Italy wins the 2015 European Women’s Softball Championship

Italy wins the 2015 European Women’s Softball Championship
30/07/2015

Italy has won the 2015 Women’s European Softball Championship defeating host Netherlands, 2-1, to mark their 10th overall women’s European title.

Italy has won the 2015 Women’s European Softball Championship defeating host Netherlands, 2-1, to mark their 10th overall women’s European title.

In the championship game, Soclaina Van Gurp gave the Netherlands a 1-0 lead with a solo homerun in the second inning. But Italian pitcher Eva Trevisan came through with a two-run single in the fifth to turn the score around and give Italy the victory. Greta Cecchetti allowed just one run on seven hits and two walks in seven innings of work for her fourth win in the tournament.

Italy advanced to the championship with a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands off a one-hitter by Cecchetti in the semi-final game. The Dutch team then went on to beat the Czech Republic, 1-0, to pick up the second final berth and Czech Republic third place.

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Detailed Results

Twenty nations took to the field, divided into four groups. Ireland made their historic appearance at a fast pitch championship.

Group A (in order of finish): Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Israel.
Group B: Russia, Spain, France, Poland, Croatia
Group C: Czech Republic, Austria, Ukraine, Slovenia, Ireland.
Group D: Italy, Great Britain, Greece, Slovakia, Switzerland.

The top eight teams then advanced to the next round to form two new groups for another round of group play.

Group E: Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Spain
Group F: Czech Republic, Russia, Great Britain, Germany

After this phase of the tournament, Germany and Spain found themselves out of the top six; Austria and Great Britain out of the top 4, similar to the last European Championship.

The best four teams – Netherlands, Russia, Czech Republic, and Italy – then played according to the page system for the final.

The next Women’s European Championship will take place in 2017.
Final Standings
1st: Italy
2nd: Netherlands
3rd: Czech Republic
4th: Russia
5th: Great Britain
6th: Austria
7th: Germany
8th: Spain
9th: France
10th: Greece
11th: Sweden
12th: Ukraine
13th: Denmark
14th: Slovenia
15th:  Poland
16th: Slovakia
17th: Croatia
18th: Switzerland
19th: Ireland
20th: Israel