GB secured their second mercy rule win against a Hungarian team who had themselves beaten Austria the day before. Once again it was a combination of solid pitching and base stealing that secured the win, but this time the bats came out with a Sam White homer and triples by Ben Sclafani and Griff Franklin.
Charlie Battista pitched for the win with four scoreless innings with a single hit, no walks and three Ks. Oscar Miller went a third of an inning and was followed up by Ollie Galvin who threw an inning and two thirds with no hits, a walk and a strikeout.
GB Head Coach Matt Moran said:
“This was another prominent win for this group. We are continuing to build momentum and create a system in which players can thrive.”
“Charlie had an awesome day on the mound and ensured we had a clean slate to be aggressive on the base paths and continue our run through the tournament.”
GB got off to a great start, scoring three in the bottom of the first. Akshay Chopra singled and Luke Donaldson and Sam White doubled to score two and bring an early end to Aron Horvath’s outing on the mound. Ben Sclafani greeted the new pitcher with a double to the right field fence to bring home the third run.
The bottom of the second saw the Brits score another two through a double by Christian McCarthy and Chopra’s looper over the shortstop.
Battista faced the minimum on the third thanks to George Evans’ smart tag on a runner attempting to steal.
Hungary changed their pitcher again for the bottom of the third. Evans and Slane Maguire walked before Griff Franklin’s towering fly which evaded the right fielder. As the Hungarian defence scrambled for the ball, both runners came home and Franklin scampered to third. On the next pitch, McCarthy bunted down the left field line to bring home Franklin.
In the top of the fourth, the Hungary players finally got the ball out of the infield. However, a fly ball and liner were easily snagged by Chopra in centre field before Battista induced a weak grounder to second for the third out.
In the bottom of the fourth it was a combination of long and small ball. Sam White hit a homer to centre before Kyle Griebenow singled and stole second. The GB catcher was then lifted for pinch runner Dylan Nelson after colliding with the Hungarian second baseman on the steal. Nelson took third on Sclafani’s ground out to first and Evans brought him home with a sac bunt to back to the pitcher.
Hungary got their first hit off Miller in the fifth, a looping fly to centre which evaded everyone. A bases loaded sac fly brought home a run. Head Coach Matt Moran gambled with an intentional walk to load the bases again but it paid off as a strike out ended the inning.
GB faced the minimum again in the top of the sixth on just five pitches as a lead off hit by pitch was erased by a double play as right fielder McCarthy made great ground to snag a bootlace catch and double the runner off at first,
GB secured the win in the bottom of the sixth as Gulliver reached on an error by the second baseman and was brought home by Sclafani’s triple over the head of the centre fielder.
Next up for GB is an evening fixture against hosts Italy in Trieste.
Photography courtesy of WBSC