Netherlands, Spain reach final at U-18 European Baseball Championship

Semi-Final: Spain – Italy 3-2 (Box score)

It was no extra inning win, but Spain once again showed their effort in close situations to remain undefeated in the tournament and winning the semi-finals against Italy 3-2. Spain scored twice in the bottom of the seventh on a solo home run by Marc Rodriguez and a walk-off RBI double by Pablo Costales to turn the score around and advancing to the championship game. Spain had closed out the preliminary round with a pair of extra-inning wins over the Netherlands and France. Andres Annunziata scored both runs for Italy.

Semi-Final: Czechia – Netherlands 2-8 (Box score)

The dream of a championship title in the U18 tournament by the host country Czech Republic ended in the semi-finals against the Netherlands on Friday evening. The Dutch team came out off the gate blazing, scoring seven runs in the first en route to an 8-2 victory. The first three players of the Netherlands and six of the first eight each had hits to decide the outcome quickly. Rodmar Angela went 3-for-3 with a double and three RBI. Kendrey Maduro scored twice. Stijn van der Schaaf struck out ten batters in five brilliant innings of one-hit relief. Michal Sindelka and Simon Klacl scored for Czechia.

Placement Round: Germany – Great Britain 3-0 (Box score)

Germany shut out Great Britain 3-0 to start the placement round at the U-18 European Baseball Championship in Brno with a win on Friday morning. Tim Fischer and two relievers kept the British team to two hits in the game, while Tristan Russell had two runs and Tobias Maul two RBI. David King and Max Manoff had the two hits for GB.

Placement Round: Austria – Ireland 12-2 (Box score)

Austria captured their second win in the tournament with a 12-2 win in the placement round game in Brno on Friday afternoon. Austria scored seven runs in the fifth to turn a close game into a lopsided affair. Dan Kawanishi and Eoghan Mc Garry had three RBI each for Austria. John Mcadams and Cillian Murphy scored for Ireland.

Placement Round: France – Israel 6-3 (Box score)

France overcame an early 0-2 deficit to beat Israel 6-3 in the placement round game on Friday afternoon in Blansko. The French juniors tied the game with a pair of sac flies in the second and third. Four runs in the fourth including three on a bases clearing triple by Amaury Cegielski gave them the lead. Liam Sagiv, Aviad Schechter and Noah Cohen scored the runs for Israel.

Placement Round: Belgium – Lithuania 7-0 (Forfeit)

Belgium won their placement round game against Lithuania 7-0 on a forfeit by Lithuania due to a pitch count violation.

All games will be live streamed and can be watched on the WBSC Europe YouTube Channel.

Play-by-play, results and standings can be followed on WBSC Europe website.

Latest news and photos from the championship can be found on WBSC Europe social media.

Photo by Tomáš Icík