By Gabriel Fidler.
Only eight days after Great Britain’s Under-23 National Team won the country’s first European championship, the Great Britain Women’s Baseball National Team made history by winning the title at the 2025 Women’s European Baseball Championship. After France had won the first two Women’s Baseball Euros, the British matched up against hosts Czech Republic to determine a first-time winner, and a thrilling match-up saw GB Baseball claim a 9-7 victory, the exact score by which the GB U23 squad had triumphed only a few days earlier. The victory also qualified Great Britain for the Women’s World Cup for the first time ever.
Before playing the final, the last games of the round robin were contested in the morning after rain delayed the third day of play. This meant that the two teams in the final would be suiting up for a doubleheader, with only the Czech Republic certain of a spot.
Final: Great Britain – Czech Republic
The title game of the Women’s Baseball Euros lived up to the billing, with a back-and-forth approach all game long. As she has all tournament, Laura Hirai got thing started for the British, dropping a single into left field and stealing second base. Natasha Romoff then beat out a bunt single to put runners on the corners. With one out, Saskia Davies beat out a slow roller to the mound, scoring the hustling Hirai, with Romoff coming around on an error. Silvie Hanzalová buckled down to get the next two outs, but the Czechs immediately faced a deficit.
Kateřina Marková began the attack with a one-out single, moving to second on a fielder’s choice and an error. After a wild pitch, Hanzalová lifted a fly ball to right center, and Marková scuttled home. A second run came in after a wild pitch.
The Brits immediately answered, after Hirai walked with two outs. Romoff then smacked a single to center, and Hirai came around all the way from first to score. Romoff advanced to second on the play, stealing third, and taking home on a wild pitch. Darier Malone then lined a double down the left field line, but was caught stealing to end the frame.
Team GB still clung to its 4-2 margin in the third, when Claury Scatliffe sliced a single down the left field line, then swiping second and third. Kat Golik drove her home with a base knock to center, and the visitors moved to a three-run advantage.
The Czechs loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth after Izabella Tomši singled and—with two outs—two walks were issued. After a pitching change, all three runners would score, the first on a wild pitch, the next on a balk, and the final, from Simona Kitzbergerová, on a steal of home. Suddenly, the game was all tied up at five.
Neither side pulled ahead in the fifth, and GB already had two outs in the sixth by the time Artie Herbert gambled, dropping down a bunt. The speedy British backstop beat the throw, and then stole second. Hirai came up with another hit to move her over, taking second on what was ruled a fielder’s choice. A single from Romoff drove home both, and Great Britain once more held the lead.
In front of a large and supportive crowd, Tomši once more crafted a run, drawing a base on balls, stealing second, taking third on a wild pitch, and scoring on an Anna Pavlíková groundball. Scatliffe, who entered the game in relief for starter Oona Ylinen, buckled down and kept the damage at one.
The final frame produced more drama for both fanbases. Davies started the seventh by lining a single to center, scoring on a Scatliffe double to left. Scatliffe then scored from second on a groundball by Ella Henson, with a wild throw allowing her to cross the plate. Clinging to a 9-6 lead against the mighty Czech offense, Scatliffe quickly got two outs before striking out Tereze Stejspalová. The 1-2 swing came on a pitch out of the zone, and Stejspalová reached first before Herbert could throw her out. Hanzalová then ripped a triple to right field to score a run, putting Baseball Czech within two. Scatliffe then went to a full count on the final batter before putting her away with a swinging strike, and Britain had its first-ever Women’s European Baseball Championship and, in fact, its first-ever title in any competition.
Scatliffe was a game-saver for British Manager Pietro Sollecito, moving from first base to the mound in the fourth and allowing only one hit in 3.1 innings, striking out five. At the plate, she was 3-for-4, finishing a home run short of the cycle. Romoff was 3-for-4 as well, driving in three, scoring twice, and swiping three bases, while Hirai went 2-for-2 with a walk, three runs, and two stolen based. Davies also had multiple hits for the victors, who totalled 13, stealing 12 bases as well.
Among players with at least 10 plate appearances, Scaltliffe lead the tournament in average (.571), slugging percentage (.857), OPS (1.504), hits (8, tied), total bases (12), and stolen bases (7, tied with Hirai). She was second in doubles (2) and triples (1). On the mound, she was first in WHIP (0.98) and second in Ks (10 in only 5.1 innings) and permitted only one hit in 18 at bats, permitting opposing hitters a minuscule .056/.227/.167 batting line.
Hirai led in on-base percentage (.688), runs (10), and stolen bases, while Malone was named MVP after hitting .462/.611/.692, the latter figure tied for the tournament best with Hanzalová. Malone topped the tables in doubles (3).
No Czech player had more than one hit, though Tomši came off the bench to single and draw a walk, steal three bases, and cross home twice. Marková tied for the tournament lead in hits (8), while Hanzalová led in triples (2) and RBI (8) and tied for second in total bases (9) and slugging (.692). On the mound, Hanzalová led in strikeouts, with 14 in seven innings.
Netherlands – Great Britain
Britain qualified for the final by pulling off a comeback for the ages in the first game of the day. The Dutch were unstoppable at the start, with one run already across the plate by the time Anouk Vergunst and Magali de Rooy hit back-to-back, one-out singles. Kyra van Genderen doubled home Vergunst, while de Rooy followed her on a grounder.
After the four-run first, Britain failed to answer, despite another leadoff hit by Laura Hirai. Another error led to a run for the Netherlands to start the second, with a single from Wendy Bladt plating one, with a base knock by Lotte de Groot and a walk to Vergunst loading the bases with one out. Three singles in a row—by de Rooy, van Genderen, and Saskia Rietveld plated two more, with an error scoring a fifth.
Facing an enormous 9-0 disadvantage after two, GB got to work, with Natasha Romoff punching a single to left as the first batter, stealing second and third, and later scoring on an error. With a runner on first, the Brits kept at it, with Caitlin Frank drawing a base on balls, both runners stealing a bag. Artie Herbert then slapped a hit to left, scoring two after an error.
The same 9-3 score remained until the bottom of the fourth, thanks to the gutsy pitching of Emma McLean for the British, who entered in the second inning and pitched 3.2 innings of scoreless relief. Romoff once more reached to lead off an inning, drawing a four-pitch walk. After a walk to Kat Golik, Frank plated Romoff with a base knock to center, with a grounder by Herbert scoring Golik.
Back-to-back hit batters loaded the bases, and the second out of the inning could have dampened the scorching Brits, but Scatliffe took a plunking to score one, Romoff took another four-pitch walk, and Golik drove in one as she was hit as well. By the end of the inning, 12 batters had come to the plate, six runs had come across for Great Britain, and the ballgame was even at nine.
The Netherlands loaded the bases against McLean, but the right-hander exited the jam with a long flyball to center. In the bottom half of the fifth, the Lions once more put the leadoff runner on, as Gabriella Sassoli beat out a bunt hit to the left side. She then stole second and moved to third on grounder, before Hirai put down the squeeze and bunted her home. A Darier Malone double was then wasted in the frame, but GB now held the 10-9 advantage.
The Orange put the first two runners on in the sixth, but Scaliffe came over from first to relief McLean, who threw 68 pitches out of the bullpen. The right-hander from the British Virgin Islands proved to be just what Manager Pietro Sollecito ordered, punching out the next three batters one after another.
Neither side threatened in their final half-innings, and GB avenged a 12-2 loss against the Netherlands in its first Women’s European Baseball Championship in 2022. McLean earned the win by wworking around six hits and four walks, striking out two. Scatliffe struck out five in two scoreless, hitless innings, becoming the first player for the Great Britain Women’s Baseball National Team to earn a save in an international tournament. Merle Langevoord took the loss despite an excellent relief appearance, striking out three in 2.1 innings and allowing only one run.
The Dutch out-hit the Brits, 13-to-7, with van Genderen collecting four of them, along with two ribbies, and Vergunst had three hits of her own, along with two walks. De Rooy had two hits and two walks, scoring twice, and driving two in. No British player had more than one hit, though Romoff reached in all three plate appearances.
Czech Republic – France
The second game of the final day at the Women’s Baseball Euros had much at stake, as a win by France would have resulted in a three-way tie for first place. Neither team could get much going through four, as the Czechs held a slim 2-1 lead.
The dominant Czech offense finally shifted into high gear in the fifth, though only after two outs. With two on, Tereza Šustrová walked to load the bases and Karolína Blažková lined a two-bagger to left center to score a pair. Miluše Šprdlíková drilled a single through the left side to score Šustrová and, after a walk, Simona Kitzbergerová was hit to score a fourth run.
Mathilde Sigot helped France start a rally in the bottom of the fifth, beating out an infield single to lead off the frame. After a sacrifice bunt, Faustine Moisson rapped a hit to right field to put runners ont he corners. Following a walk, Livia Roeck was hit by a pitch, pushing one run over home plate. Any chances of the inning continuing ended when, after catching a flyball from Alizée Ambert, centerfielder Anna Pavlíková fired home, where she caught Moisson trying to tag up.
Fired up from the great defensive play, the Czechs quickly put together a rally in reply, as Marková started things off with a single, stealing second, and moving to second on a hit by Tereze Stejspalová. Consecutive ground ball outs would score both runners, putting the Czech Republic back on top, 8-2.
Two errors put two on in the French half of the sixth, but a pair of strikeouts by Stejspalová meant any runs would come with two out. Salome Sergeant answered the call with a base knock down the left field line to score one. Faustine Moisson duplicated the feat with a single to right, and Sergeant would score on a balk to bring France within three.
Neither nine could score again, however, with Marie Bullen entering for the Czechs and going 1-2-3, finishing with a three-pitch strikeout for the save. Stejspalová earned the win after pitching six innings and allowing only two earned runs. Camille Foucher was excellent in relief for the French, firing two shutout innings to give her side a chance.
Marková and Šprdlíková each had three hits for the winners, with Marková adding two stolen bases. Stejspalová and Blažková both added a pair of safeties to the cause. Moisson came off the bench to record two hits for France, with Shirley Patin and Mathilde Sigot joining her with multiple hits.
Final Standings
Great Britain: 3-1
Czech Republic: 3-1
France: 1-2
Netherlands: 0-3
Box scores and schedule are available here [link]. Catch up on the action from: Day 1 https://www.mister-baseball.com/2025-womens-european-baseball-championship-great-britain-claims-first-title/ and Day 2 https://www.mister-baseball.com/2025-womens-european-baseball-championship-great-britain-claims-first-title/.