Kingsmill-Norton, Somaia help Great Britain to two wins at 12U European qualifier

Torin Kingsmill-Norton (Burlington, Ont.) and Raj Somaia (Mississauga, Ont.) helped Great Britain at the B-Pool U-12 European Championship in Slovakia

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Torin Kingsmill-Norton went 3-for-3 and drove in a run as Great Britain knocked off Roumania 12-0 at the B-Pool U-12 European Championship in Trnava, Slovakia

Kingsmill-Norton (Burlington, Ont.) singled up the middle to lead off the second, singled to right in the third knocking in a run and singled to right in the five-run fourth. The final single by Kingsmill-Norton scored Raj Somaia (Mississauga, Ont.).

Somaia singled to right in the five-run fourth at Angels Trnava facility in Slovakia. The win was Great Britain’s second of the tournament.

Belgium qualified for the U-12 European Championship A-Pool in 2025 winning all five games they played in the single round robin tournament. Along the way Belgium defeated Hungary 10-2, Romania 20-1, Great Britain 3-2, Slovakia 12-5 and Poland 8-7.

Slovakia finished in second place with a 4-1 record ahead of Poland, Hungary, Great Britain (all three 2-3) and Romania (0-5).

Canada does not have a 12U team.

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Kingsmill-Norton, who plays for Burlington 11U-A, batted .444 (4-for-9) with three RBIs and a .989 OPS. Somaia, who plays for the Mississauga North Tigers, hit .375 (6-for-16) driving in three runs with an .819 OPS. He also pitched three innings, allowing one unearned in a 3-2 win over Poland.

Somaia (above) was dominant on the mound going 1-1 with a 0.82 ERA. He walked one and struck out 19 in 7 1/3 innings. Ah, that would be 19 strikeouts out of 22 outs recording if you were charting whiffs along at home and 19 out of 30 batters faced (six hits, one walk, one hit batter).

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Great Britain in other games ...

_ Lost 14-6 to Hungary as Somaia singled through the right side and scored in the first and reached on an infield single in the fourth. Kingsmill-Norton was hitless, but pitched three innings giving up three runs on three hits and two walks, while whiffing three.

_ Dropped a 3-2 decision to Belgium as Kingsmill-Norton singled to right knocking in a run in the sixth to cut the lead to one run, while Somaia was held hitless but he was busy on the mound. He started and pitched 4 1/3 innings allowing three runs -- one earned -- on three hits and a walk as he fanned 11.

_ Lost to Slovakia 10-6 as Somaia singled up the middle and scored cutting the hosts lead to 9-1. Kingsmill-Norton, above, worked a scoreless sixth, striking out one.

_ Beat Poland 3-1 as Somaia collected two hits and drove in a run, as well he pitched three innings in relief allowing one unearned run on one hit, while striking out eight.