Jupiter, Florida. Israel had a strong start into the World Baseball Classic Qualifier in Jupiter, Florida. They scored six of their seven runs in the last three innings of a 7-3 win over South Africa. The lone African participant in the event is now one loss away from being ousted from the double-elimination competition.

The Italian national team has defended its title at the 2012 European Championship. The Squadra Azzurri defeated IBAF Baseball World Cup winner Netherlands 8-3 in the Gold Medal Game on Sunday afternoon in Rotterdam to claim the championship. The team of head coach Marco Mazzieri won the title with an undefeated 9-0 record, beating the Dutch host twice in the process.

The second round at the 2012 European Championship in the Netherlands started with three games on Thursday. In the afternoon Spain used a hit by pitch with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth to down the Czech Republic 6-5. It was a back-and-forth battle with a couple of lead changes. Matej Hejma went 4-for-4 with a homerun for the Czech squad. Paco Figueroa and Jesus Golindano combined for four RBI for Spain.

The classification round for places 7th to 12th was played on Wednesday at the 2012 European Championship in the Netherlands. Greece beat France 9-5 thanks to a balanced attack on the offensive side of the game, finishing in 7th place in the final standings. In the game for 9th place Belgium prevailed 3-2 against Croatia, scoring the decisive runs on a costly error at short. Great Britain received a great start by Benjamin Pearson to defeat Russia 6-2 to finish in 11th place. Great Britain and France will participate in the upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Regensburg respective Jupiter.

The first round at the 2012 European Championship in the Netherlands is in the books. The preliminary round robin ended on Tuesday with six games. Italy, Spain and Sweden from Group A and the Netherlands, Germany and Czech Republic from Group B made it into the medal round, which will be played in another round robin format.

The 2012 European Championship is about to conclude its preliminary phase. The fourth game day of the first round was played on Monday. Defending champion Italy improved to 4-0 with a 7-0 shutout over Greece. Chris Colabello hit a grand slam and four pitchers combined in a six-hitter, as the Squadra Azzurri is the lone undefeated team in the tournament. In the other two Group-A matchups Spain crushed Sweden 13-1 and Croatia celebrated for the first time after an 8-4 victory over Russia.

Six games were played at day three of the 2012 European Championship in the Netherlands on Sunday. The Czech Republic delivered the biggest upset of the tournament so far. The team of manager Andy Berglund stunned the Netherlands 3-2 in ten innings to not only hand the event host its first loss, but also claimed its first victory.

Four teams improved to 2-0 in the 2012 European Championship on Saturday in the Netherlands. In Group A Italy got payback for a loss from 2010, defeating Sweden 8-1 thanks to a homerun by Juan Carlos Infante and a sound pitching performance. Also in this pool Spain crushed Russia 10-1, handing out 20 hits, while scoring four runs in the fourth and six in the eighth. In the third Group A matchup Greece scored six early runs en route to a 7-2 win over Croatia, their first in the tournament.

The 2012 European Championship is under way. Six games were played on the first day of the premier tournament of European Baseball in Rotterdam, Haarlem and Utrecht, Netherlands on Friday. No surprises on the first day, as all favorites celebrated wins.

Seoul (Korea). The second round at the XXV IBAF 18U Baseball World Championship in Seoul, Korea will end on Friday with three games. Five teams are still in the race to reach the Gold Medal Game. Except for host Korea, which lost the evening game to Japan on Thursday. In the pole position to reach the Gold Medal Game is Canada, which ended the streak of Colombia in the morning. In the afternoon Team USA had beaten defending champion Chinese Taipei.