament, played from from July 24-26 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, an annual pinnacle event for men's slowpitch that climaxes with a US v Canada showdown.
The European team, made up of players from five countries, but with half the players coming from Britain, didn't win a game against the world's top professional slowpitch players, but earned a lot of respect.
On 16 July this website carried a story previewing the tournament and on 27 July we ran a story on Team Europe's first two games of the tournament, written by GB Slowpitch Team and Team Europe Head Coach Steve Patterson – who unfortunately wasn't able to attend the Border Battle because of injury, but followed events closely.
Below are reports from Steve Patterson on the last two days of the tournament and its significance for the players who took part and for European softball.
Day Two
Europe v Canada Select
Team Europe Slowpitch was again given the honour of opening play on Day 2 of the Border Battle Tournament on Friday 25 July. Their foe on this occasion was Canada Select. Both teams were coming off convincing losses to Team USA on Day 1, and so both teams had something to prove. For the Europeans, the goal was to continue to gain respect – and create more run production.
The Canada Select team got on the board early and extended their lead in the early innings to 14-0. On the flip side, Team Europe Slowpitch were putting good swings on the ball, only to be met with great glove work. Four of their first six outs would have been worthy of an ESPN "web gem" nomination. In a tournament filled with offense, it was the defense that frustrated our hitters.
Signs of a Europe resurgence were seen in the third inning, when a series of hits from the bottom of the order kick-started some offensive enthusiasm. Ziga Bauer scored on a Luis Arrevillagas single, and this was followed by disciplined at-bats from Brian Connolly, Glennsig Polonius, Eric Kelly and Randy Reiph. The Europeans had plated four runs by the end of the frame.
However, the Canadians added six more runs in the fourth inning and Europe could only reply with one, via a long double off the heightened mesh wall by Eric Kelly and a line drive single by Brett Gibbens.
There were more positives for Team Europe Slowpitch in the fifth inning. Dan Spinks's pitching held the opposition scoreless and Dan got himself on with a single and scored on a double by Luis Arrevillagas. Wolfgang Walther then jabbed a single through the middle and this was followed by an RBI hit from Eric Kelly.
But the Canada Select Team threw up more runs up to finally tip the scales in their favour, and the final score was 25-9.
Europe v Team Canada
In their second game of the day, Team Europe Slowpitch got runners on base in each of the first three innings but were unable to score against Team Canada. Legitimate chances were posed in the second and third innings, but were coolly dealt with by double plays.
In the meantime, Team Canada efficiently built up a handsome lead, with the commentators hinting at a shutout.
The Europeans dug in their heels in to put a stop to that sort of talk. When Luis Arrevillagas crossed the plate for the first European run, polite applause came from the healthy crowd. But RBI singles followed from Dan Spinks, Steve Hazard and Chris Yoxall and then a sacrifice fly by Glennsig Polonius. The fightback was on as six Europeans crossed the plate, capped off with a two-out RBI double from Germany's Wolfgang Walther.
Unfortunately, however, this was a game of missed opportunities for Europe, with the early double plays thwarting any momentum and frustrating the European hitters. Once again, with their backs to the wall, the Europeans showed great heart and delivered a minor barrage of runs, preventing the game from ending on the 15-run rule.
Team Canada got there in the end, though, and the final score was 21-6.
In between the day's games, a number of Team USA players generously offered a clinic to the Team Europe Slowpitch players on one of the practice diamonds, and a range of topics was covered in this mini-session.
Day Three
Team Europe Slowpitch completed their series of exhibition games on the afternoon of Saturday 26 July against the powerful tournament sponsor's team, the Home Run Sports All-Stars.
Going into the game, Home Run Sports were coming off a strong performance against Canada Select while the Europeans were looking to put one final marker on their week's efforts.
It didn't necessarily work out the way the Europeans would have liked, however, as Home Run Sports came out of the blocks early, establishing a significant lead, and the European bats never got going. A RBI ground-rule double by Luis Arrevillagas that lodged in the fence was the highlight offensively, and there was a late sacrifice fly by Irishman Eoin O'Connor. The game ended 19-2.
Reflections
It's been clear on this history-making trip that Team Europe Slowpitch made an impression on everyone involved, promoting European softball and building a healthy rapport with all involved in the tournament.
The results of the games may appear unfavourable on the surface, but in each game Team Europe showed courage and determination to compete against the best professional slowpitch players in the world. In doing so, they earned respect from their opponents, the media, and the organisers. They were strong ambassadors for the game and represented Europe with class. This is a team we should be very proud of.
Team Slowpitch Europe
The squad that represented Europe at the Border Battle was:
Luis Arrevillagas (GB)
Steve Ashton (GB)
Ziga Bauer (Slovenia)
Brian Connolly (Ireland)
Eoin O'Connor (Ireland)
Glennsig Polonius (Netherlands)
Brett Gibbens (GB)
Steve Hazard (GB)
Eric Kelly (Ireland)
Michael Lee (GB)
Randy Reiph (Netherlands)
Dan Spinks (GB)
Wolfgang Walther (Germany)
Chris Yoxall (GB)