Introducing the teams in Group A at the U-18 Baseball European Championship

The favorite in the group is the defending champion from 2021, the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Oranjes will be attacking for their 18th European title in this age category. Dutch baseball is the highest European representative in the WBSC world rankings, where they hold the 8th position.

Spain finished fourth at the last U-18 European Championship. Spanish juniors have collected a total of 14 medals in the history of the U-18 European Championships - 4 silver and 10 bronze. Spain is 19th in the WBSC rankings.

Only one step lower was France, currently the 22nd team in the WBSC rankings, at last year's European Championships. France has fairly occupied all the youth championships, they were relegated from the men's one in 2021, but they had their hopes of participating in the men's European Championships in 2023 in the Czech Republic in the qualification. France has a total of 3 bronze medals from the U-18 European Championships.

The next participant of the European Championships in Group A is Austria, which has the best ranking of 8th in the junior championships so far. In the WBSC rankings, they hold the 30th position. "Our team will definitely be aggressive on the bases and will work hard on defense. Our biggest strengths are speed, passion, and the right attitude," says national team coach Sascha Obermayer.

Lithuania, which is 37th in the world rankings and had its best finish as 7th at the U-18 European Championships, is not missing from the tournament, ranked 9th in 2021.

Great Britain, advancing from the qualifying tournament in Sundyberg, Sweden, completes the six participants in Group A. The British squad holds 23rd place in the world rankings, with its best finish in 5th place at the U-18 European Championships.

Evženie Votinská
Cover photo by Ezio Ratti / FIBS