VOITH Heidenheim Heidekoepfe (Germany)
The seven-time German Baseball Champion VOITH Heidenheim Heidekoepfe opens the Baseball European Champions Cup against Eagles Praha.
The team is managed by Klaus Eckle and is playing its home games in the HellensteinEnergie Ballpark in Heidenheim an der Brenz. The city is located in Baden-Württemberg close to the Bavarian border and about 30 kilometers north of Ulm.
The Heidekoepfe are led by veterans Simon Gühring and Mike Bolsenbroek. Their roster also includes foreign players William Germaine, Jared Mortensen and Gary Owens.
Heidenheim has lots of experience on the European level with the biggest success stories being winning the CEB Cup 2019 and reaching the championship game at the European Champions Cup Final Four in 2010.
Draci Brno (Czechia)
Draci Brno is the most successful team in Czech baseball winning 24 championships including the last two.
Draci is playing at YD Baseball Arena. The city of Brno is located in the south of Czechia close to the borders of Austria and Slovakia. YD Baseball Arena hosted parts of the Baseball European Championship 2023 including the Gold Medal Game.
Draci is usually led by utility weapon Martin Schneider, who unfortunately suffered a shoulder injury during the Global Baseball Series in March, playing for Europe against Samurai Japan. Also on Draci’s roster Jhenderson Hurtado, Jose Medina, Jakub Haijtmar and Milan Prokop among others.
Draci is also a mainstay on the European club competition circuit including winning the 2017 CEB Cup, which now has been renamed to Confederation Cup.
Eagles Praha (Czechia)
The Eagles Praha from the Czech capital are well known worldwide as hosts of numerous European Championships in Baseball and Softball, but also of the Prague Baseball Week and Prague Softball Week. The facility with two baseball and three softball fields in Krc is suited to host international events.
The Eagles were founded in 1982, but so far have not won a Extraliga championship. They were runner up multiple times though and also have participated in a couple European Baseball Cup throughout the years.
The team features imports Willie De La Barcena, Emmanuel Herrera, Natsuki Tamba and Koya Uemura alongside Czech baseball veterans Tomas Duffek and Petr Zyma.
Guggenberger Legionaere Regensburg (Germany)
The Guggenberger Legionaere Regensburg probably have the best baseball facility in Europe with the Armin-Wolf-Baseball-Arena, located in Bavaria, Germany right next to the Danube river. They will host the U-18 Baseball European Championship in July this year.
The Legionaere have won five German Baseball-Bundesliga championships and qualified for the Baseball European Champions Cup through winning the German Baseball Cup 2023. They won the B-Pool of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1998 and 2006.
The team of manager Martin Helmig is led by Matt Vance, Alexander Schmidt, Devon Ramirez Beaver and Nino Sacasa. French national teamer Daniel Patrice, as well as Terrell Joyce and Nick Miceli are also on the roster.
All games of the Baseball European Champions Cup will be streamed live. You can follow also all games via live play by play on the WBSC Europe website.
Cover photo by Devon Ramirez
