Great Britain Juniors Find the Step Up to the A-Pool Plate
a Little Tough to Handle
Reigning Champions of the European Junior Baseball B-Pool,
Great Britain have some work to do before they can match their
opponents at the top level, the A-Pool. Competing in the European
Junior Baseball Championships A-Pool in Pamplona, Spain, in
the last week of July, GB finished in the cellar, without
a win to its name. This will surely have been a disappointment
to the players and staff who orchestrated a fantastic campaign
last summer in the B-Pool, the winning of which promoted our
country to the top group of European teams for the 2005 Championships.
However, as detailed below, the losing results hid some fine
and competitive play by team GB.
Tom Gillespie, BaseballSoftballUK’s Director of Game
Development for Baseball, reports on the group games from
Group 2.
25 July
Czech Republic 11, Great Britain 1
Kyle Waddell threw 7 2/3 dominant innings versus the Czech
Republic, but the GB defense struggled behind him. Kyle didn't
walk anyone while striking out seven. He scattered seven hits;
the only ones for extra bases were a pair of harmless two-out
doubles in the second and fifth which were followed by strikeouts.
George Hollands led off the game with a solo home run to centre
field, but it proved to be Great Britain's only run of the
game. Hollands finished 2-4. Michael Johnson also had two
hits with a walk, and Chris Kumeta tallied the only other
base hit on the day. The Czechs tacked on six runs in the
ninth to make the final score much more disparate than the
game showed.
26 July
France 9, Great Britain 5
The Great Britain Juniors lead 5-2 against France through
six innings, but the bullpen and defence couldn't hold on
as France rallied for four runs in the seventh and three more
in the eighth to win 9-5. For the second consecutive day,
GB had strong starting pitching. Michael Johnson battled through
wildness in the first two innings before leaving in the seventh
with six strikeouts and having allowed seven hits. He also
had two hits at the plate, joining Michael Clarke and Tom
Bray with this achievement. GB had numerous opportunities
to score, as French pitchers hit five batters, but the clutch
hits only came in the sixth, when Michael Clarke knocked in
a run and Tom Bray followed with a double over the centrefielders
head. Kyle Waddell reached base three times, and Will Fusi-Rubiano
hit safely.
28 July
Germany 13, Great Britain 5
Great Britain jumped out of the gates, scoring three runs
in the top of the first, with the first five batters all driving
the ball hard to left field. Unfortunately in the bottom of
the same inning, starting pitcher Jeff Mottl developed a blister
on his throwing index finger and he struggled to get the ball
down in the strike zone. Germany responded with six runs of
their own. Richard Chesterton entered in relief and kept GB
within striking distance and Damien Goodall followed with
three innings of scoreless relief, although their bats never
truly heated up again. To add insult to injury, Tom Hollies
was struck by a pitch for the second consecutive game and
called out on strikes for it. Kyle Waddell knocked in two
runs with his first inning single. Tom Bray was the only GB
player to have multiple hits.
29 July
Italy 12, Great Britain 5
Great Britain had the eventual tournament runners-up on the
ropes for most of the game, but again poor defence and a shortage
of pitching cost GB as the game wore on. Gary Davison gave
a clutch performance on the mound, allowing two unearned runs
in the first inning and two more in the fifth. Gary allowed
only two hits in his five innings of work while striking out
three and walking five. GB trailed by only one after seven
innings. Tom Hollies again exemplified team-first while being
hit by another three pitches to get on base for the squad,
eventually scoring twice. Michael Johnson hit a towering home
run in the first to give GB the lead. Kyle Waddell, Will Fusi-Rubiano,
and Tom Bray found their way on base twice each. George Hollands
returned from injury to lead the sixth inning rally, but it
proved to come up just short.
Finishing bottom of a five-team group, GB missed out on a
position playoff as there were only four teams in Group 1.
In the semi-finals, Group 2 winners, Italy, beat Group 1 runners-up,
Spain and Group 1 winner, the Netherlands, defeated the Czech
Republic from GB’s group. The Netherlands ran out European
Junior Champions by beating Italy 6-5.
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