Semifinals set at Baseball European Champions Cup 2023 with HCAW, Parma, Bonn and Amsterdam
The preliminary round at the Baseball European Champions Cup 2023 in Bussum and Amsterdam, Netherlands ended on Thursday with four games. While ASD Parma advanced undefeated with a 3-0 record to the semifinals, the tie-breaking method Team Quality Balance (TQB) was needed to determine the other three semifinalists. HCAW, Bonn Capitals and Amsterdam Pirates will join the defending champion Parma in the medal round.
ASD Parma defeated Draci Brno 6-2 on Thursday afternoon in Amsterdam to finish the first round with a perfect 3-0 record, while Draci had to settle for a 1-2 record. Parma took a quick 2-0 lead in the first through RBI singles by Luis Gonzalez and Alberto Mineo. They extended that advantage to four runs via an error and a sac fly by Gonzalez in the third. After Brno cut the deficit in half in the fifth by a RBI double from Arnost Dubovy and a RBI single by Andres Angulo, two sac flies by Gonzalez and Giulio Monello in the fifth and sixth secured the win for Parma. Diego Fabiani earned the win with six solid innings, while Jan Varousek got charged with the loss.
In the Thursday afternoon game in Bussum Arrows Ostrava kept their chances alive with a 5-1 win over the Rouen Huskies to bring their record to 2-1 in the tournament, while Rouen dropped to 0-3. Four runs in the fourth inning gave Arrows a commanding lead, as Michael Vykoukal had a RBI single, Jakub Kubica a bases loaded walk and Rory Graf-Brennen a two-run double. A RBI double by Kubica made it 5-0 in the sixth, before Rouen got on the board with a RBI groundout by Joris Bert. Boris Bokaj issued just one run on three hits in six stellar innings for the win. Will Lacroix got charged with the loss.
However the hopes for Arrows to reach the semifinals were denied in the evening game in Bussum between HCAW and the Bonn Capitals. Bonn downed HCAW 5-2, which led to a three-way tie between HCAW, Bonn and Ostrava with all teams having 2-1 records. Based on the TQB HCAW came out on top ahead of Bonn and Ostrava to give the semifinal seats from Group B to HCAW and Bonn. HCAW actually had the better start, taking a 1-0 lead in the first on a RBI single by Jair van Borkulo. But the Capitals turned the score around with a two-run single by Luis Martin in the second. Bonn added three runs thanks to Vincent Ahrens, who had a sac fly in the third and a two-run single in the fifth. Brendley Martina hit a solo home run in the ninth for HCAW, but it was too little too late. Toru Murata earned the win with five solid innings. Player manager Wilson Lee pitched the last four innings to secure the victory. Gio de Graauw took the loss for HCAW.
Also in Group A the TQB was needed to determine a semi-final spot. But the Untouchables Paderborn, Draci Brno and Amsterdam Pirates each had 1-2 records to show for behind ASD Parma’s 3-0 performance. Amsterdam came out on top in the TQB calculations thanks to a 15-0 blowout over the Untouchables on Thursday evening. The Pirates scored five runs in the first and were ahead 8-0 after three innings, scoring in six of the seven innings played. Roelie Henrique and Tommy van der Sanden scored three runs apiece for Amsterdam. Kenny Berkenbosch, Duco Nuijten and Luca Pastor had two RBI each. Naut Kragt earned the win with six scoreless three-hit innings, striking out nine. Mark Harrison took the loss, lasting just one-third of an inning in the first.
Outlook
On Friday the semifinals will be played in the evening at the European Baseball Champions Cup 2023. In Bussum HCAW is taking on Amsterdam Pirates in a meeting between co-hosts with the winner also determining the spot of the grand finale on Saturday. In Amsterdam ASD Parma is taking on the Bonn Capitals. Meanwhile in the afternoon the relegation round starts with Draci Brno, Arrows Ostrava, Untouchables Paderborn and Rouen Huskies.
