13/08/2022 - 20/08/2022

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U-18 European Baseball Championship 2022 - Official Payoff

Czechia and Spain enter Off Day at U-18 European Baseball Championship with 4-0 records

Czechia and Spain enter Off Day at U-18 European Baseball Championship with 4-0 records
16/08/2022
After four of five days at the preliminary round at the U-18 European Baseball Championship in the Czech Republic the hosts and Spain remained undefeated heading into the off day. However Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and France still remain hopeful to gain a spot in the semi-finals.

France – Austria 10-7 (Box score)

Austria fought hard, but France outlasted them 10-7 in the morning game in Hluboka on Tuesday. It was the third win in four games for France. Austria led 3-0 and tied the game at 6-6, until the French squad scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth en route to victory. Leadoff Mathis Meurant had a monster game with five hits, three runs and four RBI. Julien Cojolum also drove in four for France. Batiste Blancot scored three times. Lukas Pichler collected two RBI for Austria.

Italy – Germany 7-6 (Box score)

Italy rallied to beat Germany 7-6 to keep their semi-final hopes alive in the morning game in Ostrava on Tuesday. Both teams are now 3-1 in Group A with Germany hoping to beat Czechia on Thursday evening to get into a possible three-way tie. Germany took leads of 3-2 and 5-3 in the contest and had the winning run at the plate in the seventh. But Italy had scored four runs in the sixth to secure the win. Filippo Venditti went 3-for-4 with four RBI for Italy. Alessandro Laise and Williams Wong each scored twice. Darrion Richards had three RBI for Germany. Tobias Maul collected three hits.

Lithuania – Great Britain 4-14 (Box score)

Great Britain improved to 2-2 in the tournament with a 14-4 rout against still winless Lithuania in the afternoon game in Hluboka on Tuesday. GB took a quick lead, but then saw a 4-0 advantage being erased on two swings by Nerljus Kelmelis and Airidas Sukys with two-run singles in the third. But the British juniors scored a combined ten runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth to run away with the win. Jack Warrington doubled and drove in four. Al Banerjee crossed the plate three times. Max Manoff had two runs and three RBI.

Ireland – Belgium 1-16 (Box score)

Belgium blew by Ireland 16-1 in the afternoon game in Ostrava on Tuesday. It was the first win for the Red Hawks in the event. It was a relatively close game with Belgium leading 4-1 until the top of the fifth, when the Belgian offense erupted for a dozen runs in one frame. Ayoub Fatihi hit a three-run home run and drove in four runs overall. Viktor Vandervelden had two hits, two runs and three RBI. Ken Spurgeon Mizunoya scored three times. Cillian Murphy scored the lone run for the Irish juniors.

Czechia – Israel 13-3 (Box score)

Israel put a scare into the Czech Republic in the early innings of their evening matchup in Ostrava on Tuesday. They took a 3-0 lead midway through the second on a run by Liam Sagiv in the first on a double play ball, a run by Kai Friesem on a bases loaded walk and a run by Aviv Bobrov on a fielder’s choice – both in the second. Afterwards it was all Czechia. The host of the tournament scored eight runs in the bottom of the second to decide the outcome. Four of the eight runs scored on RBI singles. The other four on a pair of bases loaded walks, a wild pitch and a passed ball. One inning later Viktor Hluchy and Michal Zelenka put out the big bats with home runs. In the fifth a pair of runs ended the game on ten-run rule.

Netherlands – Spain 3-4 (Box score)

Spain stunned the Netherlands with a 4-3 extra inning win in the evening game in Hluboka on Tuesday. Both teams scored twice in the first three innings of a defensive oriented contest. Extra innings needed to decide the outcome. Spain scored twice through a balk and a sac fly in the top half of the eighth. The Dutch team then managed only one run on a groundout and lost the game with a runner stranded at third. Spain improved to 4-0, while the Netherlands dropped to 3-1. Similar to Group B also in Group A a three-way tie for first, second and third is still possible in the race for the semi-finals.

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 Petra Voet