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| GB BASEBALL TEAM WINS EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP OPENER |
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7: A GB Baseball Team that has been carefully assembled with players from Britain and around the world, but has had little time to train or compete together, got off to the start that Head Coach Stephan Rapaglia will have hoped for last night as the European Baseball Championships opened in Barcelona.
Playing under the lights against a strong Spanish host team in the tournament's opening game, GB pounded out 16 hits off four Spanish pitchers, including back-to-back home runs by Brant Ust and Mike Nickeas in a four-run seventh inning, and held on to defeat Spain by a score of 12-8.
Spain, along with Holland and Italy, was favoured by many experts to be one of the strongest teams in the competition, and this was a huge win for a GB team that hopes to challenge for one of the top places.
Right-hander Brian Essery, who plays for St Catherines Metros in Canada, pitched into the sixth inning for Britain and threw four scoreless innings after surrendering a pair of runs in the top of the first. But after giving up a walk and a single to start the Spanish sixth, Brian was relieved by Stephen Spragg, who pitched into the eighth inning and recorded the win. Alex Smith, who quelled a Spanish rally in the eighth inning and pitched a scoreless ninth, picked up the save.
Britain's offense came mainly from the middle of the lineup, as rightfielder Aeden McQueary-Ennis went four-for-five, shortstop Brant Ust went four-for-five with five RBIs, catcher Mike Nickeas had two hits and a pair of RBIs and first baseman Ian Young had two hits and knocked in three runs.
At stake in this tournament is not only the European Championship itself, but qualification for World Championship places and one place in the Beijing Olympics next year.
Opening Jitters
Britain may have been nervous when the game opened and Spain would have been fired up playing in front of a passionate home crowd of over 2500 people at the Montjuic Stadium. So it was no surprise when Spain jumped out in front with two runs in the top of the first inning.
Leadoff hitter Daniel Figueroa walked, Daniel Martinez singled and the pair then pulled off a double steal to give Spain runners on second and third with no one out. But Brian Essery never let the inning get out of hand. Figueroa scored on a groundout and Martinez on a single by Ricardo Rodriguez, but that was all.
And GB came right back with a run in the bottom of the first to show that this was going to be a contest. With one out, Aeden McQueary-Ennis and Brant Ust singled to left and Mike Nickeas walked to load the bases. DH Mitch Evans struck out, but Ian Young was patient and drew a walk to force in a run.
Brian Essery then settled down and Spain managed only two hits over the next four innings. Meanwhile, GB took the lead with a three-run outburst in the third.
Aeden McQueary-Ennis opened the inning with his second hit, a single to left, but advanced all the way to third when the ball eluded Daniel Martinez in left field. Brant Ust then doubled to centre field, scoring McQueary-Ennis and Mike Nickeas followed with a double to left to score Ust. That was the end for Spanish starting pitcher Javier Civit, who was replaced by Eric Gonzalez. But it wasn't the end of the scoring for GB as Mike Nickeas advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Ian Young's single to centre. Suddenly, GB had a 4-2 lead and the momentum of the game had changed.
Runs Start to Flow
Neither team scored in the fourth or fifth innings, but Spain fought back to tie the game in the top of the sixth as Brian Essery tired. Daniel Friere walked to open the inning and when Ricardo Rodriguez singled to left, that was enough to bring Head Coach Stephan Rapaglia to the mound and Stephen Spragg, who plays for the Dutch club HCAW, in from the bullpen.
And Stephen somehow negotiated a tortuous inning that included another Spanish hit, his own throwing error (GB's only error of the game), two more walks (one intentional) and a force out at home. The result was only two runs when things could have been a lot worse.
And then GB came back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth to swing the game back their way. GB third baseman Tim Collins opened with a single to left and Adam Roberts, attempting to sacrifice, reached on an error by first baseman Daniel Friere. Brant Ust singled to drive in Collins and that meant a pitching change for the Spanish, with Manuel Olivera replacing Eric Gonzalez. Olivera promptly uncorked a wild pitch that scored Adam Roberts and Ian Young drove in yet another run with a single to left.
Both teams were now hitting against the other's bullpen and runs were flowing freely -- and Spain came back with three runs in the top of the seventh to tie the score again at 7-7. The Spanish rally got some help from Stephen Spragg, who hit the first two Spanish batters with pitches, but the key blow was a triple to left field by Jose Cruz that drove both runners home. Cruz later scored on a fielder's choice.
The Winning Rally
But in the bottom of the seventh inning, GB put the game away against a new Spanish pitcher, Remiglio Leal. There was no sense of the storm to come when centre fielder Brad Marcellino struck out to open the inning and Tim Collins popped out to second base. But then Adam Roberts walked, Aeden McQueary-Ennis singled to centre and Brant Ust drove the first pitch he saw over the right field fence for a huge three-run homer. Mike Nickeas followed by driving a two-strike pitch over the left field fence, and GB had a decisive 11-7 lead.
The teams traded single runs in the eighth inning. GB's run came on a double by Brad Marcellino and a single by Tim Collins. Spain's threat in the bottom of the eighth required two GB pitching changes as Geoff Freeborn relieved Stephen Spragg and was in turn replaced by Alex Smith. But Smith struck out Alejandro Friere to end the inning and survived a hit and a walk in the ninth to keep the Spanish off the board.
Games to Come
This opening game win against Spain will give GB a huge boost, but the key is to consolidate it in their upcoming games.
Britain is not scheduled to play today (Saturday), but will meet Russia at 4pm on Sunday in a game that GB needs to win to keep a place at the top of Pool B. That's because the schedule gets harder after that: GB will play one of the tournament favourites, Italy, at 8pm on Monday and then will have to get up early for a 10am game against France on Tuesday morning. GB's final group game will be against Ukraine at 11am on Wednesday.
It was the best possible start -- now where can GB finish...?
(All times listed are Spanish time)
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