Czechs finish perfect round-robin with win over GB

It was the very last game of the round-robin stage of the tournament, and the playoff seedings were already determined. Nonetheless, the Czech Republic and Great Britain played an entertaining game, with the Czechs finishing on top 5-4. The Czechs finish first and will face Denmark tomorrow, while the Brits finish fourth and will take on the Netherlands.

In each of the first two innings, the British took the lead in the top half and the Czechs tied it in the bottom. Then Britain went ahead 4-3 in the top of the fourth and the Czechs didn´t answer until the bottom of the fifth, when they scored twice to take their first lead of the game. That held up the rest of the way, as the Czechs kept their perfect record in tact with a 5-4 win. The Brits gave them their closest game yet, though.

"I think both teams did great and this is like softball should be," said British coach Norm Ames, who had nothing but good things to say about both teams. "I’m very proud of my guys, how they performed today. I think we were unlucky the last couple of days and this is how we would like to be and how we are."

With one on and one out in the first, Kevin Stockford doubled just inside the right field line, then James Darby drove in the first two runs of the game. In the bottom of the inning, Darby struck out the first three Czech batters, but Patrik Kolkus reached first base on a dropped third strike and Vaclav Svoboda´s two-run homer tied the score.

Britain took a 3-2 lead in the top of the second on a steal attempt, when catcher Tomas Klein´s throw to second hit the runner and went into centre field, allowing Steven Rice to score. In the bottom, Jiri Nezbeda´s sacrifice fly brought home Bartolomej Rizek.

In the top of the fourth, Chris Lee hit a one-out double into the left field corner. Ben Easdown then pinch ran for him and scored on a fielding error. When the Czechs came to bat in the bottom of the fifth, they had been held to only 3 hits. They got one more that inning, but it was a two-run home run by Petr Vacha after Nezbeda was hit by a pitch.

"It was a dramatic game and I´m glad we managed to win, even though we already knew going in that we were first," said Czech coach Tomas Kusy. "I´m pleased with the effort."

In the end, 4 hits was enough for the Czechs to produce the runs they needed for the win. Darby had his second 6-inning performance of the day and struck out 8 Czech batters, but it wasn´t enough. Ales Jetmar pitched the first 5 innings for the Czechs, gave up 3 earned runs and struck out 6 to get the win, while Jonas Mach struck out 5 British hitters over the last 2 innings to earn the save.

"The game was more or less under control the whole time Mach was pitching; he sat them down," raved Kusy about his relief pitcher. Looking ahead to the next game, he said: "Tomorrow we´ll go into the game against Denmark playing to win."

As for Britain´s game earlier on Friday, the winner of which will earn a berth in next year´s World Championship, Ames said: "Holland has got a good squad, definitely good batting lineup. It will be a great game tomorrow and I´m just glad that all of my players are on the top of their game right now."