Denmark edges Britain 5-4 in Tuesday night thriller

Both teams entered the game with perfect records, but only one could keep it. In the end, it was Denmark that prevailed 5-4, thanks to a 4-run fifth inning, which included a 3-run homer by Daniel Julenon.

It was a game between two teams that are both in the hunt for medals, and it lived up to it. The score was 1-1 after two innings, Britain took a 2-run lead in the top of the fifth, but the Danes then reversed it in the bottom of the same inning with a 4-spot to take a 2-run lead of their own. The Brits trimmed it to 5-4 the next inning, but that´s as close as they came.

Denmark opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Vlademar Terkelsen drew a lead-off walk, then advanced on three wild pitches to score despite his team getting no hits. The Brits tied it in the top of the second when Luke Peters hit a one-out single, then advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored when James Darby singled to left-centre.

Darby was the story of the first half of this game, as he didn´t allow any Danish batters to hit safely in the first four innings. Including his 6 innings of work against Croatia, he only gave up 1 hit in his first 10 innings of work this tournament, and colleague Kyle Linton, who was the designated hitter this game, pitched a no-hitter earlier in the day against Belgium.

The decisive inning of the game was the fifth inning, though. In it, Britain scored twice in the top half, thanks to an RBI triple off the left-field fence by Ryan Martin, then a single by Kevin Stockford to drive in Martin. Then in the bottom half, after the first two batters went out, the Danes rallied. Two walks and a single by Frederik Terkelsen -- Denmark´s first hit of the game -- produced one run. Then, following a disputed ball-strike ruling, Daniel Julenon absolutely crushed a 2-1 pitch over the centre-field fence to score three more and make the score 5-3 Denmark.

"We struck out a lot, but I told the players to be patient and wait for their chance," said Danish coach Jens Terkelsen. "And it finally came when we were able to hit that three-run blast. I think this was a big step toward getting us into the top three."

The Brits got one run back in the top of the sixth when Darby hit a solo homer to left-centre, but they wouldn´t get anymore than that, as Kim Hansen struck out the side in the seventh to end the game.

Both Hansen and Darby went the distance pitching for their respective teams. Hansen gave up 4 runs on 7 hits, struck out 12 and walked only 1, while Darby gave up 5 runs on 3 hits, struck out 9 and walked 8.

"It was a very even game," said British coach Norm Ames. "I think it was good softball. Both teams were strong, I think. I just hope we get a better result in our remaining games."