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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar) European Cup Winners Cup: Olympia Haarlem in Final after Day 4 results Nederlands SARONNO / LEGNANO / BOVISIO-MASCIAGO (Italy) - Olympia Haarlem recorded a win and a loss on Thursday (August 19), Day 4 of the European Cup Winners Cup-tournament in Italy. The team won 7-6 against Eagles Praha (Czech Republic) in the afternoon, then lost 8-5 to host Inox Team Saronno in the evening. In the game against Eagles, Olympia came from behind and broke a tie to record a crucial victory. Despite the loss in the evening, Olympia and Saronno both reached the Final of the tournament that will be played on Saturday-evening. Nothing can change that on Friday, whatever the results on the last day of the Preliminary Round. Olympia can end up in a 2-way with Eagles or even in a 3-way tie on Friday, but the head-to-head result (2-way tie) or Team Quality Balance (3-way tie) are both on favor of the Haarlem-squad. On Monday, Olympia Haarlem won its first two games in the First Round. The team shutout Zürich Challengers from Switzerland 11-0 in 3½ inning, then outscored Chicaboo's Stabroek from Belgium with an 8-2 score. On Tuesday, the Haarlem-team recorded a convincing 8-0 shutout-win in 4½ inning against Crazy Chicklets (Austria) in its first game in the Second Round. On Wednesday, Olympia Haarlem added two victories. The team first recorded a 13-0 shutout-win in four innings against Carrousel (Russia). In the evening, another mercy-rule victory was added by winning 10-2 in five innings against Viladecans (Spain). On Friday, Olympia Haarlem closes the Championship Pool (Group X) against Chicaboo's Stabroek from Belgium. (August 19) Other scores Day 4: Group X (1st through 8th place): Eagles Praha vs. Carrousel 8-1 (6 inn.); Viladecans vs. Saronno 2-8; Carrousel vs. Chicaboo's Stabroek 8-1. Group G (9th through 14th place): Les Pharaons vs. Gepardy Zory 3-0; Zürich Challengers vs. Neunkirchen Nightmares 1-8 (6 inn.); Fireballs vs. Les Pharaons 1-13 (4 inn.); Zürich Challengers vs. Gepardy Zory 1-5; Neunkirchen Nightmares vs. Medvednica 6-2.

Olympia Haarlem vs. Eagles Praha Olympia Haarlem trailed 4-0 halfway the third inning against Eagles Praha, but came back. The team then saw a 6-4 lead diminish in the seventh inning, but then broke a 6-6 tie to win on a walk-off single. Olympia Haarlem faced a quick deficit, as Eagles Praha opened the score with two outs in the top of the first inning off of starter Alyson Spinas-Valainis. With two outs, Gabriela Slabá reached on an comeback infield-hit, then scored when next batter Stephanie Texeira homered. The Czech team added two more runs in the second at bat. Both were unearned, as the Olympia-defense made two errors. This time, the first two batters reached base. Alice Škardová led off with a single, then was safe on second base when a throwing error was made on a force play-grounder by Karla Včeláková. The two runners moved on a sacrifice bunt by Lucie Černohlávková. Although there were now runners on second and third base, it appeared that runs could be avoided. However, after Škardová was eliminated at the plate trying to score on a grounder by Sabina Borecka, an error followed in an attempt to complete a double play and that enable Včeláková to score. Hereafter, Eliška Thompsonová delivered a runscoring single that lifted the lead to 4-0. In the top of the third inning, American Stephanie Texeira walked with one out for Eagles. Lindsey Meadows then took over the Olympia-pitching and retired the next two batters. Olympia Haarlem recovered from this on inning on and rallied for three runs off of American Cassady Knudsen. The righthander had retired the side in the first inning and got one baserunner in the second when Mariëlle Vleugels had singled. But in the bottom of the third, she not only faced a productive Olympia-team, but also saw her defense making two errors, resulting in three unearned runs. Machteld Rector led off with a single, then an error was made on a sacrfice bunt by Lisa Hop, which led to runners on second and third base. Just as in the top of the second inning, it now appeared that Eagles would espace unharmed, but Olympia went on to score three runs. First, Rector was eliminated at the plate trying to score on a grounder by Brenda Beers. Moments later, Hop scored when a error was made on a fly by Dinet Oosting, which could have been the third out. Now, Oosting reaches (on a sacrfice fly/error) and Beers advanced to third base. After Oosting had stolen second base, Jessie van Aalst delivered a 2-run single that narrowed the deficit to 4-3. Eagles was kept scoreless by the Olympia-pitching from the third inning on, until the seventh. The team had runners on first and second base with two outs in the top of the fifth inning when Klára Čejková-Kolací hit a line drive, but that was caught by pitcher Lindsey Meadows. Olympia turned the game around from the fifth inning on. First, the team was retired in order in the bottom of the fourth inning by new pitcher Robyn Wampler. Last month, the lefthander American pitcher participated with the National Team of Israel in the European Championship in Italy. She then was one of fourteen American players with an Israeli background on the roster. Three players came from Israel. Olympia then took the lead in the fifth. After Brenda Beers had led off with a walk, the team got runners on second and third base when an error was made on a force play-grounder by Dinet Oosting. Both scored on a following single by Jessie van Aalst, who batted in four runs in this game. Van Aalst moved into scoring position on a foul-fly by Lizzie Clarijs and with first base open, Mariëlle Vleugels received her second intentional walk in the game. The two runners executed a double-steal, then a double play on a grounder by Cindy van der Zanden ended the at bat. But Olympia now led 5-4. After the Olympia-defense had turned a double play in the top of the sixth, the team added another run in its sixth at bat. With one out, Machteld Rector singled, moved into scoring position on a grounder by Lisa Hop and scored on a double by Brenda Beers. With a 6-4 lead, Olympia was three outs away from the win, but things changed in the seventh inning. Sabina Borecka led off with a single and Eliška Thompsonová walked. With two runners on base, Alyson Spinas-Valainis returned in the pitching circle for the Haarlem-team. She got a grounder, but that also moved the two runners. They then scored when next batter Gabriela Slabá delivered a single. With the score now at 6-6, the team from Prague got another baserunner when Stephanie Texeira walked. After an infield-fly accounted for the second out, the bases got loaded when Alice Škardová also singled. And so, the Czechs were close to re-taking the lead. But the three runners were left behind when a flyout ended the at bat. Again, Olympia showed its strength and came back again in the bottom of the seventh. Lead-off hitter Jessie van Aalst reached on an error, then moved to second base via a sacrifice bunt by Lizzie Clarijs. Hereafter, Mariëlle Vleugels was walked intentionally for the third time to set up a force play. But Cindy van der Zanden then drilled the ball into right/centerfield for a walk-off single, as Van Aalst was able to score the winning run.

Olympia Haarlem - Eagles Praha 7-6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Eagles Praha 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 - 6 8 4 Olympia Haarlem 0 0 3 0 2 1 1 - 7 7 2 (one out when winning run was scored in the seventh inning) pitchers Eagles Praha inn. SO BB H R ER Cassady Knudsen 3 2 2 4 3 - Robyn Wampler, L (2-1) 3.1 1 2 3 4 2 pitchers Olympia Haarlem inn. SO BB H R ER Alyson Spinas-Valainis 2.1 2 1 4 4 2 Lindsey Meadows 3.2 (*) 3 3 2 2 2 Alyson Spinas-Valainis, BS (1), W (2-0) 1 - 1 2 - - (*) - Meadows pitched to two batters in the seventh inning Homerun: Eagles: Stephanie Texeira (2)(1st,2-run,2 outs,off Spinas). Box Score Play-by-Play Umpires: HP-Michael Renggli (Switzerland), 1B-Tomislav Ozimec (Croatia), 3B-Patrik Knechtle (Germany). Official Scorer-Cinzia Cozzi (Italy). Play-by-Play Scorer-Fausto Nardi (Italy). Technical Commissioner-Anna Battigelli (Italy). Starting Time-3:00 PM. Time Played-2:20 hrs. Site-Campo Comunale Baseball Softball, Saronno (Italy) (complex Saronno Softball). Game Notes: European Cup Winners Cup 2021. Weather conditions at game time: Partly cloudy, 28° C (82,4° F); wind direction south-southeast; wind speed 6 kmh (3,7 mph); wind force 1 Bft; humidity 39%.

Olympia Haarlem vs. Inox Team Saronno Olympia Haarlem led 2-1 halfway the third inning, but Saronno then took over the lead and decided the game with a 5-run rally in the fourth at bat. Olympia answered with a rally of its own in the fifth, but ended up short. Nevertheless, after today's results, the standings were such that both Saronno and Olympia Haarlem had reached the all-deciding Final. Olympia got its first two batters on base in the top of the first inning off of American starter Kelly Barnhill, who ran into problems quickly. The righthander pitched for Chicago Bandits in the National Pro Fastpitch in the 2019 season. Last year, she played in the inaugural season of Athletes Unlimited, a new professional softball-league in the USA. In 2016 and 2018, Barnhill played for the National Team of the USA which captured the title at the World Championship in respectively Canada and Japan. But in this game, she first walked lead-off hitter Brenda Beers, who advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Barnhill then walked next batter Dinet Oosting and as ball-four was a wild pitch, Beers moved to third base. Hereafter, she got to an 1-1 count on next batter Jessie van Aalst with the second delivery ending in her third wild pitch, which enabled Oosting to move to second base. That brought out Saronno's Head Coach Larry Castro, who made a pitching change. Alice Nicolini took over with an 1-1 count and saw Van Aalst flyout to leftfield. Beers tried to score, but was eliminated at the plate, completing a double play. On this play, Oosting advanced to third base, then scored on a following single by Lizzie Clarijs, but a flyout then ended the at bat. Saronno came alongside in the bottom of the first inning. Like Olympia, the Italian team also got an opportunity to score more than one run, but was unable to do so. Olympia-starter Lisa Hop gave up a lead-off infield-hit to Fabrizia Marrone, but followed with a strikeout. The righthander then got runners on second and third base when Venezuelan Milagros Lozada Lago doubled. Marrone scored the tying run on a bunt-single by Giulia Longhi, who stole second base moments later. But with runners on second and third base, a strikeout and flyout ended the first Italian at bat. Olympia Haarlem re-took the lead in the top of the second inning. Cindy van der Zanden led off with a triple and scored on an one-out single by Machteld Rector. This time, the inning ended with a force out, then a caught stealing. After Lisa Hop had retired the side in the bottom of the second inning, Olympia got another scoring opportunity in the third at bat, but left three runners behind. Brenda Beers led off with a single and moved on a grounder. With two outs, Lizzie Clarijs was walked intentionally, then the bases got loaded when Mariëlle Vleugels received a normal walk. But Alice Nicolini then closed with a strikeout. Saronno answered with two runs in the bottom of the third inning to turn the game its way. With one out, five consecutive batters reached base, but none of them had a run batted in. First, Brittany Abacherli singled, but she was called out for leaving first base too early. Although Saronno's Head Coach Larry Castro came out to argue, Swiss 1B Umpire Michael Renggli had made the correct call, as Abacherli briefly was not in touch with the base when the pitch was made, as could be seen on the video-livestream. Hereafter, Milagros Lozada Lago singled and Giulia Longhi was hit by a pitch. The two first moved on a passed ball, then a wild pitch, resulting in the tying run. With Longhi on third base, Priscilla Brandi walked. In what began as a double-steal situation, Brandi took off towards second base. Longhi then took off from third base on the throw to short stop Machteld Rector. As Brandi approached second base, the ball was thrown back to catcher Dinet Oosting who got Longhi in a rundown and it appeared she was a sure out. However, Oosting made a throwing error, throwing Longhi on her back after which the ball caroomed to the field, which enabled her to score the go-ahead run. In the meantime, Brandi had reached second base. With that Longhi scored on a caught stealing/error and Brandi advanced on a fielder's choice. However, both runners were credited with a stolen base. Another walk followed, this time for guest-player Noa Armirotto, who plays in the Dutch big league for Onze Gezellen. On the first pitch to next batter Gioia Tittarelli, both runners took off. Tittarelli appeared to make a slap-hit attempt, ran somewhat forwards, but pulled the bat back, which was followed by a throw to third base. There, Brandi was caught stealing and that ended the inning. After Olympia Haarlem was retired in order in the top of the fourth inning, Saronno struck with a 5-run rally in the bottom of the fourth. Gioia Tittarelli led off with a double, which led to a pitching change. Lizzie Clarijs took over for Lisa Hop, but ran into problems. She got the bases loaded after giving up two singles. A fielder's choice, single, wild pitch, sacrifice fly and another single then led to five runs and an 8-2 lead for the home-team. In the top of the fifth, Olympia Haarlem came back into the game. With one out, Dinet Oosting singled and a pitching change followed. Cuban righthander Yamerky Guevara Limonta took over, but she hit Jessie van Aalst with a pitch, then gave up a 3-run homerun to Lizzie Clarijs. That narrowed the lead to 8-5. In the remainder of the game, Olympia was unable to add more runs. In the sixth, Machteld Rector tripled with one out, but the next two batters struckout. And in the seventh, Jessie van Aalst singled and Lizzie Clarijs walked, but the Cuban pitcher then again closed with two strikeouts.

Inox Team Saronno - Olympia Haarlem 8-5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Olympia Haarlem 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 - 5 8 0 Inox Team Saronno 1 0 2 5 0 0 X - 8 12 0 pitchers Olympia Haarlem inn. SO BB H R ER Lisa Hop, L (2-1) 3 (*) 3 2 6 4 3 Lizzie Clarijs 1 1 - 5 4 4 Lisa Hop 2 5 - 1 - - (*) - Hop pitched to one batter in the fourth inning pitchers Saronno inn. SO BB H R ER Kelly Barnhill - (*) - 2 - 1 1 Alice Nicolini, W (3-0) 4.1 (**) 4 2 5 2 2 Yamerky Guevara Limonta 2.2 6 1 3 2 2 (*) - Barnhill pitched to two batters in the first inning and is replaced with an 1-1 count on the third batter (**) - Nicolini took over with an 1-1 count on the first batter she faced; this batter flied out and was credited to her Homerun: Olympia: Lizzie Clarijs (1)(5th,3-run,1 out,off Guevara). Box Score Play-by-Play Umpires: HP-Jan Svatos (Czech Rep.), 1B-Michael Renggli (Switzerland), 3B-Tomasz Plutarski (Poland). Official Scorer-Patrizia Dardanelli (Italy). Play-by-Play Scorer-Vincenzo Amoruso (Italy). Technical Commissioner-Anna Battigelli (Italy). Starting Time-8:00 PM. Time Played-2:31 hrs. Site-Campo Comunale Baseball Softball, Saronno (Italy) (complex Saronno Softball). Game Notes: European Cup Winners Cup 2021. Weather conditions at game time: Clear, 28° C (82,4° F); wind direction north; wind speed 6 kmh (3,7 mph); wind force 1 Bft; humidity 53%.

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