From the 23rd until the 28th of July, 17 European teams competed to earn the title of U-22 Women’s European Champion of 2018. The in total 67 games of this tournament have been played on three different fields in Trnava, Slovakia.

Italy has won the U-22 Women’s European Championship 2018. After being out of this tournament since 2010, they proved to be the strongest again and took home the gold medal just like they did during the first edition of this tournament in 2008.

Up until the final, the Netherlands was on a really good way to defend their title of European Champion that they earned in 2016. They were until then undefeated and won 9 out of 10 games with two wins against the Italians included. However, in the final, they had some struggles with pitcher Laura Bigatton (has an overall ERA of .67) who allowed only one run in five innings. When Susanna Soldi took over, it seemed that the Dutch got their faith restored, and went from a 5-2 to 5-4 score in the seventh inning. However, in the end, they couldn't score another run and so Italy took home the gold medal. 

The bronze medal game was played between Ireland and Great Britain. This was not the first game that they played and the tension between them was visible. In the pool phase they faced each other twice, where Great Britain took the win both times. However, Ireland proved their strength and went home with the bronze medal with a 6-0 win over Great Britain.

With an overall ERA of .44, Nina de Permentier (BEL) was the best pitcher of this tournament. Katie Burge (GBR) had the most hits. In the 11 games that she played, she had 18 hits in 39 at bats. Dervisa Mutic (NED) has the most RBI's. She brought 12 teammates over the home plate. 

FAIR PLAY AWARD

During the award ceremony, the medals were not the only prizes that were being handed over.

The Israeli team won the ‘Fair Play Award’. This is an award provided by a non-governmental organization called The European Fair Play Movement (EFPM). Its main aim is the promotion of the ethical values of sports in the broadest sense, in sports activities and in daily life at European level. They want to strengthen fair play, tolerance peace, and understanding through and within sports.

- Romy Marinus -