France rallies against Germany on day two of U-23 Baseball European Championship
09/08/2023
Defending champion Netherlands, Italy and Great Britain improved to 2-0 in the U-23 Baseball European Championship in Wiener Neustadt on Wednesday. The Dutch team edged out Czechia 2-1 in a nail-biting pitcher’s duel. Italy celebrated a lopsided 14-4 victory over Belgium. Great Britain beat host Austria 10-4 in the evening game. Meanwhile France started off the day in morning with six late runs in an 8-3 win over Germany, as both teams are 1-1 after two days of first-round play.
In a
thrilling back and forth battle, France scored six runs in the bottom of the
sixth to defeat Germany 8-3 in the morning game in Wiener Neustadt on
Wednesday. After France took a quick 2-0 lead in the first on an error and a
RBI single by Gabriel Harrison, Germany came back in the fifth and sixth with
home runs by Simon Bäumer and Lou Helmig to get up front 3-2. However in the
bottom half of the frame France tied the game quickly on a RBI single by Pierre
Doat. A RBI fielder’s choice by Fabian Kovac pushed the leading run over the
plate before a two-run double by Mathis Meurant and an error on a dropped
flyball plated four more runs for France to seal the win. Mathis Nayral struck
out eight batters in 4 1/3 strong innings.
The Netherlands improved to 2-0 with a 2-1 victory over Czechia, which still waits for their first win in the tournament. However Czechia had the better start into the game, taking a 1-0 advantage in the second on sac fly by Tomas Chadim. One inning later Jeandro Tromp tied the game with a RBI single. In the sixth the Dutch team got ahead with a RBI single by Edvin Irausquin. Not much else got going on offense for both teams, as pitching dominated the contest. Scott Prins issued just one hit, a run and three walks in six innings, while striking out three for the win. Pim Vijfvinkel closed out the nail-biter. David Mergans kept Czechia in the game, by allowing just two runs on four hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings.
Italy
overcame an early 0-2 deficit to defeat Belgium 14-4 in five innings in the
afternoon game in Schwechat on Wednesday. Italy scored in four of the five
innings played, highlighted by a five-run rally in the fifth. Gabriele Angioi
collected three runs out of the leadoff spot. Samuele Gamberini, Andres
Annunziata Nino and Tommaso Battioni had two RBI each for a balanced attack,
which also saw nine different players score. Nando Mostaert homered for Belgium,
scored twice and drove in two.
Great
Britain scored eight runs following a rain delay in the second en route to a
10-4 win over Austria in the Wednesday evening game. The British squad improved
to 2-0 in Group A, while Austria dropped to 0-2. Donovan Crook and Andrew
Johnston had the big hits during the rally with a two-run double and a two-run
single. Kennard Dawson and Ben Leid also collected two RBI apiece. Christoph
Hoscher scored twice for Austria.
Outlook
Great
Britain is going to have a quick turnaround as they will play the Netherlands
at 10:00 on Thursday to close out the preliminary round in a battle for first
place in Group A, as both teams are already are qualified for the semi-finals
on Friday. At 14:30 Germany will square off against Italy. At 16:00 in
Schwechat Belgium is taking on France in hopes for their first win. In the
evening at 19:30 Austria meets with Czechia in a matchup of winless teams.
