Great Britain and France winners on Day one of Women’s European Baseball Championship
The Women’s European Baseball Championship started with two games on Wednesday in Montpellier, France. Host and defending champion France came back against the Netherlands to claim a thrilling walk-off win. Great Britain celebrated its debut in official competition with a commanding win over the Czech Republic.
Great Britain, which is celebrating its Women’s Baseball debut on the international stage at the 2022 Women’s European Baseball Championship defeated Czechia in a high-scoring affair 27-10. A pair of nine-run innings blew the score wide open. Both teams combined for 35 base on balls in the game, as pitching staffs struggled to find the strike zone. Laura Hirai scored six runs in the game. Dora Lau and Gabriella Sassoli crossed the plate four times apiece. Sassoli also collected four RBI. Katerina Popelkova, Kristyna El Ghannam and Karolina Blazkova scored each scored twice for the Czech Republic.
In a rematch of the 2019 Women’s European Baseball Championship France edged out the Netherlands 6-5. Yasmine Derbal single in the bottom of the seventh innings was thrown away, allowing Emma Patry to score the winning run in walk-off style. The Dutch team had taken a 4-0 lead after two frames, but France tied the game at 5-5 in the fifth to set up the exciting finish. Emma Patry and Angelique Andre combined to scored five of the six French runs in the game. Anouk Vergunst drove in three runs for the Netherlands.
All games will be streamed live. Links to live streaming and live scoring can be found at www.wbsceurope.org.
