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European Pool Play Ends, Top 8 Teams Determined

France2.jpg
(Photo Courtesy of ESF Softball)

Pool play at the European Championship came to an end on Tuesday and there’s been a shift in Europe as the top eight teams have been determined.

Netherlands, Italy, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Greece and Spain moved in to the top bracket determining the six countries that will move on to the Olympic qualifier in a couple weeks. Ireland and France finished strong and have found themselves in the top eight as well.

Great Britain

Great Britain scored double-digit runs in all four pool play games, outscoring opponents 49-15. Nerissa Myers leads the team with a .727 batting average (8-for-11) with 11 RBIs, six runs scored, two doubles, a triple and a home run. Amy Moore leads the team in hits (nine) and Alicja Wolny leads in home runs (three) and RBIs (12).

The British beat Ireland 8-0 in the first game of top-eight play and will take on Spain and Czech Republic next.

France

Knowing that the 2024 Paris Olympics replaced softball with breakdancing, the French have shocked the world by reaching the top eight and went 4-1 in pool play.

Recent Louisiana commit, Melissa Mayeux has driven in a team-high 12 runs and Kimane Rogron leads the team with a .714 batting average, 10 hits and four doubles.

Ireland

The Irish are the blueprint program of what it looks like to build a program from the grassroots level on up. They have improved at every level each year and that allowed them to go 4-1 in pool play.

Everyone has seen playing time with only two players starting all six (top-eight loss to Great Britain).
Miami Ohio’s Lily Wilmot leads the starters with two home runs and eight RBIs.

Italy

There is no stopping Erika Piancastelli in this tournament. In five games, she is batting .625 (10-for-16) with 12 runs scored, six home runs, 10 RBIs and two doubles. Amanda Fama isn’t close behind with five homers and 10 RBIs.

The Italians have outscored their opponents 68-4 in six games. They went undefeated in pool play and dropped their first top-eight game to the Netherlands 6-2 without Piancastelli in the lineup.

Czech Republic

The host team swept pool play and continued with a win over Spain in top-eight play. The Czech haven’t done it with power as 19 of their 66 hits have been for extra bases.

Kristyna Mala has done the most damage a team-high eight RBIs but it’s Eliska Thompsonova, Natalie Kopicova and Veronika Klimplova who are batting .533, .500 with a team-high eight hits each. The pitching staff has worked together and has a team ERA of 1.61 in six games.

Netherlands

The Dutch have been in the driver’s seat all tournament. Their closest game was a 6-3 win over Russia and their largest margin of victory was 19-0 over Hungary.

Former Cal Bear Britt Vonk has been with the national team for over 10 years and she continue to lead in all aspects. She batting .545 (6-for-11) with nine runs scored, two home runs, a double and six RBIs.

Spain

Spain held on to walk off a winner against to Israel to secure a top-eight seed. Estibaliz Alvarez leads in batting (.538) and RBIs (nine) while Uxua Modrega has belted three home runs.

The Spaniards went 4-1 in pool play and then dropped their first game of top-eight play 10-3 to the Czech.

Greece

The Greeks compete in the five-team bracket, the other three had six. They went 3-1 with their only loss to Great Britain until they dropped a one-run contest to France in top-eight play.

They have four players batting .500 with at least eight hits and a slugging percentage no lower than .625. Mia Marinakis has a team-high seven RBIs.

Scoreboard

Lithuania 6Belgium 27
Israel 2Austria 0
Slovakia 9France 11
Turkey 0Ukraine 13
Germany 1Great Britain 15
Croatia 0Switzerland 2
Denmark 12Hungary 5
Russia 2Ireland 9
Netherlands 10Poland 0
Belgium 7Sweden 11
Spain 5Israel 4
Slovakia 2Czech Republic 6
Italy 15Ukraine 0
Greece 6Germany 4
Great Britain 15Croatia 0
Hungary 0Poland 14
Czech Republic 10Belgium 0
Ireland 14Hungary 0
Austria 13Ukraine 3
Denmark 0Netherlands 11
Poland 1Russia 2
Sweden 2France 9
Israel 0Italy 7
Turkey 0Spain 17
Croatia 0Greece 7
Lithuania 0Sweden 24
Denmark 0Ireland 15
Switzerland 1Great Britain 17
Netherlands 6Russia 3
France 0Czech Republic 9
Austria 15Turkey 0
Italy 7Spain 0
Slovakia 15Lithuania 0
Germany 6Poland 3
France 7Greece 6
Great Britain 8Ireland 0
Italy 2Netherlands 6
Czech Republic 10Spain 3
kianna jones photo by unc athletics.jpg

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Standings (Note: Teams tied appear in alphabetical order)

Pool EWinLoss
Czech Republic10
Great Britain10
Ireland01
Spain01

Pool FWinLoss
France10
Netherlands10
Greece01
Italy01
Pool GWinLoss
Germany
Austria
Sweden
Poland
Pool HWinLoss
Belgium
Israel
Russia
Switzerland
Pool I
Croatia
Denmark
Hungary
Lithuania
Slovakia
Turkey
Ukraine
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