Four games were played on day 1 of the U-12 Baseball European Championship 2023.
Germany – Great Britain 15-5 (Box score)
Reigning U-12 European Champion Germany opened the 2023 tournament with a commanding 15-5 win over the promoted Great Britain. Germany scored 13 runs in the first three frames to control the contest. The British squad, which won the U-12 Qualifier last year, made things interesting in the second, when they closed the gap to 3-4. But Germany answered right away to run away with the victory. Mason Cameron and Gideon Kutzner had three hits and two RBI apiece for Germany. Constantin Bieth and Henk Lenhart scored three runs each. Hugo Esperon had a solo home run for Great Britain. Sebastian Taylor drove in three. Thomas Hopfensperger earned the win. Henry Farabaugh got charged with the loss.
Netherlands – Austria 9-3 (Box score)
The Netherlands scored five in the first inning to start the U-12 Baseball European Championship with a 9-3 win over Austria. Austria was able to cut the deficit to two runs in the second, but didn’t score the rest of the game. Dutch shortstop Javier Olivier Chance hit a pair of home runs and collected four RBI apiece. Hendrik Zandvliet had three RBI for the Netherlands. Ben Preissl, Tobias Kropik und Marc Andre Moczkowski scored the runs for Austria. Jaivy Jersey Brugman picked up the win. Elias Clauss took the loss.
Czechia – Lithuania 25-1 (Box score)
Czechia needed just three innings to beat Lithuania 25-1 in a one-sided affair in the third game on Wednesday in Valenciennes. They scored ten runs in the fist and 15 in the second to run up the score quickly. Lithuania only managed to avoid the shutout when Mykolas Chositasvili crossed the plate in the second. Max Major homered and had three hits, three runs and four RBI overall. Jakub Röschl went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and five RBI. Tadeas Klimes got the win, Varvara Baitiul the loss.
Italy – France 11-4 (Box score)
Italy denied host France a successful start into the U-12 Baseball European Championship in Valenciennes, as the squadra azzurri celebrated an 11-4 victory in the evening game on Wednesday. France started off perfectly as Guillaume Bidaut hit a solo home run in the top of the first and then the French defense kept Italy off the board in the bottom half of the frame. But Italy three runs in the second, two in the fourth and six in the fifth to seal the win. France added three more runs, but wasn’t able to mount a comeback. Serse Benelli went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI. Mattia Campanini drove in two and earned the win on the mound with 4 1/3 solid innings. Corentin Avila Saint-Felix took the loss for France.
Outlook
On Thursday the second day of the preliminary round will be played with four games at 10:30, 13:00, 15:30 and 18:00 in Valenciennes. In the first two games Group B will be on the stage at the ballpark as Lithuania takes on the Netherlands and Austria meets with Czechia. Afterwards Group A is on deck with Italy facing Great Britain and in the evening matchup host France playing against defending champion Germany.
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
