There is something very special about European baseball. Well, maybe international baseball as a whole.
The playing standard, excluding games like the WBC 2023 Final between USA and Japan (you know the one, the one where Shohei came on as closer and struck out Mike Trout to clinch the trophy), is obviously not as good as regular MLB. But does that matter?
In my mind, the reduced predictability of each play makes the games more exciting. It feels like maybe 15% of routine plays to first base in European baseball get botched, but in reality, it is probably only 3%. But, as that is double MLB’s average, every routine play offers extra peril and the extra excitement of a twice-as-likely chance the play won’t be executed.
Anyway, I’m a fan.
The plan was to travel to the Netherlands for eight days to consume every possible moment of the European Baseball Championship.
DAY ONE (Friday)
Compared to the WBC qualifier in Regensburg (2022) and the European Championship in Brno (2023), getting to Rotterdam from my middle-of-nowhere corner of Suffolk was suspiciously straightforward.
However, before I set off, I decided to record a quick teaser for social media — me on the bike with a snappy preview of the tournament. In my mind, it was going to be a slick, 30-second burst of pure insight.
In reality, I discovered that when recording myself, I develop an instant inability to string together a coherent sentence.
It is true that when I was whining about this character flaw in the Bat Flips & Nerds WhatsApp group, John McGee called me a “wet wipe” and told me to just get on with it. Empathy is for the weak.
As it turns out, tough love was exactly what I needed, because the next eight days were a blur of social-media snippets featuring me mumbling into the camera.
It’s far from professional, but the novelty of filming while cycling got the traction that I wanted. Sure, I’d have liked a bit more time to prepare what I was going to say, but my day job had other ideas – it had been wall-to-wall chaos all week in the lead up to my departure.
Want a sneak peek behind the curtain? I spent an hour – yes, sixty whole minutes cycling up and down the old railway line near my house, recording and rerecording tiny snippets. Then another hour hunched over my phone to edit it into something vaguely usable. I wasted two hours of my life for 30 seconds of social media content. Safe to say, I won’t be quitting the day job to become a social media influencer any time soon.
The 11 p.m. ferry from Harwich to Hoek van Holland was a masterstroke of logistics — a full Friday in the office before embarking on my mini Eurotrip.
Fortunately, the cheapest (aka windowless) cabin felt more “cosy submarine” than claustrophobic, and after dumping my rucksack, I made a beeline for the bar.
This was the third Harwich–HvH crossing I’ve taken in the last couple of years, so — and this probably says more about my tragically unremarkable existence — I was genuinely excited to see whether they still served draught Murphy’s. They did. Result. Small victories matter.
The GB roster had (finally) dropped while I was en route to Harwich, so I sat there with my pint, poring over the list like a quiz contestant desperately trying to remember the capital of Burkina Faso. It’s Ouagadougou, btw.
My biggest gripe with the GB national setup is the cloak-and-dagger approach to player info. Sure, I get that you want to hold your cards close, gain that tiny competitive edge, all very MI5. But as a fan, it’s a bit of a buzzkill when you know next to nothing about the players you’re supposed to be cheering for. It’s hard for me to be the conductor of a hype train when half the roster still feels like a mystery box.
There were fewer familiar names than I’d hoped for. A couple of hitters — Kennard Dawson and Shamoy Christopher — were veterans from previous campaigns, as were pitchers Donovan Benoit and Ryan Long.
I’ve got a soft spot for Ryan. Not only does he seem like a genuinely good bloke, but the 25-year-old, a 17th-round Orioles draft pick back in 2021, happens to share his name with my godson. Come on, there are flimsier reasons to root for a player. Every time the 6-foot-6 right-hander gets the ball, I’m willing for an ace-like outing.
Alex Webb and Nick Ward were named co-captains, and because I’ve invested so much in GB Baseball over the years that they have been involved, I sort of feel like I know them — which, let’s be honest, is a bit weird. Especially as I once found myself watching part of a game alongside Nick Ward’s parents.
SIDE NOTE: NICK WARD
Since I’ve been following the GB national team, Nick Ward has felt like part of the furniture — in the best possible way. Aside from Harry Ford, he’s been the beating heart of the lineup, and his mix of patience at the plate and home-run power to punish anything loose reminds me of my favourite all-time player, Joey Votto.
My top ten sporting moments would include stuff like: Manchester United’s comeback against Bayern, Kris Akabusi’s glorious 400M relay, Goran Ivanišević lifting the Wimbledon trophy, and — more recently — Dutch superstar Femke Bol’s ridiculous anchor leg in the mixed 400M relay at the Olympics. If you’ve never seen it, get yourself on YouTube immediately — it brought actual tears to my eyes and still gives me goosebumps every time.
Baseball highlights, on the other hand, don’t tend to linger in my mind for long. Partly because I don’t follow one team, and partly because the sport is so relentlessly full of drama that every week seems to produce a new “best thing I’ve ever seen.”
The two exceptions — the only baseball moments that would make my personal Top Ten — are GB’s comeback win against Spain in the WBC qualifier in Regensburg, and that unforgettable victory over Colombia in Phoenix.
That latter one I can distil to a single play: Nick Ward stretching at first base, somehow clinging onto a wayward throw to record the out.
I’ve spoken (and written) about it endlessly. And on a cold evening in Rotterdam, fuelled by a couple of beers to fend off my usual social awkwardness, I found myself regaling that very story to Nick Ward’s parents.
They were absolutely lovely — the kind of people you meet on holiday and actually stay in touch with. Still, it was mildly surreal to realise that I had an unrequited sporting crush on their son, who, awkwardly, is younger than my daughter. Yes, I know it doesn’t seem possible if I’m only 47. The lines of sporting fandom are sometimes blurry. It’s entirely possible they thought I was a bit of a weirdo.
Full disclosure 1: Nick’s parents didn’t actually think I was weird. Nick’s mum — an Essex girl by geography rather than lifestyle — was born just a few miles from where I grew up. Which means, Essex has produced the GB head coach Brad Marcelino, Nick Ward, and me. You’re welcome, British baseball.
Full disclosure 2: Had Femke Bol’s parents been at the baseball, they would definitely have thought I was a weirdo.
It was obvious that many of the GB players — most of whom call somewhere outside the UK home — were being cheered on by family in full force. What a fantastic, tight-knit crowd baseball manages to attract. Supportive parents, grandparents, girlfriends — the number of GB fans with a personal stake in the team far outnumbered folks like me, cheering purely as a fan of the sport.
It’s a reminder that GB baseball isn’t just a national team — it’s a family affair, and the energy that it brings to the stands is something else entirely.
Two other hitters on the 2025 roster also had Czechia 2023 experience under their belts. Michael Flaherty played all six games, going 2-for-15 with six strikeouts, but somehow still scoring six runs. Julian Sanders only featured in half of the tournament’s games, going 3-for-7 with two walks and adding two runs to the tally.
Pitcher Matteo Sollecito made two appearances in Czechia 2023, including a stunning three-inning, five-strikeout start against Hungary. Chris Messer, meanwhile, was appearing in at least his third European Championship. He memorably stemmed the Spanish deluge in the 2023 final, throwing four scoreless innings after GB had given up five first-inning runs.
I calculated — while sipping my second pint of Murphy’s — that six players on the roster had also appeared in Jonathon Cramman’s victorious U23 gold medal team in August. Although, if I’d thought these kids were just there to gain experience or make up the numbers, I was going to be proved spectacularly wrong.
DAY TWO (Saturday)
Early start as the ferry docked in Hoek van Holland. Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” piped through the cabin speakers, gently nudging passengers awake and staying in my ear for the rest of the morning. I whizzed through passport control #DualCitizenship, and before long, I was on my way into Rotterdam.
Booking accommodation had turned out to be an arduous process. Firstly, it needed to be of a decent standard — I’m a middle-aged bloke for whom hostels and campsites are not going to work. Secondly, it needed decent facilities so I could keep up with the day job between games. Thirdly, a fridge/kitchenette would be great — I wasn’t planning on eating out every night. Fourthly, it had to be within a 40-minute bike ride of the stadium. And finally, it had to be affordable.
Affordability, like beauty, is subjective. This was going to be the single most expensive “just me” trip I’ve ever taken — no wife, no kids, just me splashing cash on a mid-life crisis. Indulgent? Absolutely. Guilty? A little. But I have the most wonderful wife, so she fully backed me spending over £1,000 on self-inflicted baseball happiness.
AirBnbs were either ridiculously expensive or so unsuitable they would have made me cry.
I’m an Accor fan. Over 100 stays in Novotel and Ibis hotels have taught me there’s comfort in consistency. Unfortunately, city-centre prices were beyond my budget, so I opted for the Ibis Budget at the airport.
There was a big sigh when I paid the €700 for eight nights (£75/night, including city taxes). I skipped the €10 daily breakfast in favour of a box of cornflakes and milk that became progressively lukewarm — no mini fridge, sad face emoji.
It was 10 a.m. when I arrived. Cycling into Rotterdam airport is nothing like my local commute, where every junction is a gamble. It wasn’t my first Dutch bike trip, but it was my first since losing my best mate — hit by an on-parole, drugged-up delivery driver – while cycling in Manchester. That tragedy recalibrated my entire approach to cycling.
The plan was to dump my stuff in the room, nip to the supermarket for supplies, then head to the stadium to soak in a couple of hours before the opening game, Czechia v Germany.
Despite my loyalty card status, the receptionist wanted €25 for an early check-in. I declined and walked back to my bike with my stuffed rucksack. A little mental maths ensued: GB game scheduled for 7:30 p.m., grey clouds and impending rain, I probably wouldn’t make it back to check in until near midnight. I returned, paid the unsurprised Anna €25, and made my way upstairs to my room.
Not bad. Small, possibly overpriced, but perfect.
The route to the stadium looked simple enough: cycle path 4, then cycle path 86, then cycle path 32.
What I hadn’t anticipated: for every dashed cycle path on my map, there were about 20 paths that did not appear on my map. Chaos ensued. My sense of direction rapidly vanished, and Google Maps continually suggested the more direct non-cycle-path routes.
I made it to the stadium with plenty of time to spare, only to be confronted by a Pro-Palestine/Anti-Genocide protest at the main gate.
There was a heavy police presence. All officers spoke perfect English — I expected nothing less from the Netherlands – and I was advised to hang around until midday, when they’d force an access route into the ground.
I chatted to a German fan. He was armed with a large birthday present for his son, who was playing for Germany. A more organised Bat Flips & Nerds writer would have taken down his son’s name to include in a future article. I didn’t. He did, however, mention another entrance around the back of the stadium, so I figured it was worth a try, and scooted around the complex — which was far bigger than I expected — and found an entry designated for officials.
The Early Bird entry ticket was very reasonably priced — £130 for all 32 games in Rotterdam. However, I knew that accreditation would unlock access otherwise impossible for a regular ticket holder.
The event is far more low-key than, say, the World Baseball Classic, MLB games, or the London Series, so the threshold for accreditation is far lower. Still, I needed to lay the groundwork properly if I wanted a shot.
I had already produced a couple of preview articles. Information was hard to pin down as the WBSC website — the organisers of the tournament — had conflicting info scattered across different sections. I contacted them directly, pointing out a couple of errors, and explained that, while baseball may be minor in the UK, it’s growing — and I planned to be there all eight days, promoting the sport at every opportunity.
My accreditation application generated a generic response that only requests from legitimate organisations/journalists would be considered, and that accreditation is reserved for professional media representatives. I was asked to provide additional information.
I am a professional media representative – although, for professional, I am opting for the definition of “competent” rather than “paid”. So I bombarded them with links to all my work across social media platforms, the podcast Russ and I recorded after GB beat Colombia in the WBC, my articles for The Independent and Sports Illustrated, write-ups from GB tournaments in Regensburg, Brno, and Phoenix, plus London Series coverage.
It was slightly shocking to see the portfolio I’d built in this part-time hobby. On the Bat Flips & Nerds website alone, I’ve written nearly half a million words. That’s a hell of a lot of clichés, and an almost criminal overuse of the word “awesome.”
I realise that the organisers were only trying to sieve out the grifters from the grafters, so anyone willing to produce content that gives the tournament positive publicity is a win for them.
Accreditation was granted three weeks before the tournament, which gave me one less thing to worry about in the run-up. But until you get that lanyard around your neck, you’re still floundering under the tyranny of imposter syndrome.
Getting my pass was my first interaction with the staff at the officials’ entry office. I ended up seeing the same three ladies of Caribbean heritage every morning for the next seven days. Partly because I greeted them each day with a cheery “Hello, ladies,” and partly because I was a geeky Brit with a weird name lugging his bike through their portacabin, they always replied with a giggly “Helloooo Gav.”
On this first morning, they found my name on the list and handed over the pass. I inwardly punched the air. And even though the protests were still blocking the main entrance, I was in.
SIDE NOTE: GABRIEL FIEDLER
I walked past the teams’ marquee, the food marquee (for players only — my pass didn’t stretch that far), and then spied Gabriel Fiedler in the Media Content marquee. I’d met Gabriel once before in Brno. He is probably the most knowledgeable and most respected Brit covering international baseball. His website, Extra Innings UK, is a treasure trove of player, team, and league info.
On top of that, he’s a thoroughly entertaining guy, and generous with his time. Any conversation with Gabriel is a joy. He was providing commentary for all of GB’s games, plus plenty more on the secondary field.
THE SECONDARY FIELD
The Neptunus complex consisted of the main 2,500-seater stadium, a secondary field with bench seating for around 50, and a couple of practice areas. It was even more impressive than the facilities in Brno or Collecchio that I had visited, both of which outshone anything we have in the UK.
A vendor at one of the food stalls, spotting that I was English, asked about football. “That’s the main sport here,” he said, “no one really follows baseball.” I looked around and replied, “Well, if this is what a minor sport gets, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do in the UK.”
The secondary field offered perfectly fine standing viewing for 50–100 spectators, but when the Dutch were scheduled to play later on the main field, hordes of orange-clad fans would occupy the space, killing the view for fans of the teams playing on the secondary field. Frustrating, to say the least.
The fixture committee had decided that all Dutch games would be on the main field, and with the exception of one, all started at the prime time slot of 7:30 p.m. The complex took on a proper party atmosphere when the Dutch played in the evening, with long queues at the concession stands… and the loos.
On evenings without the Netherlands, the place was disappointingly quiet, leaving you wondering why the tickets weren’t just given away.
The Italy v France game — Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. — was one of the most thrilling games I watched, yet only about 50 spectators filled the 2,500-seater stadium. The drinks and food vendors must have been kicking their heels, silently lamenting lost revenue.
GREAT BRITAIN’S GROUP & SCHEDULE
- Saturday: GB v the Netherlands (main field)
- Sunday: GB v Israel (secondary field)
- Monday: GB v France (secondary field)
Subsequent games would depend on the knockout stages.
I had dubbed this group, Pool B, the “Group of Death.” Cliché? Yes. Appropriate? Absolutely. The Netherlands were favourites, and with GB and Israel also headed to next year’s World Baseball Classic, only one team in the quartet wouldn’t be WBC-bound.
Europe is sending five countries to the WBC — three of them in Pool B — so “Group of Death” felt like the correct terminology.
And with the word terminology, we move to the walk-on-eggshells subject of Israel.
ISRAEL
I wasn’t surprised that my “Group of Death” reference triggered a few social media comments, but I hadn’t expected Israel’s presence in the tournament to cause me so many problems. If I could describe Austria’s 26-2 win over Hungary as a massacre or annihilation, then surely the same words could be applied in any piece about Israel.
But no, I found that I consciously (or subconsciously) censored myself a bit, avoiding “massacre” or “annihilation” when writing about Israel. However, I still used other combative, hyperbolic terms that I’ve employed my whole life.
After GB’s 16-1 annihilation, destruction, defeat of Israel, I was informed that a headline in one of my articles — and its subsequent retweet by GB Baseball — had drawn unwanted attention. I had no desire to create extra headaches for the already-stretched-thin national team staff, so I amended the headline and silently rued how one team’s participation could cause so much disruption for everyone else.
Rewind to me standing at the main gates on my first morning. About 50 protestors were chanting “Free, Free Palestine” in a surprisingly melodic rhythm, not unlike the “U-S-A” chants at the Olympics or Ryder Cup. It was uncomfortable. I was being filmed — by whom, I don’t know — but at least two people were recording me while I observed ten metres from the barricade.
With such a heavy police presence, trouble seemed unlikely. But then you remember the scuffles and attacks on police at UK flag marches, and you realise the grievance of the protestors here feels far more tangible.
Like GB, Israel’s games were all on the secondary field except their showpiece against the Netherlands — that fixture was to be the biggest headache for the organisers. Israel’s other pool and knockout games could be tucked away on the secondary field, where security was tighter, access more restricted, and risk to the public lower.
When I arrived at the secondary field for the first time, my accreditation pass proudly dangling from my lanyard, France was already leading Israel 3-0. A Rob Paller grand slam in the fourth brought Israel back into contention, and a shell-shocked (can I use that term?) French side conceded five more runs before the game was called early due to the weather.
I later learned that, before the game — delayed by two and a half hours — a protestor had managed to get onto the field and doused the mound with red paint (a blood substitute). He was trying to get a flag from his jacket, and onlookers had no idea how the armed Israeli security personnel would react.
Afterwards, someone told me “I really didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire” and “We were five or ten seconds from the tournament being cancelled [had security used lethal force].” These weren’t flippant remarks — they came from some of the most respected individuals in the sport.
A usually enthusiastic GB fan told me that he opted not to attend the GB v Israel or Israel v Netherlands games for personal safety reasons.
The following day’s schedule, published the night before, was frequently adjusted at short notice to disrupt protestors’ plans. It was genuinely impressive how the organisers balanced security pressures with logistics of running a major tournament, and all while ignoring what must have been hundreds — maybe thousands — of messages accusing them of “sport-washing” or complicity in atrocities.
One message sent directly to me, framed my attendance at the tournament as supporting the murder of 66,000 Palestinians. It was shocking. I use baseball as a drug to escape the real world, a distraction from the politics and hatred that dog my daily life.
Towards the end of the tournament, when an Israeli journalist was bemoaning why they always had to play early-start games, I had to bite my tongue.
NEPTUNUS CLUBHOUSE
In Brno, the makeshift media centre was a marquee with TV screens showing the live games, and plenty of desks and power points. In Phoenix, there were 40 field-facing desks, each with power and USB points. In Rotterdam, it was the clubhouse of Neptunus Baseball Club, with a central bar, a dozen small wooden tables and about three electrical sockets for 25 people.
I quickly found a hidden away power socket that the others had missed, and started working. The pipe in the ceiling above dripped, so I had to perch my laptop precariously to avoid electrocution or accidentally burning down the clubhouse — but it wasn’t until I left that night that I realised the drips had pooled directly beneath my now thoroughly sodden rucksack.
Although there was a bar and a kitchen, there was no food available for non-players. The Czech team — their start delayed — wandered in and ate lunch: beef teriyaki, which smelled absolutely fantastic. There wasn’t even a vending machine. All we had was a coffee maker. The famous coffee maker. If you don’t know the story, stay tuned.
SIDE NOTE: ADAM JONES
It was cold on the Monday morning when I arrived. Lack of sleep and lack of proper food probably didn’t help. The coffee machine in the clubhouse was empty.
Call me stupid, but it didn’t even cross my mind that we could refill it. I just presumed it was periodically refreshed by the Neptunus staff, so when I saw this guy – obviously not a clubhouse worker – rummaging through the cupboard for more filter papers, he caught my attention.
He also caught my attention as he was an athletic chap who oozed charisma. I’m not adequately eloquent to explain what it was about this guy, but he had an aura, a presence.
An official told him that they had people to refill the machine, but he joked that he was happy to help out as he was one of team.
I needed coffee, so sauntered over. We chatted about the game the night before – Spain v Czechia – I opined that Spain was dreadful; swinging and missing at everything.
I couldn’t place him, but suspected he was an ambassador for the sport or an ex-player brought in for publicity. I asked what his role was this week.
“Oh, I’m the hitting coach for Spain”
I apologised for my comments, and he graciously agreed that there were many poor decisions by the hitters. I took the coffee he had made me, and Googled “Spanish Hitting Coach” as I walked towards the field.
Five-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, 282 home runs over 7009 at-bats for a 32.5 WAR. And Adam Jones was just about the nicest guy you could ever meet. In my post at the time, I put “It’s funny, I’m writing about it here, yet he probably forgot about the interaction before he even finished his coffee.”
And then this appeared…
GERMANY v CZECHIA
You’ll remember I mentioned it took me an hour to record the brief social media piece on the bike — so, naturally, I decided to try again. This time, I walked. By not staring down the lens like a startled, stuttering meerkat, I felt far less self-conscious, and it only took a couple of takes. Maybe this was the way forward.
I’ve always preferred writing to talking. Writing lets you revise, polish, and delete the stupid bits before anyone sees them. But in this world of short-attention-span, swipe-happy content, I realised I needed to produce instant, snackable clips rather than longer, more thoughtful reports. Let’s be honest, how many of you are actually going to get to the end of this 20,000-word article?
I watched the first game, Germany v Czechia, from the external area by the clubhouse-slash-media centre. I was teased in the Bat Flips & Nerds WhatsApp group about an “Accidental Partridge” reference after I made a comment about the Germans. But I stand by the basis of my point — you can never underestimate Germany in any tournament, regardless of the sport. Although today I was firmly Team Czechia.
The domestic baseball scene in the Czech Republic is something special. Even the smaller towns have baseball fields, and the bigger ones can host full tournaments. Trebič, where the recent U23 Euros were held, has a population of just 35,000. If only there was a book about this – click if you’re brave enough.
One of my lasting memories from the 2023 European Championship in Brno was the Czech fans — drumming, singing, and chanting every player’s name like it was a rock concert. Sure, I understood it for a former MLB guy like Eric Sogard, but hearing kids bellowing walk-up songs for Martin Mužík and Vojtěch Menšík still gives me chills.
Rain had delayed my first game, Germany v Czechia but there was the same buzz of excitement that I have felt at Lords and Wimbledon when the covers were removed. Joey Mellows and I fist-pumped. This is why we have travelled to Rotterdam. When play started, Germany scored two in the first, three in the fifth, and by the time they scored another three in the eighth to move the score to 8-0, I was beginning to fear that Czechia would fail to progress to the quarter finals.
SIDE NOTE: JOEY MELLOWS aka BASEBALL BRIT
I first met Joey ahead of the 2019 London Series. I was flattered that he knew me and even more flattered that he seemed to like chatting with me. The problem with my sort of social anxiety is that I always suspect “new” people will take an instant dislike or worse still, just an indifference.
Joey was and probably still is the best-known non-celebrity British baseball fan. He famously quit his teaching job and travelled around the USA, visiting all 30 MLB grounds and taking in as many minor league and independent league games as possible. He has embarked on the most incredible adventures, which (unfortunately) are not my stories to tell, but if he does ever commit his experiences to paper, it will be an anecdote-filled bestseller.
Despite the extraordinary exploits and the iconic moustache, he is a surprisingly quiet chap. I suspect the newfound fame had its downsides. I can’t imagine the vitriol that 40,000 Twitter followers produce.
Having taught in Korea for much of the last few years, the 40-year-old is looking for a new adventure, so decided upon learning (and educating) about international baseball. It’s possible Joey could become the British version of Michael Clair or Shawn Spradling.
I was fortunate to spend much of the eight days in Joey’s company. I can relate to the contradiction between introverted and extraverted personality traits, but he possesses a level of self-confidence that I envy. There are no social media selfies of me with baseball stars. I just don’t have it in me to ask for the photo.
He was like a knowledge sponge. Wanting to know everything about players, strategy, the competition, and its history. Truth be known, he seems a little unsettled, and I’m not sure that this International baseball quest will sate his thirst for a challenge, but it’s good to have him back in the baseball world.
GREAT BRITAIN v NETHERLANDS
It was a pity that the scheduling Gods put GB’s highest profile game as the team’s first fixture, before we had an opportunity to ease ourselves (both players and fans) into the tournament.
The sellout crowd was not perturbed by the rain or the delayed start. The queue for beers was too long to consider getting another.
SIDE NOTE: LIAM CARROLL
Disappointingly, I was walking back from the refreshments area toward the stadium earlier in the day, when the GB crew meandered in the opposite direction. I say disappointingly, as I was carrying two beers back during the Czech game – one for me and one for a British Baseball Federation official – when Liam Carroll appeared in front of me. We greeted each other, and in lieu of being able to shake my hand, he gave me a side rub. Two thoughts stay with me: one, it didn’t look very professional, me having a late-afternoon beer while they are preparing to play, and two, I need to go to the gym more.
Bat Flips & Nerds’ success is intertwined with Liam’s career progression. He was one of the very first guests we had on the podcast (podcast No 4 if you want to check it out) and by making his fifth appearance (Podcast No 369) he became our most frequent guest. Bat Flips and Nerds have been one of Liam’s biggest and most vocal cheerleaders.
To be honest, that is almost entirely down to the Bat Flips & Nerds’ OG. When I joined, Liam had left the GB head coach role, so it was only at the recent coaching conference that I had my first decent conversation with him. He has the reputation that everyone, and I mean absolutely everyone, who comes into contact with him has nothing but the best things to say.
Liam is the poster boy that an extensive playing career is not a prerequisite to an elite coaching career. His path has now taken him to the Red Sox organisation, where he is the Head Coach with High-A Greenville Drive.
The differences in the challenges between this player development-focused role at Greenville and the results-first role as a member of the GB coaching staff must be stark.
He is a hands-on coach who demands the highest standards from his players. And I simply can’t imagine any of his players turning up late or giving half-measures in training.
Shout out to this article on Liam’s attendance at the Coach Edge Conference 2025
As if to emphasise the challenge ahead for Great Britain, the Dutch lineup started with Didi Gregorius, who was followed by Jonathan Schoop. In MLB terms, the two most experienced players in the tournament.
If you’d ask me to guess, I would have suggested that Didi’s career success far surpassed that of Schoop, but it is surprising how similar their career stats look.
So while the Dutch were leading off with former Yankees’ shortstop Gregorius, Great Britain gave that honour to Max Viera, a 24-year-old bundle of energy who played the 2025 season with the High Point Rockers in the Independent Atlantic League. To say that the contrast between the two sides was striking would be to flounder in a sea of understatement.
Nick Wells was given the ball to start the first game. The 6-foot-5 lefty also played 2025 in the Atlantic League, but for the Gastonia Ghost Peppers. Nick led the team with 22 starts, although we might want to gloss over the 6.27 ERA.
Wells looked confident on the mound. He has a presence. Great Britain needed a good start. A confidence boosting start. First pitch was a ball. No problem, shake it off. Second pitch was obliterated by Gregorius to deep right centre. “Welcome to international baseball, lads.”
Schoop was next up. Strike one, strike two, single up the middle. It already looked like it was going to be a long evening for the GB pitchers.
Catcher Hendrik Clementina walked to the plate. Every one of these Dutch hitters looked like they could launch the ball over the fence at will on this heavy, damp night. Wells struck him out swinging. Great work, Nick. Now we were up and running.
Sharlon Schoop was the next batter. Despite over 2,000 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A, Jonathan’s older brother never made it to the majors. It illustrates the narrow margin between those that enjoy a major league career and those who just don’t quite make the cut.
Schoop the Elder became Wells’ second strikeout victim, and when Juremi Profar grounded to Chris Bear, the shortstop tossed it to Viera at second base to secure the out. Great Britain had weathered the initial Dutch storm. There was a growing sense of optimism that this might not be as one-sided as first envisaged.
That optimism grew after Nick Ward drew a walk, was moved over to second by Will Cresswell, and then driven home by centre fielder Charlie Collins. That was impressive.
GB 1-1 Netherlands
The second inning was three up, three down for both teams. The Dutch starter, Tom de Blok is a hometown favourite. He actually played for Neptunus, whose stadium the event was being hosted in. Although the 29-year-old is already a gold medallist from the 2016 European Championship, his career hasn’t panned out as expected.
As a 17-year-old, de Blok signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners, but returned home after his first stint of spring training, citing that the experience was very different from what he imagined. He had no fun and was not happy there. Baseball in America is a job, but in his mind, it should be fun.
Dutch right fielder, Delano Selassa, who features in MLB’s Michael Clair’s Team of the Tournament, singled to get the third inning started, but Wells induced two ground outs and then an easy fly out to continue his great start.
SIDE NOTE: MICHAEL CLAIR
MLB’s international correspondent is arguably the most important voice in global baseball. His “International Beat” newsletter for MLB is a must-read for anyone interested in the sport outside of its usual USA-centricity.
I am as jealous of his skill for data and narrative-driven storytelling as I am of his huge memory bank of facts and figures. Oh, and he is just about one of the nicest guys I’ve met within baseball.
Although Michael was unable to attend the tournament in Europe, it seems like he watched almost every game, and was constantly providing updates. Plus he created his Team of the Tournament.
STOP PRESS
Michael’s book “We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball” about the rise of baseball in Czechia is released on 1 April 2026.
I’ve already got my pre-order in. I suggest you do the same.
Three up, three down for GB in the bottom of the third, and Wells again knocked over the Dutch attack with the minimum of fuss at the top of the fourth.
The pressure on Will Cresswell coming into the tournament could have overwhelmed a lesser man. For the last three tournaments, GB have relied on the talents of catcher Harry Ford. The 22-year-old Ford has enjoyed a career year in Triple-A, hitting homers for fun, getting on-base at over a .400 clip, and taking his already impressive defensive skills to the next level. 2025 has dismissed any suggestion that his future is not behind the plate.
He would have been the most exciting player at the Euro Championships. Sure, Gregorius, Schoop et al have more name recognition, but Harry is a legitimate superstar-in-waiting, and he’s only 22.
Unfortunately, for selfish GB fans like me, Harry was never going to play and his presence was sorely missed in Rotterdam. Obviously, we at Bat Flips & Nerds are absolutely thrilled to bits that the young man made his major league debut, collected his first hits, made his postseason debut, and will now have an opportunity to vie for regular playing time with a move to the Washington Nationals.
Ford’s omission from the roster opened the door for Will Cresswell to become the primary catcher. Cresswell, like Ford, is also 22 years old. He was selected in the 18th round of the 2025 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, so in the space of around 10 weeks, he was drafted by the Blue Jays and became GB’s primary catcher in the European Championship. I’m not sure if he expected either.
You know, when you read something and you have no way to verify its accuracy easily, well, this is one of those occasions. Apparently, Will’s uncle is a professional Ultimate Frisbee player in Taiwan.
Cresswell was first up in the fourth inning, but dragged the ball to third base for the first out.
Charlie Collins hit a deep single to centre field to get on base for the second time. One of the few GB-born players on the roster, Collins is already a gold medallist this year, helping guide the U23s to victory in August, where he went 4-for-13 with one run, three RBI, and two stolen bases.
The London-born 22-year-old spent the season with the Southeastern Fire in the Sun Conference League, but looks like he belongs on the big stage.
First baseman Quinn Allen then singled through the right side, and suddenly GB had two men on base. Michael Flaherty struck out to make it two-on and two-out.
Up strode Julian Sanders. After striking out with an eight-pitch plate appearance in his first at-bat, Sanders was ready to do some damage. A veteran from the 2023 Euros in Czechia, where he scored four crucial runs in GB’s route to the final. Sanders fouled one off in between two balls, and then drove a hard-hit single to centre to score Collins rushing around from second.
GB 2-1 Netherlands
This was more like it. This was the Great Britain – afraid of no one – that I had come to adore. This was the Great Britain that we saw take on Mookie Betts and Mike Trout in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Chris Bear walked to load the bases. Kennard Dawson swaggered to the plate. KD, the outfielder from the British Virgin Islands who has an impressive .366 AVG over the last two European Championships, is dynamic in the outfield, mesmerising on the basepaths, and now we needed him to make contact at the plate.
You know that we are at 5,000 words and haven’t even reached the mid-point of Game 1? Stay with me.
The 25-year-old fouled off pitch one, fouled off pitch two, and then, after the closest of calls, and to the relief of most of the 3,000 fans in Neptunus complex, he struck out looking.
Ok, to be honest, I don’t know how many spectators were watching, but I do know that there are around 2,500 seats and the complex has a capacity of 6,000. The WBSC website gives a nice round attendance figure of 3,000 for this game, and most of them were supporting the Netherlands.
The Dutch fans had even more reason to cheer when Eugene Helder fouled off three straight and then demolished Wells’ pitch to deep left field.
GB 2-2 Netherlands
Wells continued to roll, striking out Gregorius and Schoop (Jonathan) to end the fifth. He really was putting in an impressive shift.
GB went down in order at the bottom of the fifth, although it was another impressive at-bat by Viera. The patience of the young, inexperienced GB hitters was impressive.
The Netherlands called upon Lars Huijer to take the mound. Once on the Mariners’ books with a minor league deal, Huijer is a stalwart of Dutch pitching
Although the score was even, it felt like the Dutch were dominant and the most likely to prevail. Great Britain needed to score again, otherwise the pressure from the hosts could become too much to bear.
And it was very nearly too much Chris Bear for the Netherlands. See what I did there? As the GB shortstop looked like he had given Great Britain the lead.
It started with Charlie Collins getting on base again, this time with a hit-by-pitch. Allen and Flaherty flew out in quick succession without enough depth on their hits to move Collins over. That was the role of Sanders – who, by the end of the Pool stages, we had nicknamed “Charli” in reference to his status as a hit machine (Charli XCX). Sanders singled with a line drive over the first baseman’s head to give GB two on and two out again.
Chris Bear watched three pitches – a ball and two strikes – and then drove a single, which would have loaded the bases at worst, but a defensive misplay and heads-up base running by Charlie Collins made it into a run-scoring single.
At least, that’s what it looked like. The umpire took his time to process and then called GB’s centre fielder out at the plate. The stadium erupted with approval.
So no run, no loaded bases. That was the third out of the inning, and the score was still tied 2-2.
It was a gut-punch. In a game of inches – damn, I hate non-metric measurements – in a game of centimetres, that one could have gone either way. It didn’t help that one of the photographers standing close by showed a still that looked like the umpire had made an error.
SIDE NOTE: GABOR ERDOS
Gabor Erdos is one of the Europe’s most respected umpires. The former British Baseball Federation Umpire Director was working as a Technical Commission for the tournament. The following day, he explained that the best place on the entire field to make the call was exactly where the umpire was standing. It was fascinating to listen to an expert illustrate that the position and angle of the umpire is far more important than the distance they are from the tag, or a simple photo from a particular angle. And then he showed me other images that suggested that the call was correct.
But that didn’t stop me from feeling thoroughly frustrated at 10:30 p.m. on that Saturday night.
If any moment in the game felt pivotal, it was that one.
Top of the seventh. Helder walked and with Nick Wells on 105 pitches after he struck out Ray-Patrick Didder, a 30-year-old infielder with more than 1,000 games in the minors, Brad Marcelino knew it was time for a pitching change.
It was a supersized effort by the GB starter. He was replaced by Ryan Long, who immediately made it two outs by whizzing a strike past Delano Selassa despite the Dutchman fouling off five pitches.
Gregorius, next at the plate, lifted a routine flyball to left field. Long had got us out of the inning unscathed… at least, that’s how it looked with the ball dropping towards Kennard Dawson.
Now let me clarify something. I bandy about the phrase “routine flyball” as someone who has never caught a flyball, routine or otherwise, so this is in no way a criticism of the GB left fielder that the catch was missed, allowing Helder to score and give the Netherlands the lead. Dawson deserves credit for not letting the incident disrupt the fundamentals of his play, as he missiled the ball to the cutoff man, who gunned down Gregorius audaciously attempting to get to third.
Bizarrely, in my opinion, it was not ruled an error. I later discovered that it is a well-known circumstance in Neptunus that the wind swirls violently above stadium height, severely disrupting the trajectory of the ball, and the scorer often rules chances like this as non-errors. So, KD, my bad. It was not your fault.
I needed clarification, so I contacted BBF’s scoring director, Jason Toms, who confirmed the ruling’s interpretation – you should read Jason’s baseball origin story – not now, get through his article first. But I’ll tell you something, it’s great to have experts like Jason on speed dial.
It was a tough break for Ryan Long, whose pitching line would have liked that as an error.
GB 2-3 Netherlands
You know a couple of minutes ago when I suggested that the contentious call at home plate was pivotal? Well, perhaps the flyball dropping was the actual pivotal moment.
Well it might have been if it wasn’t for Nick Ward aka Captain Clutch. The GB co-captain (with Alex Webb) has produced more big moments for Great Britain than I can remember.
With GB trailing 2-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Nick Ward came to the plate with two outs. He took a strike and then launched the ball to deep left centre. On another day, it might have cleared the fences, but the air was heavy, it was cold, the wind was blowing in, so tonight it was just a double.
Will Cresswell, whom I was surprised to see would go on to lead all players in the tournament in strikeouts, singled up the middle, and Ward scampered home to draw GB level again. There might be more new faces than old ones, but the resilience of Liam Carroll’s and Drew Spencer’s teams remains in Brad Marcelino’s.
Charlie Collins flew out to right, and GB took their tally of left-on-base to seven.
GB 3-3 Netherlands
The score parity didn’t survive one pitch as Jonathan Schoop pounced on Ryan Long and despatched a solo homer over the left field fence. Remember what I said about the conditions not being conducive to hitting homers? Well, these Dutch guys are made of different stuff.
Sharlon Schoop came to bat after Hendrik Clementina walked, and the older Schoop catapulted the ball over the right field fence, and just like that the score was 6-3. It was almost in the blink of an eye.
Juremi Profar, Jurickson’s younger brother, might not have enjoyed the 12-year MLB career of his brother, but would go on to lead the European Championship with zero strikeouts in 28 plate appearances. He singled to heap more pressure on Long, and Brad Marcelino called right-handed pitcher Andrew Campbell into the action.
Campbell looked devastating in dismissing the next three hitters. The U23 gold medalist looks like a star in the making.
Great Britain had six outs left.
The Dutch brought in Jaydenn Estanista, a 23-year-old who reached Double-A this year with the Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies affiliate), and he immediately lit up the speed gun. Trust me, when you’re standing behind home plate netting, 98 MPH is scarily fast.
He immediately struck out Quinn Allen and induced Michael Flaherty to ground out, before Julian Sanders singled – of course, he did – to give GB fans hope.
Such is the depth of the Dutch bullpen, that they swapped Estanista for Kevin Kelly. The 35-year-old is a legend of Dutch baseball. Although he spent the 2025 season in the Mexican League, he has 10 years of work in the Dutch league with a minuscule 1.97 ERA. Can you imagine such dominance over a decade of work?
Kelly, who would finish the tournament with incredible figures of 10⅔ innings, 21 strikeouts, zero runs, and zero walks, unsurprisingly secured the Best Pitcher Award.
Here, with one on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, he was pushed to the limit by Chris Bear, who worked a full count but flew out to end the inning.
GB 3-6 Netherlands
Great Britain needed to keep it close in the ninth to give them one more roll of the dice, but with one on and one out, Jonathan Schoop towered another flyball to centre field. I’m not really sure what happened, but in the drizzle, the ball wasn’t caught and then it was fumbled, allowing a run to score.
When Hendrik Clementina became the fifth Netherlands player to homer, taking the score to 9-3, we knew it was all over. Although, no one told Matt Ward, who entered as a pinch hitter, and fouled off nine pitches before swinging through a Kelly fastball.
Max Viera got his first hit of the night but two quick outs and the Netherlands were deserved winners. They had too much experience and too much power, but with eight GB players making their senior debuts, I cycled back to the hotel with a positive vibe about the rest of the tournament. And I only made two wrong turnings.
It was past midnight when I reached the hotel, and the next game was starting in less than 12 hours. If I was feeling drained, I can’t imagine how the players and staff felt, but I guess they are elite athletes who are trained for this.
I showered, caught up with work emails for an hour or so, and then it hit me that I hadn’t eaten all day, and the only thing I had in the room was…
DAY THREE (Sunday)
Went for an early morning run to wake me up. My mood is always improved by a run, even if, like today, it was raining. I suspected more delayed starts and delayed finishes ahead.
I am convinced that running is the single best thing you can do in the rain. Getting wet seems to impact all other pastimes, but you could argue that it improves running. There is something refreshing, something life-affirming about getting out there with the rain blowing into your face.
Unfortunately, despite Google informing me otherwise, the supermarket I was aiming for did not open at the advertised time of 9:00 a.m., so I was unable to get supplies. Hanging around in the rain outside a Dutch supermarket waiting for it to open is not high on the list of enjoyable activities in bad weather, so I trotted back to the hotel.
I checked the other Day One results. Italy had thumped Switzerland 18-0 and Spain had beaten Sweden 15-0. The Italian v Swiss game had the interesting stat that the Swiss Baseball and Softball President, Andrea Girasole, was the starting pitcher. Now, absolutely no disrespect to Rich Evans, the energetic president of BBF (and by all accounts a decent third baseman for Bristol), but I pictured a Swiss version of him getting destroyed on the mound – five runs, no outs, pulled after 19 pitches in the first inning. He was then replaced by Simon Steffen, who allowed seven runs with once again no outs. Italy found themselves up 12 – 0 before their first out.
SIDE NOTE: RICH EVANS
Getting to know Rich, President of the British Baseball Federation, was one of the joys of my week. I have never understood – and still don’t – the fragile relationship between BSUK, BBF, GB and other baseball in the UK, but it certainly appears that Rich has smoothed over former grievances, and domestic baseball seems to be running with less friction than ever.
Now I’m sure there are plenty of players and teams that would dispute this, but from my limited knowledge, baseball in the UK feels more organised, more professional than it did, say five years ago.
Anyway, there is plenty more I’d like to say about Rich – he is a truly extraordinary character – but some conversations must remain confidential. #WhatHappensInRotterdamStaysInRotterdam
I cycled to the stadium – just one wrong turning today – and was greeted by significant extra security. As it was my second day in the complex, I recognised some faces – some are officials or players, and others who try to look casual but are obviously not baseball fans, are presumably Israeli security forces.
GB v ISRAEL
When interviewed by MLB’s Eliz Muratore, Brad Marcelino promised to bring ‘a bunch of freaking tough dogs‘ to the World Baseball Classic. I don’t know if we will see Alex Webb in Houston next March, but he is the toughest of tough dogs.
The guy hasn’t played serious club baseball for many years and only pitched about 30 innings this season, yet GB’s co-captain showed the tenacity that pulsates through the Great Britain roster. Yes, he allowed a few hits, and yes, he walked a couple, and there was a wild pitch in there, and a couple of hit batters, but the resilience to keep Israel scoreless through his 4 1/3 innings of work was simply awe-inspiring.
With Webb doing his part on the mound, he needed the bats to do theirs, and they lived up to their side of the deal.
The second inning was just about as perfect as you could wish for, and remember, GB is facing Israel, the 21st ranked team in the world, and a team that is bound for the World Baseball Classic. It is a fair argument to suggest that the Israel team in the WBC in March will look very different to the roster in Rotterdam, but many think the same about Great Britain. The WBC-sage Shawn Spradling produced this graphic and you don’t see many names who were in the Netherlands on 21st September 2025.
SIDE NOTE: SHAWN SPRADLING
In the world of limited detail and sketchy information about international baseball, an energetic guy from Texas emerged to quickly establish himself as the world’s leading expert on global baseball.
Shawn – who I believe is independent and not employed by one of the big players – works tirelessly to get the latest WBC and international baseball news and views out to a wider audience.
While I whined about not having enough info on the GB players, I’m pretty sure that Shawn maintains a database on all players eligible for countries as far afield as Nicaragua, South Africa, and Australia. I should have asked him about Great Britain.
If any of this article interests you in European, International, or GB baseball, then you NEED to follow Shawn on one of his social media platforms.
And, yes I know you’ve heard this before, but he is genuinely one of the nicest guys I have ever met.
Getting back to the game, Quinn Allen started the epic second inning with a four-pitch walk.
Ok, let’s rewind a little. Yes, the result of the second inning was perfect, but GB had the weather Gods on their side. I’ll sidestep the obvious religious joke there. With the rain falling progressively harder, Israel’s starter Joshua Wolf seemed unable to grip the ball, or at least he couldn’t find the strike zone with the wet ball.
So, Allen is on with a walk, and Julian Sanders singles (obviously), and after Shamoy Christopher struck out swinging for the fences, Chris Bear walked to load the bases.
And then time was called for a weather delay. I would have been desperately disappointed if the roles had been reversed. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and it is in surplus supply for baseball writers, so I can categorically say that the game should have been halted after the first batter.
It was only a 15-minute delay. The covers came off and the bases reloaded. Matt Ward scuffed the ball to third, and Israel botched their attempt to throw home, and gift-wrapped two runs for GB. Lovely stuff.
Max Viera walked to load the bases, and with Nick Ward next at the plate, two things were inevitable. Poor Wolf, who had been thrown to the Lions, would get pulled, and Nick would not pass up a bases-loaded opportunity.
New pitcher Alex Katz had no answer to Ward’s patience at the plate and walked in another run. Will Cresswell worked a full count but swung and missed for the second out of the inning.
The increasingly impressive Charlie Collins drew yet another walk to move the scoreboard to 4-0. I don’t know when Charlie switched his allegiance from representing Australia to representing Great Britain, but I’m pleased he did.
The difference was far greater than the 4-0 scoreline. GB had thrown down a marker to the Israeli team: pitch in the zone and we will drive it, pitch out of the zone and we’re happy for you to give us as many free passes as you want. This was top-drawer baseball from the predominantly young hitters.
Great Britain added another in the fourth inning, when Max Viera doubled, was moved over by Nick Ward, and then driven home by a Will Cresswell sac-fly.
Israel loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth, but Webb shut the door to increase the frustration within the Israel camp. It was noticeable, having watched 20 different teams over the eight days, the award for Most Whiny at the Umpires went to Israel. I believe they led the tournament in ejections.
With two on and one out in the fifth, Alex Webb’s day was done after one of the most gutsy 83 pitches I remember seeing. Chapeau.
Zach Cameron got the ball to make his debut for Great Britain. The 22-year-old secured two quick outs, and the inning was over. Zach pitched this season for Ottawa in the Frontier League. How on earth does GB find these guys?
One of my biggest regrets about the tournament was the lack of information about the GB players. Have I mentioned that before? I wanted to insert a quip here along on the lines of – I don’t want to sound racist, but all these young white boys look the same to me – but I was advised to omit it.
GB blew the game open in the sixth inning. It started with a Matt Ward walk, followed by Nick Ward getting clipped by a pitch, and then Will Cresswell drawing a free pass; GB had the bases loaded again.
The secondary field had wooden benches that seated 50 or so. I was sitting on the benches immediately behind home plate with GB’s U12 coach Chris Ward and the Ministry of Baseball’s CJ. We clocked the size of Israel’s new pitcher, Aaron Mishoulam, and said something along the lines of “He’s a big chap.”
It was lucky that I had not used more colourful terms, as the lady sitting to my left said it was her son. She said he was 6-foot-7 and we should cheer for him. I replied that although I wanted her son to do well, the bases were loaded, so I wanted GB to score.
And score they did. First, a wild pitch which allowed Matt Ward to score. Then a dreadful throw from second was all the encouragement Nick Ward needed to trot home. Moments later, Julian Sanders drove in Quinn Allen to push the score to 8-0.
I did not make further eye contact with the mother, but reading the box scores afterwards, I smirked with the realisation that her son had inherited a bases-loaded situation, thrown a wild pitch and seen three runs score on his watch, yet left the game with a 0.00 ERA.
Israel scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the seventh – full disclosure, I missed the run and was somewhat taken aback when the scoreboard showed 8-1 instead of 8-0.
Great Britain continued with their relentless attack. Chris Bear walked, and then Matt Ward doubled.
But wait, that sentence does not do justice to what happened. This was one of the most unlikely plays of the tournament. Matt Ward absolutely crushed the ball to the short right field boundary. For all the world, it looked like it was a two-run homer, but instead of clearing the fence, it hit the fence’s horizontal metal pole and ricocheted vertically before dropping into the appreciative right-fielder’s awaiting glove.
I haven’t checked it out, but in Savannah Bananas’ rules, if the fielder had caught it bare-handed, Matt would have been out.
Instead, it was just a double, but a Max Viera sac-fly pushed the score tantalisingly close to the Mercy Rule.
SIDE NOTE: THE MERCY RULE
The Mercy Rule caused confusion with several people in established positions who were unconfident about the rule. Give them their dues, they cover baseball, softball, men, women, and all different ages, so the rules vary. And the rules are different in the European Championship and the World Baseball Classic. And, in the case of the WBC, they vary between the pool group and knockout fixtures. So, I’ll cut them some slack for not knowing for sure.
Anyway, in the crowd, we believed, and it proved correct, that a 10-run difference after seven innings would cause the game to halt. The same occurs for a 15-run difference after five innings, a scoreline that both Italy and Spain had enjoyed on Day One.
Zach Cameron effortlessly mowed down the Israeli hitters in order at the bottom of the seventh to preserve the 10-1 lead.
One more run would get the game called. Although, the Mercy Rule doesn’t come into effect immediately if the leading team is batting at the top of the inning. Even if GB scored the run, Israel would still have to play out the bottom of the eighth.
One more run, I said?
Quinn Allen is not a stereotypical first baseman. His glovework is excellent, and he offers a level of security at first base that has been absent since I started following the team. Quinn was a vital component in GB’s gold medal success in the recent U23 European Championship. He hit, walked, got on base, and scored runs. He did not, however, homer.
And in fact, his Baseball Reference page shows only a single home run, which is why it was very satisfying to see the ball leave his bat to travel over the right field fence and establish the 10-run difference.
I later learned that Quinn missed the 2020 and 2021 seasons while undergoing cancer treatment. I’ll be cheering even more enthusiastically as his career continues to flourish.
But Great Britain didn’t want the game to end, and Julian Sanders, with his fourth hit of the day, singled to left. Pinch hitter Cole Eclair epitomised the GB spirit. Having sat and watched from the dugout, it must have been so tempting for the 21-year-old to swing for glory in a near-certain victory, but instead, the GB U23 gold medallist took the free pass to first base after watching four pitches fly past him for balls. It was Cole’s senior debut, the ninth debutant by GB at this tournament. That was an impressive plate appearance.
Unfortunately, Cole was out on a fielder’s choice when Chris Bear beat out the double play, so his debut was pretty short. Matt Ward singled to score Julian Sanders, and Max Viera doubled to right field to score Chris Bear. I couldn’t even keep up with the score, but I knew that GB had two on and Nick Ward was striding to the plate.
The GB co-captain worked himself into a hitter’s count before launching the ball over the right field fence, to take the score to 16-1.
Chris Messer, a veteran from numerous GB campaigns, was given the ball to close out the game for GB, which he did with a glorious strikeout of Chase Engelhard, and then a 4-6-3 double-play secured the win. Yet again, we enjoyed the impressive infield defence of this new-look GB lineup.
So, that was the first win in the books for GB head coach Brad Marcelino.
SIDE NOTE: BRAD MARCELINO
The mantle of inspiring aspiring young GB players to excel was handed from Liam Carroll to Drew Spencer and now to Brad Marcelino. The Essex-born British Baseball Hall of Fame inductee is a renowned hitting coach, currently working for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
His palmares are long and star-studded. One of the most impressive players ever to have worn GB colours (he ranks first in games played and runs scored, second in hits, and third in RBI), Brad is even more impressive as a coach.
Known for his strategic acumen and commitment to player development, it seems inevitable that Great Britain’s reputation on the global stage will continue to increase with Brad at the helm.
I was buzzing after the massacre, obliteration, drubbing of Israel, and treated myself to hot snack from one of the concession stalls. My pulled pork sandwich was a mistake, as it was absolutely delicious, especially with the sliced jalapenos, so I think I had one every day afterwards.
My diet suffered during this trip.
The Netherlands v France game in the main stadium had been on for around 90 minutes when the GB match finished, so I shuffled over there – with my pulled pork sandwich – and located one of the few free seats.
The Netherlands looked even more dominant without putting the ball over the fences. Mind you, the French pitching didn’t help – 10 walks will always make life difficult. The Dutch were underlining their status as tournament favourites.
CZECHIA v SPAIN
At 7:30 p.m., the wind blowing into the stands was bone-chilling. I retrieved my last remaining clothes from the clubhouse and got ready for the main event of the evening – Czechia v Spain.
Even in my five layers, looking several kilos heavier than my actual weight, it was still bitterly cold. I made a mental note to bring even more clothing tomorrow. Bring everything.
Having (surprisingly) lost their opener to Germany, this was a big one for Czechia. Spain, the reigning champions, had got their tournament off to a dramatic start with a 15-0 win. A second straight defeat would extinguish Czechia’s Euro ambitions.
The atmosphere inside Neptunus on Day One when GB faced the hosts was electric. In contrast, the 2,500-seater stadium for every non-Netherlands game was so empty, you could almost introduce yourself personally to every spectator and still take your seat before the end of the first inning.
From the stand, I could just about make out the illuminated scoreboard from the secondary field. Germany was hanging on 4-3 against Sweden. It sounded like a more exciting game. I went down to get a coffee – anything for warmth – and maybe take in the final innings of the Germany game. Instead, I bumped into Chris Ward, the GB U12 coach, again. He was carrying a tray of food and beer into the stadium, so I asked if I could join them to watch the game.
I like Chris a lot. Not only is he mind-bogglingly smart and devoted to developing youngsters into baseball players, but since we first met at one of the London Series, he has always had time to chat. I realise that I am a bit of a social weirdo – I will cross the road rather than spark up a conversation with an old acquaintance – so I always appreciate it when people go the extra mile (or kilometre) to talk to me.
I switched my idea of getting a hot drink to a pitcher of beer, summoned courage, and introduced myself to the six or seven GB coaches positioned in a prime spot to check out the potential Quarter Final opponents.
For me, watching baseball is usually a solitary pastime. I absolutely love catching a game with others, but the chatter is generally of a “football terrace” level. If I watch a game in Passyunk, the London Stadium, or a US ballpark, the conversation is usually unchallenging. An exception to this is any games I’ve watched with Bat Flips’ Russ, who is super smart and analytical.
This cold Sunday night in Rotterdam changed my perspective on baseball. I was sitting with experts – and not experts in the way that a Fox analyst gives you some crappy take on the obvious – these guys were expanding my appreciation of the game.
Jonathon Cramman – note the correct spelling, he is the most typo’ed guy in the GB system – held the speed gun, and between him and Dallas Reed, they were recording and analysing the pitch speed, pitch type, pitch sequence, speed of the catcher throwing to first, and much more. They appeared to have in-depth knowledge of every player on the field – players who don’t have a Baseball Reference page – players that they recalled from a previous tournament – players who had changed an aspect about their game.
In November 2025, Jonathon was presented with the European Baseball Coach of the Year Award. Surely, it won’t be long before an MLB franchise secures his talents.
Almost everyone attending the tournaments, well, let me rephrase that, almost every non-Dutch person attending the tournament had a personal link to one of the players or teams. I suspect there were no more than half a dozen GB fans in Rotterdam who had no such link. Naively, I presumed one of the other guys sitting with us – Paul Vernon – was simply a fan. Indeed he was a fan, but had also coached GB teams at all levels over too many years to count, and could list Gavin Marshall, Liam Carroll, Will Lintern and Jonathon Cramman as players with whom he has worked. He didn’t list them, I had to Google. The phrase understated superstar comes to mind.
Conor Brooks’s baseball knowledge is almost intimidating. I’d seen him at past tournaments but never spoken to him—he always seemed a bit intense. This time, though, I soaked up everything the former Double-A pitcher and current KBO international scout said. When someone has served as an advanced scout for the Texas Rangers during two World Series runs, you listen.
Every Czech hitter reached base as they dismantled Spain 9–1. The Czechs applied relentless pressure at the plate, giving Spain’s pitchers no chance at easy outs. In contrast, the Spanish hitters swung at everything, seemingly convinced every pitch could leave the park—but they managed only one extra-base hit.
This was the game to which I was referring in the Adam Jones anecdote.
Strangely, the bike back from the stadium wasn’t as cold—the chill must have been in the wind. It was a wonderful ride, made better by the fact that I remembered the route this time. Cycling through the park near the airport was peaceful, a perfect way to unwind after an intense day. My bike path cut through grass and wove between lakes, alongside separate trails for walkers, runners, and even a sand track for horses. The Dutch really know how to live.
I did, however, slightly regret my choice of hotel. The location was perfect—the 30-minute ride to and from the stadium was a highlight of my trip—but it lacked a bar with a big screen to relax in front of. So, I ended up locking myself away in my room.
DAY FOUR (Monday)
This was a big one. Yes, I know they were all big ones, but GB needed a win against the French to ensure qualification for the Quarter Finals.
The winless French needed a victory to ensure they didn’t finish bottom of the group and face Italy in a “crossover playoff” game that could result in them being demoted from the Top 8 for the next Euro Championship.
Italy had followed up their 18-0 win on the opening day with a 16-0 demolition of Lithuania. Gianconino Lasaracina followed up his 8-RBI day on Day One with a 3-for-4 zero-RBI day on Day Two. Baseball is weird.
Elsewhere, Switzerland had bounced back from their pummelling by Italy to beat Greece 12-8. Second place in that group would be interesting.
Even more security was installed at the officials’ entrance. This was Israel’s biggest pool game – they were playing the hosts in the prime time evening slot. It was also the highest-profile game for the protesters.
Not only half a dozen police and an equal number of security staff, but extra barriers to prevent vehicular access. I awkwardly manhandled my bike around and over the barriers, and then through the portacabin with my lovely “Hello Gav” ladies.
I locked my bike – which I was never sure was necessary in the Netherlands – and strolled past the cages where Felix Brown was taking batting practice. I know it’s only batting practice but the veteran French hitter was obliterating the ball. I sensed France was up for this game.
I bumped into Benji Brooks, armed with his camera taking shots of GB warming up, and exchanged quick words with Chris Knoblock, the always-on PR guy for GB Baseball. Neither of those descriptions come close to doing justice to these two incredible guys.
SIDE NOTE: THE CAB CREW (CHRIS & BENJI)
Benji is a video content expert. He was there every day, just as he had been for the Women’s Euros and the U23s, capturing immense shots to help build the status of GB national baseball. Having witnessed first-hand how under-utilised the official GB social media accounts were in the WBC in Phoenix, it’s great to see the backroom staff “stepped up to the plate.”
When he is not covering GB baseball (or doing his day job which has something to do with F1, he did tell me, but my memory is dreadful), Benji is an avid Arizona Diamondbacks fan and hosts the entertaining TeaBacks Podcast.
Chris Knoblock’s LinkedIn page describes him as a Digital marketer and broadcaster, but he is so much more than that. He is the beating heart, the flowing blood, and the incomprehensibly large brain that controls behind the scenes in BSUK and GB baseball. And just like those vital organs, Chris is always on. He is always hyper. He is me, if I washed down my fifth espresso with a couple of Red Bulls. Despite always being in demand, Chris was extraordinarily generous with his time, for which I will always be grateful.
GB v FRANCE
Blue skies and a stiff breeze greeted the two teams on the secondary field at the Neptunus complex in Rotterdam. Great Britain had ambitions for a top-two spot to all-but-guarantee progress to the quarter finals.
My match report started with the line “The Dutch may have the cheese, canals, and the ability to record match reports while cycling back on safe bike paths from the stadium, but it’s the Brits who are bringing the youthful vibes in Rotterdam this week.”
Zac Colletti, making his first start for the senior team, was positively glistening with confidence. Understandably so, as this start came just weeks after he posted a 0.00 ERA during GB’s U23 gold medal campaign. He started Monday with two scoreless innings and then Great Britain’s bats came to the party.
A French error let Julian Sanders scoot home, then Matt Ward crossed the plate thanks to the unrelenting (and unrelated) Nick Ward. Although they might as well be related, given how often they pop up in the same sentence.
Minor side note 1: Great Britain’s U12 coach Chris Ward travelled to the Netherlands to support the team. He is not related to either Matt or Nick, but if you want to succeed in GB baseball, being called Ward isn’t a bad start.
Minor side note 2: Between the tournament and the publication of this article, Chris Ward was replaced as GB’s U12 coach. I don’t know enough about the politics or philosophy of GB Baseball to understand the decision, but I would feel very resentful had I sacrificed so much – and the coaches sacrifice more than we could ever appreciate – and been treated so shabbily. Obviously, Chris’s Insta post is less bitter and more eloquent.
The effervescent Max Viera scampered in on a passed ball and just like that GB had a 3-0 lead after two innings. The atmosphere among the British fans was one of, “hold on… we really are pretty good at baseball.”
France pulled one back – I missed it, I was chatting – and then a mini-disaster struck when Colletti departed mid-batter with an injury.
Enter Andrew Campbell to throw his first pitch on a 3-0 count. These young guys thrive on pressure. The U23 gold medallist rescued the situation with a strikeout and a sense of calm.
When Sanders cracked an RBI double in the fourth to extend the lead, the mood in the crowd was buoyant.
Pre-tournament, I had predicted that France, the only country in Pool B not heading to the World Baseball Classic, would not finish the group stages without a win. Their comeback had the potential to prove me right.
Campbell yielded two runs, but yet another nerves-of-steel pitcher was called into action. Jack Seppings, who plays within the Milwaukee Brewers organisation for the Carolina Mudcats, did the classic British thing of keeping calm and carrying on, and restored some order with 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
Donovan Benoit, part of GB’s successful WBC roster in 2023 while he was in the Cincinnati Reds’ organisation, took the ball, but the French quickly levelled at 4-4. He got out of the inning without further damage, but with the scores tied and both teams getting base runners, this game was now too close to call.
Annoyingly, I had to take a work call during the game and missed 20 minutes, but both teams conveniently swapped clean innings.
In the eighth, France sniffed at a lead, but Benoit’s groundballs and the infield’s slick defence kept the scores even but anxiety levels at 11.
Head coach Brad Marcelino, like his predecessors Drew Spencer and Liam Carroll, instils a belief in his players that squeezes an extra 10% out of their considerable talents. The resilience of the GB roster over the last few years has been its hallmark.
Bottom of the eighth was the time for French fans to look away. Designated hitter Michael Flaherty walked – another side note, if resilience is GB’s hallmark, then patience is their keyword. These guys are so controlled at the plate. I can picture hundreds of players, when faced with 4-4 in the eighth, swinging for the fences and for glory, but the GB guys show a level of control and composure that belies their relative inexperience.
With Flaherty tormenting the French pitcher with his shuffling at first base, shortstop Chris Bear delivered a textbook bunt to move him over. Another WBC veteran, speedy Kennard Dawson, replaced Flaherty as a pinch runner, and Matt Ward’s sacrifice moved him to third.
With the energetic Dawson living rent-free in the pitcher’s mind, the tenacious Max Viera drew another walk.
Cue the biggest moment of the game. Bottom of the eighth. Two on, two out. There is no one you would rather see come up to bat than Nick Ward. Captain Clutch duly delivered a two-run double to break the deadlock.
Will Cresswell continues to fill the void left by Harry Ford’s absence with admirable confidence, both behind the plate and at bat. The 22-year-old walked, and after centre fielder Charlie Collins was hit by a pitch, the bases were loaded.
The impressive Quinn Allen took one of the team, and this second straight HBP increased the score to 7-3. And the bases were still loaded.
Next up, Julian Sanders. If you think the nickname of Charli XCX (hit machine) is biased Bat Flips & Nerds junk, just consider that Italy and Austria had ludicrous blowouts in their groups (18-0, 16-0, 26-2), yet Sanders led all of EuroBaseball with 14 hits at the end of the tournament. That is pretty remarkable.
Needless to say, the right fielder doubled to score two more and the spirit in the crowd was one of jubilant delight, with speculation of GB’s quarter-final opponents. Surely it wouldn’t be another rematch against Spain?
Benoit closed the game out in the ninth with the assurance you would expect.
The Spain v Germany game was still on the main stadium – it was a pity that GB only got to experience the main stadium once. Germany took an early 2-0 lead and were on the verge of shutting out Spain, until the reigning champions put up a four-spot in the eighth inning to snatch the win.
The next game on the secondary field saw Sweden shutout and mercy-ruled by Czechia 10-0. The Swedes ended the Round Robin stage having only scored three runs.
NETHERLANDS v ISRAEL
And then to the main event. An ominous cloud had shrouded the Neptunus arena all day. The protests were at their most vociferous with Israel playing the hosts in the 7:30 p.m. game.
I couldn’t work out whether it was the megaphoned chants getting caught in the breeze – yes, it was another cold and breezy evening – or protestors having moved to within metres of the complex’s outer walls, but the chants were more determined than before. It wasn’t a pleasant ambience within the stadium. A protestor (obviously a ticket holder) got into the stand and started yelling. I didn’t see what happened to him.
I was expecting a sellout crowd, it was the hosts after all, but the protestors at the gate had done a good enough job to deter spectators. I doubt the stand was even 15% full at first pitch. It must have been intimidating for young Dutch baseball fans trying to squeeze past the protestors at the main gate, with the urges of not to support genocide being megaphoned at you.
I nipped to the concession area, and stallholders were chatting among themselves. I guess if you’re expecting 6,000 hungry and thirsty baseball fans, and you only get a few hundred, then it’s not a good day. The protesters “Free, free Palestine” echoed through stadium.
Finally, when the game was about halfway through, streams of Dutch fans started arriving. Presumably, the police had broken up the protests
On the field, the Dutch lineup was relentless. Didi Gregorius went 2-for-5 with two runs, Jonathan Schoop went 3-for-5 with three runs. Henrik Clementina, Sharlon Schoop, and Juremi Profar came within a whisker of inflicting a second straight Mercy Rule defeat on Israel. The 9-1 win put the Netherlands top of the group and in the easier part of the draw for the final.
I was eager to get back to the hotel. With the pool stages in all four groups having finished, I wanted to evaluate the standings, check out the draw for the next games, but also, I had now gathered enough information to create the most rudimentary player profiles.
If Great Britain was to progress further in the tournament, I wanted to get as many people invested in the team as possible.
After a quick shower, it was approaching midnight when I walked down to the breakfast area with a pot noodle, a coffee, and a bag of peanuts. Gosh, I know how to party.
The other results showed an almost-incomprehensible 26-2 win for Austria over Hungary, which pushed the hosts of Group D in Antwerp out of the competition.
As it transpired, at the end of the pool games, Spain, Germany and Czechia were tied at the top 2-1. Spain had scored the most runs, and they had the best run difference, but found themselves relegated to third.
Pool A comprised Spain, Germany, Czechia, and also Sweden. Despite enjoying a successful 2023 European Championship, the Swedes endured a dire time in Rotterdam, going 0-for-3 while only scoring three runs. Once their results were siphoned from the standings, then it became clear that Spain were the third-place team in the group.
It was 2:30am when I finally finished. When I say finished, I was a long way from that, but when I finally called it a day and went up to bed.
DAY FIVE (Tuesday)
Rest day.
Well it started with an 8:00 a.m. run, followed by three hours of day-job stuff until the maid turfed me out of my room with “I don’t get paid if I don’t change the sheets,” and then seven hours of baseball work. I then rewarded myself with an evening run.
This second run was a 30-minute trot to Lidl with an empty rucksack. I had been pining for fruit and salads, but I bought far too much stuff, so I couldn’t run back, and instead FaceTimed my wife as I walked along the canals. Parts of Rotterdam are truly wonderful.
I spent the whole evening in the breakfast room, this time with a pre-packed tomato, mozzarella & balsamic salad, Parma ham, bread, and fruit, plus my trusty laptop to continue working until… 1:00 a.m. It was a rest day with a difference.
DAY SIX (Wednesday)
The top two teams from the pools in Milan and Antwerp had travelled to Rotterdam the previous day, so all of the remaining games would be here in the Netherlands.
These travelling four teams would face the bottom four teams from the Rotterdam group in the “Crossover Playoffs” which were also confusingly called the “Placing Round.”
After a day stuck in front of my screen, I was keen for more baseball. Israel thumped Switzerland 9-1, thanks to a six-run first inning. The Swiss starter, this time Dominic Scheffler, was pulled after one out with a 162.00 ERA. That was his only appearance in the tournament.
Next, it was my first opportunity to watch Croatia. I didn’t know much about the Croatian team but suspected Philip Smith and Andrew Jones might not be Zagreb natives.
Despite scoring as many runs in this one game as they had in the whole tournament, Sweden fell 3-9 to the Croats, in no small part to the ex-Angels prospect José Herrera (another good Croatian name), who went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
SPAIN v AUSTRIA
There was a lot of interest in this game on the secondary field, so much so that it was tricky to see the field with the number of spectators crowded around. Fresh off their 26-2 demolition of Hungary, this was Austria’s first appearance in Rotterdam. Spain had a patatas fritas on their shoulder after the bitter disappointment of losing the tiebreak for automatic qualification into the Quarter Finals.
The winner of this game would play Great Britain tomorrow. I was amped.
I’m sure the Spanish team were not aware that I wanted to watch the prime time game in the main stadium in about 90 minutes, but they made quick work of dismissing the Austrians 10-0, scoring five in the seventh inning to invoke the Mercy Rule.
Spain were easily the most unpredictable team I had watched. Sometimes they looked invincible with tight pitching and high-contact hitting, and other times they had looked like a one-trick pony that could easily be defeated by keeping the ball off the plate.
Anyway, tomorrow in the Quarter Final, we would see a rematch of the 2023 European Championship gold medal game between GB v Spain. Gosh, I was feeling anxious.
ITALY v FRANCE
Split loyalties here as I spend much of my life working in France, yet I am extraordinarily proud of my Italian heritage.
France had scored four runs in each of their three pool games, so if they could tighten up their pitching, this could be a classic encounter. With three one-sided pool games, Italy had not been tested.
I was mesmerised by Jose Paula, who had hit .462 in the Round Robin games. He looked like a Gallic FTJ with his dyed dreadlocks and confident swagger, both on and off the field. Apparently, he was previously in Oakland’s system as a two-way player, although he only hit in this tournament.
If GB’s Julian Sanders was a hit machine, then Italy was an entire hit factory. A veritable Max Martin manufactory. By the conclusion of the tournament, Italy had recorded 92 hits – 25% more than the eventual champions the Netherlands, and more than double the number hit by GB.
It was a great game – the best of the tournament so far – with Felix Brown giving France an early lead, and then scoring again in the fifth to increase the lead to 2-0. Italy scored in the sixth, seventh, and eighth, to open up a 4-2 margin, and it took until the bottom of the eighth before the crowd saw an inning finish without men left on base. This was the sort of excitement you want.
I say crowd, but the attendance was desperately disappointing. With my allegiances to both nations, I had been waiting for two days for this clash, but I was in the minority. The official attendance in the 2500-seater stadium was 330, I’m not sure how they arrived at that figure; I think I only counted 50.
That did mean that I could try every seat in the stadium. I watched from behind home plate, I watched from above the Italian dugout, I took in an inning or two along the first base line, and I watched from the very back row overlooking third base. To be honest, every seat in the stand afforded an excellent view. It’s just a shame more people were not there to enjoy it.
There were a few kids around, which increased the volume, especially every time a foul ball came into the stand and pinballed around the empty rows of seats.
My frozen fingers were trying to pump out some social media trash when another ball spun into the stands behind me. I kept half an eye on it as the ball ricocheted back up and then plummeted towards my front row seat by first base. Dammit, I thought as I saw its trajectory was heading for me.
Conscious that I didn’t want it to hit my phone, or worse still, for me to drop my phone over the edge of the stand, I reached forward, nonchalantly still seated, and grabbed the ball.
Picture the cool plays in the stands with the dad holding a beer and a baby yet still making a bare-handed grab. This wasn’t close. The ball stubbed my icicle finger and rolled over the edge of the seating between the netting and the stand, much to the disgust of the two Dutch boys who were chasing after it. You didn’t need Google Translate to see that their faces were saying “Stupid English man.”
It was 11:15 p.m. by the time I unlocked my bike, carried it through the portacabin and headed back to the hotel. And stupidly, it was 2:15am by the time I closed my laptop for the night. Google suggests most adults need 8-9 hours of quality sleep. It didn’t specify whether that was per night or once every week.
DAY SEVEN (Thursday)
Despite the lack of sleep, I woke with nervous anticipation. GB v Spain was a mouth-watering fixture for the neutral but I had too much invested in this team now. If GB’s young guns could overturn the erratic Spanish, then I had a genuine confidence that they could overcome the Netherlands (the prospective semi-final opponents). The team will have learnt a lot from the opening night’s game against the hosts, but first it was Spain.
But before that, it was another run. Just a quick one, well, a short one, I don’t tend to do quick anymore. Just a little 5K to get rid of some of the nerves, and then I was on my way to the stadium. There were so many possible bike routes from the hotel to the stadium, but this one that I had settled on, was absolutely perfect. I will miss this daily ride when the tournament is over.
In the two (very) early games, Sweden picked up their first win of the tournament in the 9-12 placings game with a 1-0 win over Switzerland, and then France lost again, falling 6-3 to Austria. Every time I watched France they looked competitive, but that was now five straight losses.
There were now four Quarter Finals, which, with the exception of Croatia v the Netherlands, were too close to call.
As a closet Czechia fan, I was pleased to see them hold on to win 4-3, despite a three-run ninth inning by Israel. Although, my glee was nothing compared to the organisers who now didn’t have to worry about scheduling Israel in a high profile semi final, with the additional security demands and stresses that would cause.
I was also a part-time Germany fan – nothing like hedging your bets. I had barely interacted with the German players, except for the odd greeting or good luck, but as the German team was staying in my hotel, I saw them every day. I wanted them to do well. Unlike me, they were looking after themselves better. I suspect they avoided 2:00 a.m. finishes. I wouldn’t go so far as saying I had split loyalties in the Germany v Italy game, but I would certainly be pleased for whoever won.
In the 2023 Euros, Italian starter Gabriele Quattrini finished with an 8.10 ERA, but in the 2025 Quarter Final, he was untouchable, firing seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. The final score of 1-0 to Italy didn’t reflect the dominance of the Italians, who got on base 12 times to the Germans four. It was the toughest of tough-luck losses for the German starter Markus Solbach, who negotiated the traffic on the bases to toss seven innings – 107 pitches – with no walks, no earned runs. The solitary run was down to a throwing error from the third baseman.
The 34-year-old Solbach, whose career includes stints within the Twins, Diamondbacks, Tigers, and Dodgers organisations, peaking with 19 games in Triple-A, finished the tournament with figures of… two starts, 14 innings, 217 pitches, 0.00 ERA – what a player!
Oh, and isn’t the pitcher win/loss stat the absolute worst?
It was an enthralling encounter that could have gone either way but I was too distracted to be fully engaged. I knew that the GB v Spain game was imminent.
GB v SPAIN
The erratic yet highly experienced Spanish team halted Great Britain’s road to European Championship gold with an emphatic 7-0 victory in the quarter-final.
It was one of those occasions where everything went right for Spain, while GB’s day started going pear-shaped in the third inning.
Don’t get me wrong, this was not a lucky win. Spain deserves its spot in the semi-final. They had done their homework on the Great Britain lineup and executed the game plan to perfection.
Following on from his impressive nine-strikeout performance in the opening game against the Netherlands, Nick Wells got the start for GB. The left-hander, originally selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the third-round of the 2014 draft, looked assured on the mound, boosting the confidence of the travelling GB fans.
After two clean innings of work by Wells, the mood within the British contingent was even more optimistic. After all, we had seen Spain get demolished by Czechia earlier in the week, having been unable to deal with the Czech’s controlled approach. Even though the wind was bitterly cold in the exposed viewing area of secondary field, life was good.
And then it wasn’t.
The third inning started like this for the Spanish: single, single, single.
Bases loaded.
One of the last people you wanted to see come to the plate was the 2023 European Championship MVP Wander Encarnacion. He, too, made contact, but Nick Ward corralled the ball at third base to throw out Frank Hernandez at the plate. Great work by catcher Will Cresswell btw.
Bases still loaded.
It is worth noting that the umpire’s strike zone was inconsistent. I never criticise the officials. It’s certainly a job that I would not want or be able to do, but the unreliability of calls definitely affected Wells.
The third inning continued like this: walk, walk, walk.
Bases still loaded, but now the score was 3-0 to Spain, and the Spanish dugout was in party mood.
You may recall from the earlier anecdote that, I mentioned to the Spanish hitting coach that his team was dreadful against Czechia, swinging at everything. Today, they had developed Juan Soto‘s patience at the plate. I do not take responsibility for Spain’s change of approach. Well, not full responsibility, anyway.
Next to the plate was Carlos Colmenarez. Back in 2021, the Tampa Bay Rays splashed big international free agent cash on Colmenarez, and I mean $3 million big.
It’s fair to say that the career path for the Venezuelan hasn’t panned out as expected. This year, the “next Asdrubal Cabrera” hit .208 for Bowling Green Hot Rods, the Rays’ High-A affiliate.
But on a breezy evening in Rotterdam, Colmenarez delivered a hard line drive to deep left field, scoring another. Kudos to Matt Ward in the outfield for limiting the damage to just one run.
Bases still loaded. Great Britain went to the bullpen and called upon Ryan Long to keep them in the game.
He extinguished the Spanish fire that threatened to torch GB’s Euro campaign with a composed outing. Every pitch was a potential four-run game-changer. Spain added a solitary extra run on a wild pitch/passed ball, and GB walked back to the dugout, battered, bruised and down 5-0.
I couldn’t find out much about the Spanish starter, Pablo Guillén. His Baseball Reference page notes a 27-year-old from Cuba, whose last season in organised ball was a single appearance in the Venezuelan Winter League in 2024, where he allowed four runs with three walks… in one inning before getting pulled.
The only other thing I knew about Guillén was that he struck out seven over five scoreless innings against Sweden earlier this week.
It had not clicked that he was the winning pitcher when Spain beat GB to clinch the European gold medal in 2023, with a five-inning, two-earned-run, five-strikeout start. He likes playing against Great Britain.
An immediate GB response looked possible when Chris Bear singled and Matt Ward walked, but untroubled, Guillén got three quick outs to keep Spain’s 5-0 lead intact.
In many ways, it seemed like men against boys. The Spanish had long-time Mets’ infielder Luis Guillorme playing second base, for goodness sake.
In February’s WBC qualifier, Guillorme was on the Spanish roster until the Astros signed him to a last-minute free-agent deal with an invitation to Spring Training. In a tournament of small margins, Guillorme’s absence could have been the difference between Spain progressing to the 2026 WBC and finishing third in the group behind Chinese Taipei and Nicaragua.
Continuing with the men against boys analogy, Ryan Long settled nicely, retiring eight in a row and generally looking like the adult in the room.
Guillén’s swagger on the mound appeared to earn him a few extra strike calls, but the kryptonite was his offspeed offerings that GB could not lay off. Baseball is so easy to play from the stands.
Donovan Benoit replaced Long, and Spain contrived a small-ball run with a wild pitch to take the score to 6-0.
Top of the sixth, and Great Britain started with the top of their lineup. This was the time to break into action. Max Viera singled, Nick Ward doubled, and after Will Cresswell had struck out looking, Charlie Collins walked to load the bases.
Come on GB!
Four runs would get Great Britain right back in it. Two or three runs would boost confidence for the final few innings. Even one run would be a start, but the big hit never came.
GB’s bases-loaded threat fizzled out when Guillén struck out Quinn Allen, looking at a pitch that seemed way too low, and then Julian Sanders – the tournament’s hit leader coming into the game – flew out to Luis Guillorme.
Just like that, the Spanish were heading back to their dugout with their lead intact and their confidence at a game-high.
Reverting to their favoured swing-and-miss approach, the Spanish hitters were held to a scoreless seventh by Benoit and then a scoreless eighth by Zach Cameron.
A GB error gifted Spain a seventh run, leaving it to Allen, Sanders, and pitch-hitter Michael Flaherty to salvage the situation against veteran closer Rhiner Cruz. The 38-year-old shut the door and sent the Spanish into a semi-final.
Minor side note: The Tannoy announcer had not realised GB were sending in a pinch hitter, so announced Cole Leclair. The GB fans, in desperate need of some last-gasp excitement, urged the hitter at the plate with calls of “Let’s go, Cole!” much to the consternation of Michael Flaherty‘s mother in the stands.
Groundhog Day Alert! What did I say about the need to build a greater relationship between the GB players and GB fans? If you don’t know, check out the opening paragraphs on the player profile pages – infielders, outfielders, catcher & designated hitters. I am convinced that getting British fans more invested in the players is a major step to growing the game in the UK. If the travelling fans can’t tell the players apart, what hope is there for casual fans at home?
And so another tournament was over. Sure, there was still the fifth-to-eighth playoffs ahead, but the big prize had gone.
Despite the disappointment when I typed up my match report, I was thrilled to see the potential on the GB roster. The talent among this youthful group of players is unquestionable. The average age of the outfield trio was 23 years old. Imagine how good these guys will be in a couple of years.
The semi-final lineup shows no surprises. Three WBC-bound teams, in Italy, Czechia, and the Netherlands, plus the reigning European Champions, Spain.
It was very much deja vu from Brno when Spain defeated GB in the 2023 final. The disappointment of losing was actually lessened by the fact that both games were so one-sided. A close-game loss always hurts more.
But still, it was a big blow. I know it’s only sport, but the tournament had consumed me since I left home last Friday, so if I was feeling this low I don’t know how Brad and the fellas were feeling.
I consoled myself with another pulled pork sandwich and watched the Dutch defeat Croatia 3-1 in a closer-than-anticipated game. The drizzle matched my mood, but at only two hours and 20 minutes, it was a time-efficient game – the previous evening’s Italy v France game had lasted nearly four hours – so I was back at the hotel in record time.
There was little time to process the defeat. Great Britain were back in action tomorrow, this time against Croatia, in the fifth-to-eighth placings game, but to be honest, it felt like the end of GB’s tournament. I was still excited to see the semi finals and the final, but fifth-to-eighth didn’t hold much excitement.
DAY EIGHT (Friday)
In contrast to yesterday, where the four quarter finals were must-watch games, I wasn’t overly enthused about half of the six games scheduled, but it did feel more of a quality over quantity day.
I watched Czechia against Italy with Joey and Elliot. It felt like beer would improve my mood.
I know I keep banging on about the same thing, but this game was way more enjoyable because I knew more of the players. The Italian starter was Mattia Aldegheri, older brother of the Angels’ starter Sam, who became the first born-and-bred Italian to reach the majors. The Czech catcher was Martin Cervenka, who I had already seen homer against Sweden, and he went deep twice today against Italy. And Gianconino Lascarina, who would finish the tournament as the home run king, went yard yet again. Plus, of course, Czechia had Eric Sogard.
SIDE NOTE: ERIC SOGARD
The bespectacled infielder, nicknamed Nerd Power, was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the second round in 2007. He was selected with the 81st pick, just three spots later than the Braves took a high school first baseman called Freddie.
With a Czech mother, Sogard, the 11-year MLB veteran, has become the talisman of the Czech national team, providing much-needed experience to the mainly domestic roster.
While we were watching the Czechia v Italy semi final, the lady in the row behind overheard our conversation and said something along the lines of “But are any of the Italy team actually Italian?” before quickly adding “says the American woman” with a refreshing degree of self-awareness that you don’t always expect from Americans.
It was obvious that her kids were supporting Czechia, but I pounced when the daughter said something positive about Italy and tried to encourage her to join me in “Let’s go Italy.”
The mum explained that they wanted the underdog. They were Team Czechia. The two guys sitting with me, Elliott and Joey, were also supporting Czechia. We all chatted for a few minutes. The family were lovely.
And then, Joey Mellows #BaseballBrit turns and asks, “Are you Mrs Sogard?”
It felt bold, but she was indeed. And saying that she was cheering for the underdog was way classier than saying we’re supporting the Czech’s superstar.
I have absolutely no idea how Joey knew what Eric Sogard’s wife looked like. He is one special chap!
The Italy v Czechia semi final was enthralling, and even though GB’s game was only for one of the fifth-to-eighth placings, I knew I wouldn’t be able to see the conclusion if I wanted to watch Great Britain’s game.
We could just about make out the scoreboard in the distance on the secondary field. Maybe it had been a delayed start. Maybe there had been another incident, but the Germany v Israel game wasn’t progressing as quickly as expected.
Israel took a 8-7 lead in the top of the seventh, only to relinquish it when a Yannic Walther double took the Germans 9-8 ahead. Dalton von Schamann, who played in the high minors for Cleveland and the Dodgers, came in to secure the save.
That was the signal to leave our seats in the main stadium and head towards the secondary field. On the way over, Israel scored to tie the game 9-9.
I had been advised that GB’s best scenario was an Israel win against Germany, and as GB were playing the winner of this game, to beat Israel tomorrow. This apparently was better for our ranking than a Germany victory, but I was supporting my fellow Ibis Budget residents.
All of the GB players and staff were hanging around waiting for the “full time whistle” to get into the dugout and prepare for the game. The German fans – cheer-led by the guy in the fox outfit – were noisy. This is a challenge for Regensburg 2027. Can we get more GB fans across? And can we get more fans than relatives cheering on GB?
The delay, although an annoyance for the players, was fortuitous for me, as I was able to chat to Brad Marcelino for 15 minutes. And yes, he is as lovely as you think.
The official scorebook shows Israel made eight defensive changes and two pitching changes in the bottom of the ninth, but Elias Huber did exactly what you would expect from a well-drilled German player – walk, take a base on a wild pitch, moved over on a sacrifice fly, forced an error to score a walk-off.
It would be buzzing in the Ibis Budget.
GB v CROATIA
Great Britain wrapped up their Friday night in Rotterdam with a gritty 3–2 win over Croatia, never trailing, never flinching, and booking a date with Germany in the 5th/6th place game to set up a rematch of the 2023 semi-final.
GB wasted no time getting on the board. Charlie Collins led off with a walk, nicked second base, and then promptly mangled his slide. I don’t know what happened. It looked like he twisted his ankle on the base but was getting medical attention to his face.
Charlie is tough. This is the guy who was in hospital on the morning of the U23 Euro Final with a head injury after a clash at home plate in the semi final – a run-scoring clash at home plate – and he was desperate to play in the final.
Two tournaments in two months, both ended in injury.
As I said, this guy is tough.
Kennard Dawson came on as a pinch-runner; the 25-year-old played for the Brewton-Parker Barons in the Southern States Athletic Conference League this season and he didn’t wait around, scoring after a Nick Ward walk, Julian Sanders single, and Will Cresswell sac fly.
On the mound, there was the familiar sight of Alex Webb, the co-captain, leader, and eternal steady hand of British baseball. Making his second start of the tournament, Webb did what Webb does — walked the tightrope, stranded runners like a magician hiding coins, and somehow kept Croatia off the board through four innings. Four strikeouts, five men left stranded, no runs allowed. Lovely stuff.
Enter Andrew Campbell, who continued the “thou shalt not score” energy. A perfect fifth, another scoreless sixth — all business. You could almost hear the sighs of Croatian frustration echoing around the field.
And then came the insurance. In the seventh, Kennard Dawson drew a one-out walk and forced some chaos. A failed pickoff-attempted by Carlos García saw KD scamper to third, and almost inevitably, Nick Ward lashed a double to drive him home.
Venezuelan native, García – bless him – had already thrown 128 pitches by that point (I’m not joking), and was replaced. Julian Sanders welcomed his replacement, Antonio Horvatić, by smacking a double to score Ward.
But because nothing in British baseball ever happens without mild cardiac distress, the late innings got nervy.
Jack Seppings took the ball in the seventh and looked assured until Croatia’s Kruno Gojković decided to ruin the serenity with a missile over the right-field wall. 3–1. The crowd woke up, but Seppings proved it was a minor blip and locked back in to finish the inning.
The eighth brought more tension. Croatia’s MLB alum Joey Terdoslavich (yes, that one) singled, and José Herrera absolutely smoked a double to right-centre, cutting the lead to one. Suddenly it was 3–2 and feeling a lot less comfortable.
But to his credit, Seppings didn’t blink. He got the outs he needed, stranded the runner, and jogged back to the dugout like a man with no worries in the world. These GB pitchers are unshakable.
The ninth? Pure relief. GB couldn’t tack on an insurance run, although Sanders did swipe GB’s third bag of the game, but the stage was set for Seppings to come back out to finish the job himself. A tidy, no-fuss, 1-2-3 inning later, and Great Britain had consigned the disappointment of yesterday’s defeat to Spain as a distant memory.
SPAIN v NETHERLANDS
Because I had spent so much of the last few days watching these two teams play baseball, it felt like the hosts against the current champions, beneath the lights in front of a sellout crowd on a Friday night, should be the Euro final.
I had been told earlier in the week #conspiracytheory that the draw had been manipulated to contrive a Netherlands v Italy final. It seemed preposterous when I heard this, but a Dutch win would mean that is exactly the final we will have tomorrow.
The delayed finish of the Germany game had delayed the start of GB’s game, which meant that the Spain v Netherlands semi final was in the eighth inning by the time I reached the main stadium. The Dutch had a commanding 4-1 lead which they held onto to clinch the win in front of the jubilant orange army.
My cycle home was a little bit faster than usual as my wife was arriving at Rotterdam airport at 10:30 p.m.
DAY NINE (Saturday)
I think everyone with whom I came into contact yesterday, and yes that includes Nick Ward’s parents, knew I was on the hunt for a ticket for Saturday’s GB game. I wasn’t after a freebie, but because it was the same day as the final, there were no tickets available. I think I probably mentioned it to 25 different people. No one could help me.
It wasn’t a biggie. Yeah, my wife would like to come along, come and see this obsession that had taken £1000 out of our savings account, but she wasn’t that fussed. Between you and me, I think she would rather have stayed at the hotel with a paperback.
I knew the final was at 7:30 p.m., but my plan for the rest of the day was dependent upon the scheduling of GB’s game.
With my wife around, life of cornflakes and lukewarm milk had been replaced with an Ibis buffet breakfast. It was over the cold meats and cheeses, that I checked my phone which showed GB was not playing until 6 p.m. Perfect!
Check out the Saturday Schedule showing 18:00 on Field 2.
I could spend the morning with Ele, we could grab some lunch and then I would head to the stadium to watch the Germany v GB game, ahead of catching the second half of the final.
I spoke to a few of the German players in the breakfast room, congratulated them on the walk-off win, but not going as far as wishing them luck for today’s game.
And then a message came through from Andy Brown, GB’s official artist, saying that he could get me a ticket for €20. Top bloke!
Ele hired a bike from the hotel and we cycled together along the exquisite paths that I had been boring her about, and then on to the UNESCO Kinderdijk. With my appalling sense of direction, it took longer than planned, so we made a quick turnaround and headed back to the city centre. It was while we were on the WaterBus (with our bikes) that the QR code for this evening’s ticket pinged on my phone. Andy really had come up trumps. Note to self: remember to buy him a beer.
We grabbed lunch at the MarketHalle – a huge food hall in the middle of Rotterdam – and made our way back to the hotel. Although I was eager to get to the stadium, I knew we had plenty of time to shower and make a brew.
Obviously, we couldn’t use the officials’ entrance, so we parked our bikes at the front of the stadium and used the main entrance. It was the first time I had been here since opening day and the first encounter with the protestors. That felt like an age ago.
I knew immediately that something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t place it. There were only four games today, yet I could see and hear play on both fields. I was tempted to check out the third place game between Czechia and Spain, and show Ele the main stadium, but I need to head to the secondary field. Why was there a game on? Surely, Israel was not still playing.
They weren’t! The organisers had brought GB’s game forward by two hours, and it was now in the fourth inning. The only time in the entire eight days that I hadn’t been glued to my phone, and I missed the schedule change.
Argghhhh!
With the complex at capacity, there were so many people watching. If I could hardly see the field, there was no hope for my diminutive wife. I tried to take stock. GB were 1-0 up. Bases loaded. Pitching change. No outs! Wow, they could blow this open.
Will Cresswell grounded it to third, the German third baseman smartly threw Julian Sanders out at home and then the ball was relayed to first for the double play. Sensational defence, but a bit gutting for us.
Michael Flaherty walked to load the bases again, but Kennard Dawson flew out to right to end the inning.
Flustered (and slightly embarrassed) at missing the start – I initially presumed it was me misreading the 24-hour clock – we worked our way to the front of the crowd and sat on the floor immediately behind the fencing. It wasn’t comfortable but the view was great.
Well, maybe not so great, because now that I looked more carefully, I could see that GB were not winning 1-0, they were actually losing 1-0.
I had missed London Mets product Matteo Sollecito getting the nod to start and spinning a pair of scoreless innings. I had also missed another London Mets alum, Chris Messer, make his second appearance of the tournament.
Cole Leclair walked to start the fifth inning, then swiped second to move into scoring position but was left stranded.
Given the notable patience at the plate the young GB roster had exhibited, no one, well, certainly not me, expected Cole’s walk to be the last base runner for GB in the tournament, as they went down in order in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
The Netherlands, the eventual winners, only restricted GB to three clean innings, and the Germans had just thrown six. And, with the greatest respect, the German pitchers are not of the same calibre as the Dutch.
Although, it must be pointed out that the defensive play by the German fielders to protect their lead was of the highest quality. This was a team that was going all out to finish fifth in the tournament.
Still, there was one final bright spark. Making his senior GB debut, Owen Wild – that’s a proper sportsman’s name – came in for the eighth and struck out the side. Filthy stuff.
In the ninth, Germany greeted him with a leadoff triple, but the Tampa Bay Rays prospect shrugged it off, stranded the runner at third, and added two more Ks for good measure.
There were plenty of positives to take from the tournament, not least that Brad Marcelino’s roster spent the week proving that British baseball belongs in the international conversation. Sixth in Europe might not sound sexy, but it’s another step in the right direction for a programme that’s quietly, stubbornly, becoming very hard to ignore.
And, on an individual level, there were some absolute standout showings. Julian Sanders finished the tournament leading everyone with 14 hits and a .542 batting average — that’s not a typo. He hit over .500 in a major international tournament.
Nick Ward, meanwhile, finished with 8 RBI (sixth overall), tied for the tournament lead in doubles (four), and generally hit baseballs with the sort of enthusiasm that will continue to make me his number one fan outside of his parents.
Will Cresswell quietly led all players in sacrifice flies (2), which feels like a stat that perfectly sums up British baseball — hard-working, unflashy, and doing the little things right.
So yes, it wasn’t the fairytale finish, but it was a great first step for Marcelino’s men.
ITALY v NETHERLANDS
Whether or not it is true that this is the final that the organisers wanted, it was a final that lived up to the billing. While almost all of the other Brits had headed off after the GB game, Andy Brown was already working, creating a masterpiece for the final.
SIDE NOTE: ANDY BROWN
He’s kinda unique. I don’t know of any other national baseball team with their own official artist — but that’s exactly why he stands out. Over the course of a couple of hours, Andy captures the magic, the chaos, the colour of the game, yet somehow freezes it all into a single image so full of life and detail that it feels like a moving storyline.
I’m no art critic, but the picture I have on my wall — GB v Spain, the Euro Final — is like a constantly shifting seascape. I could never get bored of looking at it. It was expensive, mind you. Probably — outside of my bike, car, and house — the single most expensive purchase of my life. And yet, worth every penny.
Andy’s story has been well told by others, especially MLB’s Michael Clair. He’s gone from creating teabag portraits of the Queen, to painting baseball stadia, to becoming an integral part of the GB national baseball setup — and, for good measure, the official artist of the IPL.
But above all of that, he’s just a cracking bloke. Always has time for everyone — whether it’s a little kid staring up in awe at the recent NFL game in London or, somehow, the president of a country.
His portfolio is vast. I suspect he must have warehouses in Rugby crammed with canvases. Check out his work at https://andybrownstadiums.com/
The organisers wanted a game worthy of the final, and the two teams delivered. Three hits, a stolen base, and two runs, and that was just the first inning for the Dutch. Any anxiety that the 2-0 lead would be the launchpad for a rather one-sided affair was quickly discarded, after all Italy is not the hit machine of European baseball for nothing, and the inevitable Gianconino Lasaracina homer and a run by Alberto Mineo tied the score.
Mineo signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs as a 16-year-old and, having reached Triple-A with the Blue Jays, is one of the most experienced players on the Italian roster. Sure, it was only a four-game, 15 plate appearance stint in Triple-A back in 2019, but the then-23-year-old posted a 1.226 OPS. I don’t know, but that seems good.
He headed back to Italy during the COVID pandemic and hasn’t played stateside since.
A massive Sharlon Schoop homer was one of four runs piled on by the Dutch to take the score to 6-2 at the end of the fifth, but still the Italians were not done.
The town of Macerata is a hotbed of Italian baseball. It is home to the Macerata Angels, and also the birthplace of Lorenzo Morresi, who joined Jhorjan Guevara and Alberto Mineo (again) as run scorers in the sixth inning.
Italy kept the Netherlands off the score board for the rest of the night, but then Jaydenn Estanista, he of the 98 mph pitches on the opening night against GB, closed out the game to seal the gold medal for the Netherlands.
And so it was over. I didn’t know what to expect from attending a whole tournament, but it was certainly one of the highlights of my life. There are many things I wish I had done differently – been a bit more courageous to talk to people, been a bit less free with the social media posts (sorry John, Tom for bringing the standard of Bat Flips & Nerds down), been a bit more proactive at finding out about the players.
Next up for Great Britain is the World Baseball Classic in March 2026. It’s not the Group of Death, but with only two progressing into the knockout stages from GB, USA, Mexico, Italy and Brazil, it will be another tough ask for Brad Marcelino and his inspired and inspiring coaching crew.
Given the current socio-political climate in the States, I won’t be attending WBC – it feels a little too Berlin Olympics 1936 for me – but Bat Flips & Nerds will be present with the huge personality and mega baseball knowledge of Mr Russell Eassom.
STOP PRESS: If you are interested in visiting the WBC, the great team at Home Run Travel have a fantastic offer – check it out.
A BIG THANK YOU to all of the photographers who allowed free use of the tournament shots. Especially @matyasfous @mouneb_taim @honkbalsoftbalnl @tullnravens78, @izzygrace_media. All of the poor photos in the article were taken with my crappy iphone. And extra special thanks to Hotshot Photo Paul Stodart for his excellent photos of the GB team and matches.
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