Netherlands – Lithuania 24-0 (Box score)
The Netherlands
opened day two in Valenciennes with a 24-0 shutout over Lithuania in their
Group B matchup of the preliminary round. The Dutch team put 14 runs on the
board in the first and ten in the second en route to a lopsided score. The
Netherlands offense was led by Javier Olivier Chance, who went 3-for-3 with a
home run, three runs scored and seven RBI. Marcelo Montenegro and Rudgendrick
Felicia scored four runs apiece for the Dutch. On the mound Tijn Bake Luca
Delemarre and Sen Lesley Flart kept Lithuania hitless through three innings, as
they combined for six strikeouts.
Austria – Czechia 0-24 (Box score)
In the
second Group B game on Thursday Czechia matched the Netherlands efforts with their
own 24-0 win over Austria. Eleven runs in the first, four in the second and
nine in the third put the game into the books. Ten different players scored for
the Czech juveniles, leadoff Robin Mika alone crossed the plate five times.
Jakub Röschl collected four runs and four RBI. Dominik Stepanek also drove in
four. Pitchers Robin Mika, Adam Hromadka and Adam Kupsky kept Austria to two
hits by Ben Preissl and Tobias Kropik.
Italy – Great Britain 24-2 (Box score)
Italy
defeated Great Britain 24-2 in the Group A matchup in the afternoon in
Valenciennes. After the British squad opened the game with runs by Taylor
Wormington and Hugo Esperon, Italy answered in a big way. They scored six runs
in the bottom half of the first, 15 in the second and three in the third.
Thomas Chinello capped the scoring with a three-run home run ending the game
with the 20-run rule. Leonardo Perracino also homered for Italy. 12 different players
crossed the plate for the Azzurri. Serse Benelli and Nicolo Castello kept GB to
the two runs from the beginning of the game.
France – Germany 4-19 (Box score)
In the
evening game on Thursday at Vipers ballpark in Valenciennes host France was
looking for an upset against defending champion Germany. But the reigning U-12
champion put on a dominant performance and overcame an early 1-3 deficit to
prevail 19-4 after five innings. Germany took a quick 1-0 lead in the top half
of the first thanks to a RBI double by Henk Lenhart. But France got the home
crowd going by scoring three runs in the bottom half of the frame. Guillaume
Bidaut tied the contest with a RBI single. Then Gael Shomura Correges hit a
two-run home run to give the French a 3-1 advantage. But Germany scored six
runs in the second and eleven in the third en route to the victory lane. Felipe
Morales Weggemann had four hits, four runs and five RBI for Germany. Constantin
Bieth homered and also scored three times.
Outlook
On Friday the preliminary round ends at the U-12 Baseball European Championship in Valenciennes with four games, each either between winless or unbeaten teams. In the morning at 10:30 Lithuania and Austria hope for their first win and a good position for the relegation round in a meeting of two 0-2 clubs. Afterwards at 13:00 Czechia and the Netherlands clash for first place in Group B. In the afternoon at 15:30 Germany and Italy square off to battle it out for first place in Group A. The matchup between Czechia and the Netherlands, as well as between Germany and Italy are each rematches from last year’s semifinals, where Czechia and Germany advanced to the Gold Medal Game. In the evening game on Friday at 18:00 host France and Great Britain meet in a game between winless teams.
All games from the U-12 Baseball European Championship can be followed by live play by play through the WBSC Europe website. Also all games are being live streamed through the WBSC Europe YouTube Channel.
Photo by Glenn Gervot
