Great Britain defeats Italy 11-10 For First Time Ever; Wins Pool B To Advance To Quarterfinals Of 2023 European Baseball Championship

Box Score

TREBIC, CZECHIA – Great Britain continued their historic European Championship run on Tuesday, 26 September, defeating perennial contenders Italy for the first time ever 11-10 in Trebic. With the win, GB wins Pool B with a perfect 3-0 record, and advances to face host Czechia on Thursday in the quarterfinals. 

GB started off strong, as Nick Ward provided the first run on a solo home run to right field in the first, his second in as many days. Great Britain starter Freddy Mosier took the mound for the bottom half, but ran into trouble, as Ricardo Paolini singled and Sebastian Poma walked, before Federico Celli’s RBI single with the bases loaded brought home the tying run for Italy. Mosier then settled down, inducing a double play ball to get out of the inning.  

Italy would threaten again in the second, with Vito Fresa and Mattia Mecuri both reaching base to put runners at second and third, but a great play by Michael Flaherty to cut down Fresa at the plate and a strikeout by reliever Ethan Solomon ended the threat without any scoring.

Harry Ford (centre) points skyward after hitting his first home run against Italy (Paul Stodart/Great Britain Baseball) 

In the third, GB would retake the lead, with Harry Ford providing the spark. The Mariners prospect cracked a solo home run off Italian starter Michele Vassalotti to put Great Britain ahead 2-1. Ward then singled, advancing to second on an error by Vassalotti, and Aaron Singh walked, before a wild pitch allowed Ward to scurry home. After Julian Sanders was hit by a pitch, reliever Mattia Sireus entered, hitting Flaherty before walking Kennard Dawson for the third GB run of the inning. 

The Italian side then struck back in the bottom of the frame, with a Robel Garcia home run sparking a four-run rally, and Great Britain trailed 5-4. Italy would extend their lead in the fourth, with Garcia’s second home run of the game, a two-run shot, giving the Azzurri a three-run lead headed into the fifth. Chris Messer (1-0) of the London Mets entered the game, and promptly shut down the rally, sending the game into the fifth.

Great Britain - no strangers to coming back from a deficit - rallied. Kennard Dawson’s two run double off Alex Bassani (0-1) brought GB within one, scoring Shamoy Christopher and Flaherty, and Sanders followed with a walk, putting runners at first and second with only one out.

Enter Harry Ford.  

Ford crushed his second home run of the game, this time a deep shot into the Trebic night over everything in left-centre field to cap off the rally and give Great Britain a lead they would not relinquish. 

With a 9-7 lead, Messer would shut down the Italian lineup, allowing just a single run across four solid innings of relief while striking out five. His offense would provide insurance in the seventh, with Dawson’s leadoff bunt single and an Italian error setting the stage for a Ford sacrifice fly to make the game 10-7. Italy would score off Messer in the bottom half of the frame, but Jake Lambdin tossed a scoreless frame in the eighth to keep the deficit at three.

Harry Ford connects on a three-run home run, his second of the game, in the fifth inning against Italy (Paul Stodart/Great Britain Baseball)

With a 9-7 lead, Messer would shut down the Italian lineup, allowing just a single run across four solid innings of relief while striking out five. His offense would provide insurance in the seventh, with Dawson’s leadoff bunt single and an Italian error setting the stage for a Ford sacrifice fly to make the game 10-7. Italy would score off Messer in the bottom half of the frame, but Jake Lambdin tossed a scoreless frame in the eighth to keep the deficit at three.

In the ninth, GB would add another crucial insurance run when Flaherty singled, and, following a Mercer base hit, Ford again lofted a sacrifice fly to centre for Great Britain’s 11th run. With Demoi Hodge in to close the game for manager Drew Spencer’s side, the Italians put up a last gasp effort, but after scoring twice, Hodge slammed the door, striking out Garcia to secure the save, and the Pool A victory.

With the win, Great Britain earned their first ever victory over Italy in international play, one of just four teams to ever win gold in a European Baseball Championship. Ford finished the game with two home runs and six RBIs, with Ward adding a pair of runs and Dawson a pair of hits and two runs driven in.

Great Britain and the rest of the participating teams have an off day tomorrow as the tournament moves to Brno before facing Czechia on Thursday, 28 September at MBS Brno, the home of local club Draci Brno, in Brno-jih-Komárov. First pitch is set for 18:30 CEST / 17:30 BST / 12:30 EDT.

The 2023 European Baseball Championships can be watched on Staylive, WBSC Europe’s newly announced streaming partner for the contest, at BaseballEurope.TV. GB fans can get a 10% discount on the tournament streaming package by using the code GREATBRITAIN10 at checkout.

For the latest news and notes from GB Baseball at the 2023 European Baseball Championships and more, make sure to follow Great Britain Baseball on Facebook, and gb_baseball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

- #LetsGoGB –