Netherlands Crowned Champions at the U-22 Women's Softball European Championship 2024

The championship game between the Netherlands and Italy was an absolute nail-biter. The Netherlands clinched the gold medal with a 5-1 win over Italy.

Both teams scored once in the third inning. First, Spiotta, on base on a hit, scored on a single by Lacatena to take the lead for Italy. In the bottom of the same inning, Julia Kwakernaak sent one to deep right field to tie the game, making it 1-1.

The teams were locked at 1-1 up until the bottom of the eighth inning when the Netherlands pulled ahead with a walk-off grand-slam by Amy Felix to make it 5-1 and give the title to the Netherlands for the first time since 2016.

The pitchers played a crucial role in the gold medal game. For the Netherlands, J'dah Girigorie delivered a stellar performance across eight innings. She allowed only four hits, and one earned run while striking out nine batters without issuing a single walk.

In the bronze medal game, Great Britain emerged victorious over Czechia in a closely contested battle. The game ended with a 5-4 victory for Great Britain.

Both teams started strong, each scoring a run in the first inning: Czechia's leadoff Kavanová homered, and British left fielder Chan scored on a sacrifice fly by Thompson. Great Britain then added another run in the second inning to take a slight lead. The game remained close until the fifth inning, when Great Britain capitalized on their opportunities and scored three more runs, extending their lead to 5-1. Czechia managed to add one more run in the sixth inning and two in the seventh, but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit.

In the placement round, Ukraine secured a 9-2 victory over Austria.

The U-22 Women's Softball European Championship 2024 concluded with the Netherlands as the champions, Italy taking the silver medal, and Great Britain earning the bronze.

Standings U-22 Women’s Softball European Championship 2024

• Opening Round
• Super Round
• Placement Round

• Group A
• Group B
• Group X
• Group Y

#	Team		W	L	T	PCT	GB
1		AUT Austria	3	0	0	1.000	0
2		CRO Croatia	2	1	0	.667	1
3		BEL Belgium	1	2	0	.333	2
4		FIN Finland	0	3	0	.000	3

#	Team		W	L	T	PCT	GB
1		ISR Israel	3	0	0	1.000	0
2		SUI Switzerland	2	1	0	.667	1
3		POL Poland	1	2	0	.333	2
4		DEN Denmark	0	3	0	.000	3

#	Team		W	L	T	PCT	GB
1		ITA Italy	4	0	0	1.000	0
2		FRA France	3	1	0	.750	1
3		GBR Great Britain	2	2	0	.500	2
4		GER Germany	1	3	0	.250	3
5		AUT Austria	0	4	0	.000	4

#	Team		W	L	T	PCT	GB
1		CZE Czechia	3	1	0	.750	0
2		NED Netherlands	3	1	0	.750	0
3		ISR Israel	2	2	0	.500	1
4		IRL Ireland	1	3	0	.250	2
5		UKR Ukraine	1	3	0	.250	2

• Group Z

#	Team		W	L	T	PCT	GB
1		NED Netherlands	4	1	0	.800	0
2		ITA Italy	4	1	0	.800	0
3		GBR Great Britain	2	3	0	.400	2
4		CZE Czechia	2	3	0	.400	2
5		FRA France	2	3	0	.400	2
6		ISR Israel	1	4	0	.200	3

• Group E
• Group F

#	Team		W	L	T	PCT	GB
1		IRL Ireland	3	0	0	1.000	0
2		GER Germany	2	1	0	.667	1
3		AUT Austria	0	2	0	.000	1.5
3		UKR Ukraine	0	2	0	.000	1.5

#	Team		W	L	T	PCT	GB
1		CRO Croatia	5	0	0	1.000	0
2		BEL Belgium	4	1	0	.800	1
3		SUI Switzerland	3	2	0	.600	2
4		POL Poland	2	3	0	.400	3
5		DEN Denmark	1	4	0	.200	4
6		FIN Finland	0	5	0	.000	5

All results and box scores from the U-22 Women's Softball European Championship can be found at www.wbsceurope.org. All games were streamed live through www.softballeurope.tv, where also video on demand is available.

Cover photo by Piotr Nowak