Belgium – Germany 4-15 (Box score)
Germany celebrated a lopsided 15-4 victory over Belgium on Sunday evening at Eagles ballpark in Prague.
Three runs in the first, six in the fifth and four in the seventh inning blew the score wide open in a mercy rule shortened victory.
Yannic Walther and David Grimes hit home runs and combined for four hits, five runs and five RBI. Simon Bäumer and Eric Brenk had three RBI apiece.
Sam Boermans scored twice for Belgium.
Niklas Rimmel issued just two hits, a run and two walks in five strong innings for the win. Cedric Desmedt got charged with the loss for Belgium.
Netherlands – France 9-0 (Box score)
The Netherlands used six different pitchers to shut out France 9-0 in the evening game in Brno on Sunday, allowing just three hits in the process.
At the plate the defending champion needed until the third inning to reach the scoreboard, but then ran away quickly for the victory.
Sicnarf Loopstock homered as part of a three-hit performance. Former Major Leaguer Didi Gregorius scored twice for the Dutch team. Juremi Profar and Ademar Rifaela also had two RBI besides Loopstock for the Netherlands.
Felix Brown, Frederic Hanvi and Leon Jiminian had the hits for France.
Shairon Martis picked up the win in relief. Nicolas Antoine took the loss.
Great Britain – Sweden 4-0 (Box score)
In a tight game Great Britain opened the tournament with a 4-0 shutout over Sweden in the evening game in Trebic on Sunday.
A sac fly by Ben Leid in the fourth broke a scoreless tie.
One inning later Kennard Dawson and Rayondre Mercer scored on a RBI single by Harry Ford.
In the seventh Dawson closed out the score with a RBI single.
Austin Hassani earned the win with five scoreless innings, conceding just four hits and a walk. Benjamin Johnson allowed just three hits for Sweden, but also three runs and three base on balls to take the loss.
Victor Wahlberg had two hits for Sweden.
Czechia – Austria 9-0 (Box score)
Host Czechia celebrated a successful opening day at the Baseball European Championship 2023, defeating Austria by a score of 9-0 in front of a sold-out ballpark in Ostrava on Sunday evening.
Czechia got off to a perfect start, scoring four runs in the first two innings. They added four more combined in the fifth and sixth to blow the score open. Martin Cervenka and Matej Muzik went deep for the Czech squad. Cervenka and Eric Sogard combined for six hits and five RBI.
Tomas Ondra earned the win with seven strikeouts in six scoreless two-hit innings. Christian Tomsich got charged with the loss.
Outlook
On Monday the second game day of the first round starts off with Belgium taking on Switzerland in the first game in Prague. In Brno Ukraine faces the Netherlands. Great Britain has a quick turnaround with a contest against Hungary in Trebic. In Ostrava Austria and Spain kick off the day.
In the evening Croatia is playing against France in Brno. Sweden is squaring off against Italy in Trebic. Czechia is taking on Greece in Ostrava. Germany and Israel will cap the day with a matchup between two day-one winners in Prague.
All games can be followed by live streaming on www.baseballeurope.tv and live play by play through www.wbsceurope.org.
Photo by Jan Benes
