5-run 4th inning sparks GB to win over Israel
The Israelis held off the British bats for a while, but couldn´t last forever. The game was scoreless after three innings, but Team GB exploded for 5 runs in the fourth, en route to a 7-0 six-inning victory. James Darby pitched the whole game, giving up 2 hits and striking out 13 Israeli batters.
| date: 17.07.2014 | time: 14:30 | areal: Havlíčkův Brod | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | T | R | H | E | ||
| Israel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Great Britain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Winning Pitcher | Losing Pitcher | Umpires |
|---|---|---|
| James Darby | Benny Ruggill | Jesper Arno, Christian Singer, Benny van Nuffel |
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The one-two pitching punch of James Darby and Kyle Linton has been Great Britain´s bread and butter all tournament, and Thursday afternoon´s game against Israel was no exception. Darby pitched 6 shutout innings, allowing only 2 hits and 2 bases on balls while striking out 13. It´s a good thing, too, because it took his team´s offence a while to get going.
"We started slowly and couldn´t get our bats going," said British coach Norm Ames.
For three innings, Israeli starter Benny Ruggill matched Darby´s performance, allowing only 1 hit and keeping the game scoreless. In fact, Britain only got 1 hit in the fourth inning, but it sure was timely. With 2 outs, the score was only 2-0, but there had been an error and 3 walks -- one intentional -- so the bases were loaded. Then Kenny Pregnell unloaded them with a single to right field, opening up a 5-0 lead.
"For a long time, we stayed with them step-for-step, but finally we made a few mistakes which cost us a better outcome," Israeli designated player Aviv Yaakov said after the game. "But I´m still happy with the way we played. I think we did a pretty good job."
With still one more game to play today, the Brits wanted to finish this game early and, with the score 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth, they had the bases loaded with 1 out, needing only 1 more run to end it. The Israel made a pitching change, brought the infield in, and got Steven Rice to hit a ground ball to first base. Alberto Scioscia cut down the run at the plate, and Darrin Newson´s slide took out the legs of catcher Gil Siegel. After a discussion by the umpires, interference was called and Rice was called out at first, ending the inning.
Undaunted, the Brits went back to work in the sixth, finally getting the mercy-rule run when Pregnell scored all the way from first on a hit by Kevin Stockford and a throwing error.
"I´m glad we won, of course," summed up Ames. "Now we´ll just try to rest up and get ready for the Czechs."
That game against the Czechs will be the very last game of the round-robin stage. This was Israel´s last game, and they will now play Belgium and Croatia for places five to seven.
