by Croatian Baseball Federation

After winning the Championship, and the Interleague title, BC Zagreb won a third crown, Croatian Cup. They played against BC Olimpia, Karlovac in the final and won 12-0.

Ernesto Pereira was the winning pitcher for Zagreb’s team, allowing only one hit and striking out 11 players.

Zagreb’s offense had a good day, counting 12 hits. Mario Manojlov alone had four hits (one home run and one double) and 5 RBIs.

With winning the third crown, BC Zagreb repeated the success from 2008 when they won all three titles.

by Goran Supraha

After difficulty in semi finals against Olimpija Karlovac last year champion Nadu SSM Split in finals of Croatian championship play against BK Zagreb, which this year strengthened the position of pitcher with Ernesto Pereira, and for the coach Mike Hartley (last year he led the Heidenheim Heidekoepfe).

Since BK Zagreb was expected to be a very difficult opponent because they assembled a quality team this season where they had major role players who play baseball 20 or more years so that the gaming experience was on their side while individual quality was on the side of Nada SSM .

Already in the first game you could see that this will be an interesting series. The game in which everything is up to the last change seemed like an easy win BK Zagreb. Before the last offense of Nada SSM Split BK Zagreb led 10-5, but Nada SSM woke up and operated 5 runs to lead the game in extra innings. In extra innings Nada SSM had a chance to take the first win, but they did not take advantage of what would be said to BK Zagreb who immediately took her and came to the first victory in the series, which has played in four victories.

In the second game Nada SSM – Split started the match well and leads till third inning 5-0, but as they are thought to be easy to win (which is otherwise impossible in any sport) Zagreb coach changes starting pitcher for Dean Marin, which is successfully stopped the otherwise strong attack Nada SSM. By the end of the game on the field we could see only one team and BK Zagreb who deservedly took another “donated” winning the final score of 17-6.

The final series was continued for two days in Zagreb, when it was believed that Nada SSM – Split can not play so bad any more on the mound for BK Zagreb found Mike Hartley who had received only four hits through the entire game and took a valuable third victory in Zagreb and score of 12-2. Congratulations to a man who is 50 years old while the guests from Split started inexperienced and young Andrija Jaksic (18 years) who literally fell apart in the second amendment when it receives four runs, and it changes the “wounded lion” Dabo Matko that despite the injury and loss did a great game to end.

In the fourth game for which most Zagreb players thought it was the last in the series Nada SSM – Split decided to finally show the baseball which one they played the entire season. Throughout the game home and guests are alternated in the lead, and when the host has already begun to celebrate and when the result is 7-5 for BK Zagreb in the ninth inning players Nada SSM – Split included in this latest offense totally unencumbered and working elusive five points 10:7 for the first victory in the series.

Returning final series in Split Nada SSM had the opportunity to reduce the score to 3-2 in games, but that day everything was on the side of Zagreb. Nada SSM – Split begins furiously and quickly took the lead with 3-1. Zagreb does not give up and wants at all costs to complete a series victory in this game but Nada SSM Split defense did to many errors. Split are just not allowed to return to Zagreb to play but to lead with 5-4. Nada SSM once again returns to 5-5, but the Split as if they expected to win it happen by itself. By the end of the game runs on BK Zagreb 9-5 while Nada SSM once again trying to make a turn in the ninth inning, but not this time it was too late.

by Goran Supraha

At “Sredisce field” in Zagreb, 21st & 22nd April was held a tryout for the Croatian cadet national team. There were 28 players from all Croatian clubs, being been tested and scouted by Mike Hartley and Matija Grofelnik through two days. They chose 20 players to represent Croatia at Qualifier European Championship Cadets in Belgrade, Serbia from 18th – 23rd July.

Croatian cadet national team:

• Ivan Arklinic
• Matija Balent
• Luka Dadas
• Matej Filipovic
• Antonio Horvatic
• Domagoj Jerbic
• Franko Kovacic
• Aleksandar Kruhek
• Nino Kruhek
• Luka Krvavica
• Darko Kvaternik
• Dario Martinez
• Robert Martinez
• Luka Ostovic
• Matej Potocki
• Lovro Rodes
• Borna Tkalcec
• Andrija Tomic
• Josip Trbuscic
• Damjan Zlatarek

Coaches: Mike Hartley, Matija Grofelnik and Bozidar Rozman

Photo by Bozidar Rozman

Group South (Serbia&Croatia):
16.04.2011.
BK Zagreb - Nada SSM Split 6-8
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varaždin 2-12 (7)
Beograd 96 Beograd - Vojvodina Novi Sad 17-7 (7)

17.04.2011.
BK Zagreb – Nada SSM Split 3-14 (7)
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varaždin 2-14 (7)
Beograd 96 Beograd – Vojvodina Novi Sad  (postponed due to rain)

Group North (Slovakia&Hungary):
16.04.2011.
Slovan Bratislava – Fighting Flies Bratislava 15-0, 10-1
Angels Trnava – Apollo Bratislava 10-11, 1-15

Results:

20^th 03.’11.
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varaždin 6-8
Kaptol Zagreb – BK Zagreb 3-6

26^th & 27^th 03.’11.
Olimpija Karlovac – Sisak Storks 15-5 (7)
Sisak Storks – Donat Zadar 5-16 (7)
BK Zagreb – Nada SSM Split 2-1

2^nd & 3^rd 04.’11.
Kaptol Zagreb – Medvednica Zagreb 17-3 (7)
Sisak Storks – Olimpija Karlovac 12-21
Donat Zadar – Vindija Varaždin 3-11
Medvednica Zagreb – Nada SSM Split 0-21 (6)

9^th & 10^th 04.’11.
Medvednica Zagreb – BK Zagreb 2-17 (7)
Nada SSM Split – Kaptol Zagreb 20-0 (5)
Olimpija Karlovac – Donat Zadar 22-7 (7)
Sisak Storks – Vindija Varaždin 5-12

Standings:
Group “A”

Group “B”

17^th 04.’11.
Donat Zadar – Sisak Storks

This weekend (16^th & 17^th 04.’11) starts Inter league Group South with 6 teams; Vindija Varazdin, BK Zagreb, Olimpija Karlovac, Nada SSM Split from Croatia and from Serbia Beograd 96 Beograd and Vojvodina Novi Sad (first time paying Inter league). In Group North we have  7 teams; four from Slovakia (Angels Trnava, Apollo Bratislava, Fighting Flies Bratislava, Slovan Bratislava) and 3 from Hungary (Aeros Erd, Rascals Janossomorja, Sleepwalkers Szentendre).

Inter league schedule:

Group North
16.04. at 11:00 Slovan vs Fightin Flies at Janossomorja
16.04. at 11:00 Angels vs Apollo at Bratislava
Doubleheader games

Group South
16^th & 17^th 04.’11.
BK Zagreb – Nada SSM Split
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin
Vojvodina Novi Sad – Beograd 96 Beograd

After start in September 2010, the season continues this Sunday, 20^th March. The Croatian championship from last year plays autumn-spring and it is divided in two groups; A&B, playing the finals in July 2011. In Group “A” Kaptol Zagreb (2-1) will host BK Zagreb (3-1) at “Sredisce Field”, and in Karlovac at “Four River Field”, Olimpija Karlovac (0-2) will host leader in Group “B“ Vindija Varazdin (3-0). Last year Croatian champions BK Nada SSM Split start “defending” title 27th March, 2011 against BK Zagreb.

Group “A”

Group “B”

Schedule for March 2011.

20th March, 2011. at 13:00
Kaptol Zagreb – BK Zagreb
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin

26th March, 2011. at 13:00
Medvednica Zagreb – Grabrik Karlovac
Olimpija Karlovac – Sisak Storks

27th March, 2011. at 13:00
BK Zagreb -  Nada SSM Split
Sisak Storks – Donat Zadar
*first team is host

Also 14th season of Inter league (Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia & Croatia) will start in April. This year the league also is divided in to two groups “North” (Slovakia & Hungary) and “South” (Serbia & Croatia). From each group the best four teams go on to the two semifinal tournaments (26.-28.08.’11.). Winner and runner-up from semifinals plays on to the Final Four Inter league 2011 (10.-11.09.’11).

Goran Supraha: May you say something about your career; playing and coaching, education…

Aleksandar Bekic: I started my baseball career back in 1988, when our present president Goran Vucetic came up with an idea to recruit new members, cause “old” guys who started and formed the club where starting to quit to play and by his opinion, the only way to hold the club together was with new, younger players. After that he went to schools and got some 20 guys years from 16-19, what was then a “new generation” where I started also to practice baseball and immediately fall in love with the game.

The game was a lot different than today, we didn’t know much, but we used all possible ways to learn and develop, from TV, books to talking to other players and coaches. My generation helped to survive and transfer our club to new era, which started in early 90s, specially when we signed our 2nd sponsorship contract with our present general sponsor Vindija d.d., in 1994. That’s the year when we started our youth program, where I was put as a head coach and still work with kids age 8-18 today.

As I mentioned my playing career started in ’88 and still lasts, but generally as I player started to change in early 90s under influence of different American players and coaches, but the turning point was when American/Croatian player Stephen Sabo joined our club in 1996 and played couple of years for us and also meeting with our long year coach Bill Percy. As long as I am in the game I was always willing to learn and working hard, what I think kept me so long, still capable to compete at highest level of game here.

GS: After winning 2009 Inter league title and playing in finals of Croatian championship and Croatian cup that same year, 2010 wasn’t even close….

AB: Yes, there are a couple of things that defined our last seasons. First is that we have been working with group of young players for some years, trying to get them able to match the best players in the league. Our problem was all other foreign players who are playing or played in other clubs, who where just too strong for our guys. That all changed in 2009 when we started friendship with coach John Vodenlich a head coach of Whitewater University, Wisconsin. That relationship brought to us his 2 players, Ben Prather and Greg Harder, who helped not only playing wise, specially pitching, but on all level from practice, attitude, etc. That was the reason of our “great 2009 season”. In the year 2010 those guys went back home and we lost some key players, pitchers and main catcher, what make us to present new, younger players to first team and we just couldn’t compete like we did a year before.

GS: Your club is good organized, great baseball school, juveniles, cadets and juniors are almost best every year but you don’t have proper baseball field, what’s secret…

AB: Our youth program, named “Vindi Iso-Sport Baseball School” started back in 1994, as I mentioned before and we didn’t stop since then. The secret is basically not a secret, its hard work, as always in life, nothing can happen if you don’t invest, time and money also, of course. We visit schools from town area every spring, getting new young players, play a lot of games, after our season ends and most of team release their kids, we spend whole July and second half of August practicing every day and traveling aboard to different youth tournaments, mostly to Italy where we have a lot of friends and great contacts with local clubs. After the season, during winter months we continue to work with kids in gym, so basically all year around program for them.

GS: You have had a great start in the fall (3-0), what are your expectations at spring 2011….

AB: Well yes, we had good start, our team is together, we got some players back, but still have some problems on some position. I can’t tell much, cause we played with weaker teams, and I don’t know how will we look when we play with our strongest Croatian teams. We will introduce again a couple of new young players this season and just giving our best and hope to get back to the finals of league or cup.

GS: Your club was against autumn-spring season, may you explain why…

AB: There are a lot of reasons for that, by our opinion. But some main are, for example: the biggest one is that playing baseball like that just don’t compare to “spirit of baseball season”, there is no league, I think, in the whole world that is playing like that right now. Next thing is that now we have almost 4 months of break in between 2 parts of season, the autumn part was just too short and with no desire of playoffs or “autumn baseball”.

Another big reason is that our playoffs and most important games are played end of May and beginning of July when majority of our players, who are students have exams in high schools or colleges. Then we have a break in the middle of playoffs, cause some teams compete in European cups. All these makes us and me personally think that this is still a big step back or in wrong direction, how every you might interpret it.

GS: You played for national team for long time, may you give some comparison between those times when you played and these “new” kids, and what you expect from national team this summer at Qualifier for European Championship in Holland 2012….

AB: Well, as you said I was in the national team from the beginning, although I was not on the  first official team in 1992, but on next European Championship in Ljubljana 1994 I was there and all the way until year 2001, a new era of national team. The times where different then, cause we had turbulences in Croatia regarding war with ex Yugoslavia, what also strongly reflected on all the people here, and us players also, who had great desire to play for their new, independent country.

The next reason of player’s enthusiasm was maybe also the part that Croatian baseball started to get uplift in quality with our generation, who started to play and practice modern game of baseball. Influence of American players and coaches started to get in our country and we raised our level, cause we were thrilled to learn and perform like pro players. All that reflected to national team, we had a bunch of good players who played just for “the love for the game” and that’s why we, in my opinion had some great results, playing better and better year after year. And put us in A pool of European baseball. But as things are changing all over the world, Croatia was not bypassed in years that followed. Today we are witnesses that money is everything, a lot of sports are professionalized, and that reflects to young players in baseball too, who think they need to be paid for playing, and just the love to play for your national team is in second place.

That is, by my opinion one of the reasons of worse results last years, but maybe the bigger one is the policy or ambition from our association that national team was needed to stay in A pool on every costs, what results in getting a lot of “foreign” players outside of country, who just helped us artificially to stay in A pool and spending a lot of money on that, but on the other side, in the same time there was not good program with other, youth national teams or generally in the whole country to develop the foundation of players who will continue to be the main core of national team. So right now, I think national team finally reached a point where there is not more enough money to get over some players from states or other countries and we don’t have enough quality of our own players to compete at highest level of European baseball.

So my expectation don’t point towards sport results of national team, but more on results that will try to develop good foundation of younger players here in Croatia and having them play quality games. If that means we have to stay another 5 years maybe in B pool, its fine with me. We can’t and must not rush thing, not taking care of other parts that are needed to have strong national team.

Goran Supraha: May you say something about your career; playing and coaching, education…

Neven Marinic: My baseball story begins at 1989 and from then I did not miss any season, I play for Baseball Club Zagreb for 22 years. My generation was best in younger categories for long time, than I join senior team with 16, that year we win Croatian cup (1994) but for title we need to wait for five more years. That year we took double crown-Croatian Cup and Championships.

As, we could say “forever second” in Croatian championships we played on many European cups and one of my favorite is winning CEB cup in Prague in 2005.

When I talk of my appearance for national team, I played as junior and senior; as senior I had difficulties to fall in, because I play outfielder, and competition on that position was very strong.

However I did collect some appearance in senior national team and my biggest success was winning first place at qualifier 2006 in Antwerp, Belgium, and playing at European Championship in Barcelona 2007.

I started coaching 10 years ago. First I was coach for juveniles, later with cadets and finally with seniors. This is my second season as senior coach team. My first season as senior coach was in 2008 and I have won a triple crown with my team: Cup, Championship and Inter league, as well as 7th place at CEB competition.

As far as education goes, I have attend international coaching seminars which are last few years held in our country; however, the biggest and the most valuable experience for coaching comes from 22 seasons of active playing baseball, which I played in every age categories. Through these years I had chance to work and play with some of leading experts who were in charge of rising baseball in Croatia on higher level: Jimmy Summers, Jeff Calderone, Mike Hartmann, Ernesto Pereira, Tetsuhiro Monna, Carlos Tovar, Jason Pospishil, Steve Szabo,Bill Percy…

GS: Croatian baseball use to see Zagreb winning titles, but after winning triple crown in 2008 (Croatian Champions, Croatian cup winner and Inter league champions) last two years was disappointingly (both times finish forth), what happened last two years…

NM: As well as other clubs in Croatia, we are faced with problem of relay of players; off course we can’t ignore the financial problems also, because we are competing in all four categories and we don’t have constant financial source, as far as sponsors goes.

Concerning that two, very important logistics facts, our result is real and we must be happy for having chance to compete in all 4 categories on state level.

GS: After good start in first part of season (autumn 2010) you have score 3:1, what you expect from your team at spring 2011….

NM: At spring we expect to continue with good results because we have some refreshments in our team and few younger players now have chance to verify themselves and chance to fight for place in first team. Our main goal, for this season, is entrance in play off and winning Croatian Championship.

GS: Zagreb is big city (over million people) and have 4 clubs, is that advantage or defect for your club and why…

NM: In spite of fact that Zagreb is a city with over a million people, unfortunately baseball is not a very popular sport; we have only one stadium in city which is in use for four Zagreb baseball teams and softball team.

I think that that is a main problem for all Zagreb clubs, but we can’t ignore all other problems which are related with this one: finances, baseball schools, deficit of coaches…

That situation is not good because it doesn’t leave too much space for progress and development of Baseball culture in Zagreb.

GS: May you give your view on last year national team poor” performance in Germany, and what we may expect from them this summer in Zagreb on Qualifier for European Championship in Holland 2012.

NM: Since, almost all, clubs in Croatia now have young players in their senior teams, the same situation is in national team also. I think that bad result of our national team is current situation of Croatian baseball. Considering fact that European teams have all basic resources for quality work, such as finance, stadiums, players, coaches etc, it’s going to be very hard to accomplish good result.

But, as well as last few years, I am assured that our national team will manage to win a qualification group and try to catch their best result on European championship in Netherlands in 2012.

Goran Supraha: Tell us something about your career; playing and coaching, education…

Branko Nenadic: 1993 was my first baseball season, I was 19 years old. I was a catcher for about 10-11 seasons, then moved to outfield. The major influence on my baseball career was made by Rick Johnston, who was my coach in 1997 and 1999. He taught me a lot and encouraged me to start coaching. Later I spent some time with him at the National team and in his baseball school “The Baseball Zone” in Mississauga, Canada. Also big influence on my career was playing with guys like Jimmy Summers, Tetsuhiro Monna, Ernesto Pereira, Carlos Tovar, Jason Pospishil, Jeff Calderone and many more. Playing with and against these guys made me a better player and better coach.

GS: Olimpija is Croatian cup winner and finalist of Croatian championship last season, but at start in autumn you get two defeats, especially surprisingly was against Donat Zadar, what happened…

BN: Well the game of baseball has a lot of rules that are written, but some of baseball rules are not written. The most important is respect of The Game. Nobody is larger than baseball. The game we played in Zadar was perfect example, we didn’t play hard, we didn’t have the right approach and we got punished. We learned a lesson. Good thing is we have still a lot of games to play and show our true face.

GS: What you expecting from your players at spring and what are your expectations for season 2011…

BN: We are going to introduce 5-6 young players from our baseball school to the senior team. We are in process of building the team and I expect that process to be over in couple maybe 3 years. If all goes according to plan, we could have a pretty good team for the future, made all of home grown players.

GS: Olimpija Karlovac is a “power house” in Croatian baseball which one has won 11 championship titles, 11 Croatian cups, 3 Inter league titles and the CEB cup in 2006., do you feel “weight” of “must win a title”…

BN: Of course the pressure is always there. I was part of a team from beginning, a team that brings home the first title. More titles you win, more pressure you face and higher expectations. But reality is that you can’t improve if you win all the time. Last few seasons, both Split and Varazdin had strong teams and level of baseball played in play off was pretty good and I hope it stays that way for quite some time.

GS: You also have long history in national team, last year in Germany at European championship you been assistant coach, what you except from national team this summer in Zagreb at Qualifier for European Championship I Holland 2012, after poor performance last year….

BN: My debut for the National team was in 1996. In England, since than I played in 6 European championships A pool and every B pool championship (100+ games).Last year in Germany was my last appearance for the Croatian National Team. From experience I will say this, if in your whole season you don’t see a 90 mph fastball or a slider that is 80+ mph, how can anybody expect to hit and perform against the top 5-6 A pool teams that have pitching like that. Reality is that we are in between A pool and B pool. A lot of things have to change, improvement in Croatian baseball and Croatian league before we can play competitive with the best in Europe.

Mister-Baseball: May you say something about you, your playing career your education…

Ivan Racic: I started playing when I was 14, soon I completely fell in love with the game. I improved my level of play working with a former Tokyo Giant, Tetsuhiro Monna, during his time in Split. I needed a new challenge so I decided to leave for USA and compete at the college baseball level. I graduated in December with a degree in Health and Physical Education.

MRBB: Nada SSM Split is yours first club that you coaching, what are you expectations and plans for 2011 season

IC: Expectations are high since Nada SSM is a club of great tradition and is always aiming for the top. My plan is to take it one day at the time, come to the field every day with a lot of enthusiasm, install some core values on how to play the game the right way and constantly improve.

MRBB: You live and study in USA for last couple years, where and on what level you play

IC: I played at the Division II level for Arkansas Tech in one of the strongest conferences in D2, The GSC (Gulf South Conference).

MRBB: May you give comparison between USA and Europe baseball

IC: Playing for your hometown club or your national team alongside your amateur teammates who are leaving everything on the field just because of that sense of pride and love for the game was always more fun for me then baseball in USA which is getting to be more of a business even at the college level.

MRBB: How you see European baseball in future, there is already some players playing in MLB teams

IC: I think European baseball is going to keep on improving and I see much more European born players getting to the next level but it is responsibility of all of the coaches, especially the ones working with kids to install proper fundamentals and baseball values into them. Also I believe we all have to work hard to bring baseball back to the Olympic program.

MRBB: You are coaching a club from Split which one have long baseball history since 1919, but without a real baseball field that difficult and they still manage to be good, what is the secret of Split

IC: Split is known as a town of great athletes, with unbelievable numbers of Olympic medal winners considering the population size. I can not believe that a town of such a great sport history doesn’t have a proper baseball field. The conditions in which the team is practicing are on low levels, which makes every victory and championship that much sweeter but to further the development of baseball in Split and Croatia to the new level, proper field is a must.

MRBB: Nada SSM Split plays at qualifier European Cup in Athens this year, what you expect “down there”

IC: I expect the team to perform much better then at the last CEB cup in Antwerp. I feel like we are going to be able to compete with any opponent and just want to play good baseball plus gain some experience for this young team, everything else will be a bonus.

MRBB: What you think about other clubs in Croatian league who may be you top opponent this season

IC: Only thing I am focused on right now is my team, I believe if we continue to prepare well like we are doing right now and bring this momentum from the winter workouts into the season that our opponent won’t really matter.

MRBB: After terrible performance at European Championship in Germany last year, Croatian national team plays qualifier in Zagreb this summer, are they strong enough to comeback where they belong.

IC: Croatian baseball is in a need of a change, I think we need to start from the scratch. The team is definitely strong enough to come back to the A pool but never good enough to make an impact among the top national teams in Europe. We need some fresh blood and a specific plan on how to get to a point where we can play with the powerhouse teams in EC.

by Goran Supraha

The third International Baseball coach clinic was held in Varazdin, Croatia from 21st till 23rd January. At this international clinic organized by Baseball klub Vindija Varazdin, Croatian baseball association and International Sport Group (ISG) coaches from Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia & Croatia attended.

Speakers on this already recognized regional clinic were:

• John Vodenlich – clinic leader; Head Baseball Coach University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, 2005 NCAA DIII Champions, All-American

• Bill Percy – Senior Advisor; MLB Envoy Coach, Head Baseball Coach St. Mary’s High School Colorado Springs, USA & CRO National Team Coach

• Tommy Watkins – Speaker/Instructor; Minnesota Twins’ Single-A affiliate Beloit Snappers Minor League Coach

• Goran Strelec (Vindija Varazdin) and Aleksandar Bekic (Vindija Varazdin).

The Clinic started on Friday afternoon, continuing on Saturday the whole day and ended on Sunday morning with a baseball lottery. Parallel with the clinic the 4th international indoor baseball tournament for juveniles with 100 kids from Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia organized. A baseball party for all participants took place on Saturday night. Also the Croatian baseball umpire association held a two-day clinic for umpires.

Photos and poster © Oliver Knolmajer

Nada SSM Split

2010 Record: 16-4 (28-7*)
2010 Ranking: Croatian champion, after regular season with a 9-3 record, they swept BK Zagreb in the semifinals 3-0 (10-0, 14-3, 13-1), and in the finals they beat Olimpija Karlovac (2009 champion) by 4-1 (3-0, 17-16, 2-12, 3-2, 10-9). Also they managed to win the Inter league (Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia) with an 8-2 regular season record by winning the semifinals in Karlovac and the Final Four of the Inter league in Bratislava.
Runs Scored: 177
Runs Allowed: 116

Best Batter: Filip Berecka .354 (OBP .475/SLG .479) with 4 doubles, 14 runs and 13 RBI in 12 games.
Most Homeruns: Ernesto Pereira 3
Most RBI: Filip Berecka 13
Most Runs Scored: Tonci Jurjevic 17
Most Stolen Bases: Tonci Jurjevic 11

Best Pitcher: Ernesto Pereira. He had a 2-0 record with an ERA of 1.80 in 7 games. He struck out 44 batters in 30 innings, walking 10.
Best ERA: Ernesto Pereira 1.80
Most Wins: Marin Tadic 4-0 (20 inn)
Most Strikeouts: Ernesto Pereira 44
Most Walks: Jadran Dadic 18
Most Innings Pitched: Jadran Dadic 31.2

* with Inter league games

by Goran Supraha

Previous:
BK Zagreb
Vindija Varazdin
Olimpija Karlovac

Olimpija Karlovac

2010 Record: 12-8 (20-13*)
2010 Ranking: 2nd after regular season with a 7-5 record. They beat Vindija Varazdin in the semifinals 3-0 (12-4, 17-7, 10-3), and in finals they lost against Nada SSM Split 4-1 (3-0, 17-16, 2-12, 3-2, 10-9). In the Inter League (Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia) they reached the Final Four in Bratislava and finished 3rd behind Nada SSM Split and Apollo Bratislava. They are the winner of the Croatian Cup.
Runs Scored: 171
Runs Allowed: 122

Best Batter: Elmir Tairi. He batted .318 (OBP .434/SLG .318) with 15 runs and 8 RBI in 11 games.
Most RBI: Damir Karin 9
Most Runs Scored: Elmir Tairi 15
Most Stolen Bases: Nikola Sertic 11

Best Pitcher: Carlos Tovar. He had a 2-1 record with an ERA of 2.49 in 3 games. He struck out 27 batters in 21.2 innings, walking 7.
Best ERA: Denis Kresnik 2.45
Most Strikeouts: Carlos Tovar 27
Most Walks: Marin Vukmirovic 28
Most Innings Pitched: Marin Vukmirovic 24

* with Inter league games

by Goran Supraha

Previous:
BK Zagreb
Vindija Varazdin

Vindija Varazdin

2010 Record: 8-10 (13-17*)
2010 Ranking: 3rd after regular season with a 5-7 record. In the semi finals they played against Olimpija Karlovac (2009 champion) and lost 0-3 (4-12, 7-17, 3-10). In the series for 3rd place they managed to beat BK Zagreb 3-0 (7-1, 4-1, 6-4). In the Inter League (Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia) they got to the semifinal tournament but the Slovakian teams (Apollo Bratislava and Slovan Bratislava) were stronger and denied them to defend their title from the year before.
Runs Scored: 108
Runs Allowed: 134

Best Batter: Igor Marcec .348 (OBP .474/SLG .435) with 4 doubles, 15 runs and 7 RBI in 12 games.
Most RBI: Petar Burazin 8
Most Runs Scored: Marin Farkas 17
Most Stolen Bases: Igor Marcec 14

Best Pitcher: Marin Farkas. He had a 3-1 record with an ERA of 4.33 in 5 games. He struck out 38 batters in 27 innings, walking 9.
Best ERA: Petar Burazin 3.24
Most Strikeouts: Marin Farkaš 38
Most Walks: Danijel Levak 31
Most Innings Pitched: Danijel Levak 39.1

* with Inter league games

by Goran Supraha

Previous:
BK Zagreb

BK Zagreb

2010 Record: 3-16 (8-20*)
2010 Ranking: 4th after regular season with a 3-9 record. In the semifinals they played against Nada SSM Split (2009 cup winner) and lost 3-0 (10-0, 14-3, 13-1) and in the series for 3rd place they lost again 3-0 (7-1, 4-1, 6-4). In the Inter League (Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia) they had a 5-5 record and that was all for the 2008 Croatian champion.
Runs Scored: 75
Runs Allowed: 153

Best Batter: Mario Manojlov .429 (OBP .545/SLG .714) with 6 doubles & 2 triples, 14 runs and 4 RBI in 10 games. He also win award for best hitter in Croatian league.
Most RBI: Ivan Gambiroza 7
Most Runs Scored: Mario Manojlov 14
Most Stolen Bases: Ivan Gambiroza 5

Best Pitcher: Dejan Marin. He had a 2:1 record with an ERA of 5.73 in 5 games. He struck out 20 batters in 33 innings, walking 16.
Best ERA: Dejan Marin 5.73
Most Strikeouts: Dejan Marin 20
Most Walks: Hrvoje Toljanic 16
Most Innings Pitched: Dejan Marin 33

* with Inter league games

by Goran Supraha

Before the ceremony to award the best individuals and clubs in Croatian baseball for 2010, the Croatian Baseball Association (CBA) held its annual Christmas club meeting to discuss about season 2011. Despite bad weather (snow all over Croatia) almost all clubs were present at this meeting. They discussed a new league system fall-to-spring. Starting this season the Croatian top teams play in two groups (5 and 4 teams) and they started in September 2010 and will finish the season playing the finals in June 2011. Also discussed were the national teams (Senior and cadet) which will represent Croatia next year in qualification tournaments for the European Championships in 2012. The seniors will host of one the Qualifiers in Zagreb from 25th – 30th July and the cadets will go to Belgrade from 18th – 23rd July. 2010 Champion Nada SSM Split will represent Croatia in the European Cup Qualifier.

Awarded individuals and clubs for 2010:

A-league
1. BK Nada SSM Split
2. BK Olimpija Karlovac
3. BK Vindija Varazdin

B-league
1. BK Donat Zadar
2. BK Sisak Storks
3. BK Gajnice Zagreb

Cadet league
1. BK Vindija Varazdin
2. BK Olimpija Karlovac
3. BK Nada SSM Split

Awards in Junior and Juvenile category were given out during final tournaments.

Seniors
A-League:
Best Hitter: Mario Manojlov, BK Zagreb Zagreb
Best Pitcher: Ernesto Pereira, BK Nada SSM Split
MVP: Carlos Tovar, BK Olimpija Karlovac

B-League:
Best Hitter: Damir Mandic, BK Medvednica Zagreb
Best Pitcher: Ivica Anic, BK Donat Zadar
MVP: Robert Kovacevic, BK Gajnice Zagreb

Cadets
Lovro Seglin (Vindija Varazdin), Andrija Tomic (Nada SSM Split), Dora Bagaric (Medvednica Zagreb), Darko Kvaternik (Olimpija Karlovac), Philipp Milović (Zagreb Zagreb), Josip Coric (Sisak Storks)

Juveniles
Luke Ostovic Zagreb Zagreb), Antonio Horvatic (Olipija Karlovac), Domagoj Jerbic (Medvednica Zagreb), Hrvoje Mestrovic (Nada SSM Split), Ivan Arklinic (Vindija Varazdin)

Best Umpire
Tomislav Ozimec was named best umpire in 2010 by the clubs

Photos © Bozidar Rozman

The Croatian Baseball Association each year hands out awards for the best individuals in various age categories, so for this year have been awarded:

Seniors
A-League:
Best Hitter: Mario Manojlov – Zagreb Zagreb
Best Pitcher: Ernesto Pereira – Nada SSM Split
MVP: Carlos Tovar – Olimpija Karlovac

B-League:
Best Hitter: Damir Mandic – Medvednica Zagreb
Best Pitcher: Ivica Anic – Donat Zadar
MVP: Robert Kovacevic – Gajnice Zagreb

Cadets
Lovro Seglin (Vindija Varazdin), Andrija Tomic (Nada SSM Split), Dora Bagaric (Medvednica Zagreb), Darko Kvaternik (Olimpija Karlovac), Philipp Milović (Zagreb Zagreb), Josip Coric (Sisak Storks)

Juveniles
Luke Ostovic Zagreb Zagreb), Antonio Horvatic (Olipija Karlovac), Domagoj Jerbic (Medvednica Zagreb), Hrvoje Mestrovic (Nada SSM Split), Ivan Arklinic (Vindija Varazdin)

Best Umpire
Tomislav Ozimec was named best umpire in 2010 by the clubs

The awards will be given out during a ceremony at the house of sports in Zagreb at December 18.

by Goran Supraha

At the “Split sports hall of fame”, 26th of November, 2010 the Baseball club Nada SSM Split organized a book promotion “Nima baluna do baseball baluna” (No ball to the baseball) – 35 years of baseball club Nada SSM Split by author Mladen Cukrov. By publishing this book the author put his name on the page of Split sports chroniclers.

This book records the life of club and people who “revived” baseball after the Second World War and again “infected” Split with this sport. In book of 215 pages Mladen Cukrov presented the life of the club from the beginning and the idea of Prof. Vinko Milas, and founding baseball club Salona in 1974, first rules which Ela Ganza translated from Italian to Croatian, through the tournaments in Italy and co-operation with the Slovenian clubs, moving on to “Stari plac” 1979 (present field which is not baseball field), glorious eighties and the first national titles (1980 and 1981), magnificent 1992 and the first Croatian champions, beautiful girls from softball team which won 9 national championship titles, and to this days which continues honor of old generation.

Together with the promotion, Nino Strmotic held a photo exhibition and presented his documentary movie “Nima baluna do baseball baluna” so that people who came (approximately 200 people) could better acquainted with the book, club and baseball. The surprise was bigger that on this promotion didn’t came only people who are involved in club and baseball, but also people from other sports and Split sports legends (Vladimir Beara, Dino Radja, Deni Lusic…) and can be conclude that Split finally recognized baseball for which big thanks goes to author Mladen Cukrov for the tremendous effort and love what he put into this book.

Photos by Bozidar Rozman

by Goran Supraha

After rainouts on September 25th & 26th, the Croatian cup finals were held in Karlovac on October 2nd & 3rd.

In first semifinal game Kaptol Zagreb beat Donat Zadar 12-0 and showed that the win against Croatian champion Nada SSM Split wasn’t coincidence. Kaptol made five runs in first inning and after that just calmly finish game by mercy rule.

In the second game the two old rivals Olimpija Karlovac and Vindija Varazdin played. Vindija took an early lead 1-0 in the first inning, and kept it till fifth inning when Olimpija woke up to score three runs, taking a 3-1 lead. In the eighth inning Vindija managed to score one more time but Karlovac “exploded” by making 9 runs, finishing the game by mercy rule and a score of 12-2.

On Sunday Kaptol Zagreb tried to make one more step to the Croatian cup title, but Karlovac was too strong this weekend. Kaptol managed to make one run off Karlovac pitcher Mario Zdelar, on the other side Karlovac scored six runs to win their 11th Croatian cup title.

Results:
October 2nd, 2010. Semifinals
Donat Zadar – Kaptol Zagreb 0-12 (8)
Olimpija Karlovac - Vindija Varazdin 12-2 (8)

October 3rd, 2010. Final
Olimpija Karlovac - Kaptol Zagreb 6-1

Last weekend, Croatian Cup quarterfinal games were played. Olimpija narrowly won over Zagreb 5-4 in Karlovac, while Vindija in Varaždin expectedly beat young guys from Grabrik/Karlovac 15-0. Donat draw for quarterfinals was against team Gajnice from Zagreb, but they canceled their participation at the last minute in this year’s Cup and League play, so Donat advanced automatically in Cup semis.

Unbelievable news and probably one of the greatest upsets in Croatian baseball history came from Split, where current Croatian and Interleague champion, Nada SSM lost to Kaptol Lions from Zagreb with a score 4-7. Kaptol offense capitalized early on opposing errors, and took the lead for the rest of the game. Former Croatian national team player, Robert Kovačević had a fantastic game for Kaptol, with 1 earned run, 6 strikeouts, allowing 5 hits through 9 innings while going 3 for 5, with an RBI and a stolen base. Veteran Mladen Sasso took the loss for Nada SSM.

Semifinal and final games are to be played in Karlovac, 25/26.9.2010

• Donat vs. Kaptol
• Olimpija vs. Vindija

by Nada SSM Split

Last weekend in Bratislava the Interleague 2010 – Final Four was played, after a regular season in which 16 teams participated from five countries (Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia), which together have over 30 million inhabitants. For the final tournament were qualified: Olimpija Karlovac, Slovan Bratislava, Bratislava Apollo and Nada SSM Split.

On Saturday the semi-final matches were played:

Nada SSM Split – Slovan Bratislava 6-0

A superb performance of Matko Dabo that dominated 9 innings (13 K and 4 BB) at the position of pitcher, allowing no more than 4 hits to Slovan team, while the players of Split have a striking day with 11 hits, of which we need to emphasize three hits of Berecka Filip and Ernesto Pereira. The defense led by Jurjević Tonći performed without errors. A well-deserved victory in which Nada SSM Split had shown calmness and seriousness.

Apollo Bratislava – Olimpija Karlovac 7-1

The match in which we expect more from Olimpija Karlovac, watching this match we had the impression that the Karlovac totally “confused” and was easy prey for a host. Very poor performance of Olimpija, but we should not diminish the quality of Apollo and their pitcher Zatka Martin, who had 12 Ks and stopped Karlovac on one run.

In Sunday’s first match the third place game was played:

Slovan Bratislava – Olimpija Karlovac 13-17

Both teams entered this match with average pitchers so that the result could even be higher. In all this Karlovac get hits in right time and deservedly finished in third of the Interleague.

And the long-awaited final of Interleague

Apollo Bratislava – Nada SSM Split 1-3

The day before saw that the crew of Apollo a lot more difficult opponent than team Slovan, a solid pitcher and a solid defense. But in the second inning after “walking” of Jadran Dadic and the hit of Vukosav Ivo, at the plate came Ante Ćurković who hits a three-run homerun (his first homerun of his career) which later turned out to be three crucial runs. Nada SSM Split later had two opportunities to score runs, but both times the Slovakians prevented it with great defense. For Nada SSM Ernesto Pereira stopped the Slovakian offense with 10 strikeouts and allowed only 4 hits.

A thank you has to go out to the superb organizers in Bratislava for and the great Slovakian people. In addition to winning the cup, players of Nada SSM Split also won individual awards: Ernesto Pereira as most valuable player (MVP) and Berecka Filip as best hitter.

Statistics of the Final Four Tournament

Mister-Baseball: What do you expect from your team in Stuttgart, Heidenheim and Neuenburg?

Krunoslav Karin: Our plan is to make top 3 in our group and advance to the second round of competitions.

MRBB: Can a team challenge defending Champion Netherlands in the 2010 European Championship? Which teams have the best chances of advancing in your group?

KK: I think that there are several teams who can challenge Netherlands. Unfortunately the CEB system of playing with round robin in second round took of a lots of excitements that 1/4 finals and semi finals bring.
In our group I think that Italy and Spain are favorites for advancing in second round.

MRBB: Which team could be the surprise of the tournament?

KK: Ukraine

MRBB: General speaking is the level of play in European Baseball getting better and more balanced since the EC 2007 or is there still a gap between the top teams and the underdogs?

KK: We have teams like GB, Spain, and Greece whose level goes up a lot but not because of good programs in their country. It is because they have 18 – 24 players from Americas, USA, Venezuela,Cuba. It is a serious problem that CEB should face in the future. It will be very interesting if CEB runs EC with players who are originally born in their countries.

MRBB: There will be only a few professional players in the tournament. Does this will have an influence and does it hurt some teams more than others?

KK: It must hurt some teams, but fever of the tournament will stay the same.

MRBB: Looking at the rosters of the other teams, which players could be especially worthy to watch?

KK: Any young player, who came up trough their own country system,

MRBB: What is your plan for the final days before the Euro 2010? Which exhibition games do you have planned?

KK: We will play Prague baseball week from July 13th – July 18th. After that we are staying in Prague for 4 more days and will try to schedule more exhibition games with Prague local teams.

MRBB: Do you already have a starting lineup in place and who will be in your starting rotation?

KK: The guys will fight for the starting lineup in Prague. We carry 11 pitchers with us and they will have a chance to earn their spot in rotation in next 2 weeks.

Mister-Baseball thanks Krunoslav Karin for answering our questions and wishes good luck in the European Championship.

Previous:
Sven Hendrickx (Belgium)
Jim Stoeckel (Netherlands)
Mauro Mazzotti (Spain)
Marco Mazzieri (Italy)

However well-known naturalized pitchers Jimmy Summers and Ernesto Pereira as well as outfielder Slobodan Gales are still leading the team. Back on the team is also former Minnesota Twins minor leaguer Jason Pospishil who had missed the BWC. These key players will be joined by the new batter of pitcher Michael Lennox and catcher Benjamin Goldstrom, trying to make an impact for Croatia in Germany.

Before traveling to Stuttgart for their opener against Great Britain, Croatia will take part in the Prague Baseball Week from July 13 to 17, playing against two Czech teams, an American squad, Austria, Russia and Israel. A Q&A with general manager Krunoslav Karin will follow on Mister-Baseball on Tuesday.

Complete Roster Croatia:
Pitchers: Ernesto Pereira, Marin Farkaš, Matija Grofelnik, Matko Dabo, Michael Lennox, Danijel Levak, Marin Vukmirović, Denis Kresnik, James Summers, Grgur Marušić, Hrvoje Toljanić

Infielders: Igor Marčec, Stefan Rajačić, Jason Pospishil, Jasmin Hršak, Mario Manojlov, Pavao Karin

Catchers: Ivo Vukosav, Benjamin Goldstrom, Goran Lekić

Outfielders: Filip Berecka, Branko Nenadić, Ivan Račić, Slobodan Gales

Coaching Staff: Mladen Krpanec (Coach), Jeff Calderone (Manager), Krunoslav Karin (General Manager), Igor Segher (Trainer)

by www.baseballeurope.com

In the final series (best of seven) of Croatian championship for 2010 BK Nada SSM Split beat Olimpija Karlovac (champion 2009) 4-1.

Results:
Nada SSM Split – Olimpija Karlovac 3-0 (1-0)
Nada SSM Split – Olimpija Karlovac 17-16 (2-0)
Olimpija Karlovac - Nada SSM Split 12-2 (1-2)
Olimpija Karlovac – Nada SSM Split 2-3 (1-3)
Nada SSM Split – Olimpija Karlovac 10-9 (4-1)

For the team from Split it is the 6th title in history (since 1974). They won their last title in 2005.

Results Croatian Finals:
Saturday, October 17th:
Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac 3-7
Sunday, October 18th:
Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac 7-3
Tuesday, October 20:
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin 7-11
Wednesday, October 21:
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin 4-3
Saturday, October 24:
Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac 0-2
Sunday, October 25:
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin 9-1
(Karlovac wins Series 4-2)

Results Croatian Finals:
Saturday, October 17th:
Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac 3-7
Sunday, October 18th:
Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac 7-3
Tuesday, October 20:
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin 7-11
Wednesday, October 21:
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin 4-3
(Series tied 2-2)

Croatian Finals Schedule:
Saturday, October 24:
13:00 Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac
Sunday, October 25:
13:00 Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin
Tuesday, October 27:
13:00 Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac*
*if necessary

Results Croatian Finals:
Saturday, October 17th:
Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac 3-7
Sunday, October 18th:
Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac 7-3
(Series tied 1-1)

Croatian Finals Schedule:
Tuesday, October 20:
13:00 Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin
Wednesday, October 21:
13:00 Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin
Saturday, October 24:
13:00 Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac
Sunday, October 25:
13:00 Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin*
Tuesday, October 27:
13:00 Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac*
*if necessary

Results Third Place Series:
(best-of-five format)
Nada SSM – BK Zagreb 3-4
Nada SSM – BK Zagreb 20-0

Semi-Finals Results:
Olimpija Karlovac – BK Zagreb 3-0 (5-2, 2-1, 5-1)
Vindija Varazdin – Nada SSM 3-1 (7-4, 0-3, 7-4, 3-2)

Croatian Finals Schedule:
Saturday, October 17th:
13:00 Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac
Sunday, October 18th:
13:00 Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac
Tuesday, October 20:
13:00 Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin
Wednesday, October 21:
13:00 Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin
Saturday, October 24:
13:00 Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac*
Sunday, October 25:
13:00 Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin*
Tuesday, October 27:
13:00 Vindija Varazdin – Olimpija Karlovac*
*if necessary

Mister Baseball: What do you expect from your team during the Baseball World Cup?

Krunoslav Karin: After we qualified for the EC 2010 in July 2008 and knowing that EC will not be played in 2009 we decided to go for the youth movement. We got together a new young team, based on our junior National team program with guys not older then 22 years old. We were working out all year specially this summer. We went to the Prague baseball week and having a MLBI camp in Karlovac. When we find out about World cup we decided to keep those young guys for the tournament and also to honor some of our baseball legends as Jimmy Summers, Damir Karin, Grgur Marusic and Mladen Krpanec. Those guys will be in the 24-man roster and will play at the tournament they always dreamt about.  We expect to compete with all 3 teams in Zagreb and hopefully win a game.  For our program it will be great if we can get to 2nd round, because those young guys will have 7 more games and great experience.

MRBB: Croatia is replacing Russia in the tournament. When did you get informed about your participation?

KK: July 25th during our camp in Karlovac.

MRBB: Is Baseball getting more attention in the media and in the public due to the World Cup?

KK: Yes. It is amazing how people react when you said it is a world championship, comparing to “just” an EC.  We will have daily coverage of both games on National TV and also a 45-minute show on Sunday in prime time sport TV.

MRBB: Were you able to plan a sufficient training camp in front of the Baseball World Cup?

KK: It was short notice but we managed to get together last Sunday and we will go to Slovenia, today to play their National team and also will go to Steinheim to play a German all-star team over the weekend. We are caring 29 players at this moment.

MRBB: Which team is the favorite in your pool?

KK: Japan

MRBB: What do you think are the keys to success during the tournament?

KK: Pitching. We will not score lots of runs. If our pitching can keep us deep in to the game we do have chance.

MRBB: Any injury concerns with the current team? Everybody healthy?

KK: Our best player Bobo Gales who is playing in Georgia Perimeter College had Tommy John surgery in February. He is a pitcher/outfielder and hopefully will be ok to play center field for us. Everybody else is Ok.

MRBB: Is the regular starting lineup already set or will you go with the hot hand?

KK: I think that we know 7 out of 9 guys. The rest of them will decide after Germany.

MRBB: Which pitchers are going to start in the three games during the first round?

KK: We do know that we will start our naturalized pitchers. Venezuelan player Ernesto Pereira in game 1 vs. Nicaragua and Jimmy Summers in game 3 vs. Great Britain. For game 2 we will probably start one of our young prospects but it is up to them to fight for the spot.

Mister Baseball would like to thank Krunoslav Karin for answering the questions and wishes good luck in the Baseball World Cup.

Budapest – Last week’s two game series between the Hungarian and Croatian National Teams in Karlovac, Croatia, turned out to be a very successful event for both federations. Both games went the full nine-inning distance and gave the teams opportunity to test their players in a very competitive atmosphere.

In the first game on Saturday evening, Hungary took an early 4:1 lead and was able to hold it until the 6th inning, when a couple of infield errors combined with hits from the Croatian side resulted into a 5:4 lead for the hosts. Although the Hungarian team loaded the bases in the 8th and had the tying run again on base in the 9th, the final clutch hitting was missing to change the result.
Final score: Croatia – Hungary 5:4

The second game turned out to be a real pitching duel between starting pitchers Zsolt Zalabai (HU) and Ernesto Pereira (CRO). Pereira struck out the first five batters he faced and fanned another seven later on. He pitched eight innings giving up two runs (1 ER) on six hits.  Zalabai had ten K’s in seven innings pitched. He gave up four runs (1ER) and was the only Hungarian player to hit hard Pereira going 2 for 4 with two doubles and one RBI. The Croatians were able to score one run at the bottom of the first inning. The Hungarian team ultimately tied in top of fifth inning, but individual mistakes in the bottom of the inning gave 3:1 lead to the Croatians again. Croatia added an insurance run in the seventh inning. Hungary scored again in the top of eighth and with a runner on base in the ninth even had the tying run at home plate, but Croatian relieve pitching was able to shut the door.
Final score: Croatia – Hungary 4:2

Both teams had a mixture of established players and young talents in the lineup. Due a long list of currently injured senior players, Hungary used three of their juniors’ talents, all just 17 years old, in this series and can be very satisfied with their overall performance. While the Hungarian National team will continue their national team work-outs to get ready for the 2009 Danube Cup in Vienna on August 30th, the Croatian team will continue their preparation for this year’s first-round Baseball World Cup tournament in Zagreb, September 9th-12th.

The Hungarian Federation would like to thank the Croatian Federation for their great hospitality during this weekend and wishes the Croatian Team a successful World Cup tournament.

Press Release Hungarian Baseball and Softball Federation

Hungarian and Croatian National Team square off for a two game series

Budapest: The Hungarian Senior National Team is following an invitation of the Croatian Baseball Federation (HBS) to play a two-day two-game series in Karlovac (Croatia) this upcoming weekend (11.-12.07.09). The first game will start on Saturday at 17.00 and the second game on Sunday 10.00.

Although being neighboring countries and having clubs playing in a Croatian-Serbian-Hungarian Interleague throughout the summer, the two federations have not faced each other on the national team level for many years.

Both teams are currently undergoing a generation change and are using these games to built young, competitive teams for the upcoming European Competitions in 2010/11.

Press Release regarding Croatia:

The Northern Gateway WBC is also excited to announce the addition of China to the official tournament roster. The Chinese team was recommended to the organizing committee by USA Baseball officials, and will be managed by Xu ZhenXiang. Mr. Larry Seminoff, the founder of the tournament (Grand Forks, 2002) was instrumental in putting the final pieces in place for China to play in Prince George.
.
China, represented by the Beijing Tigers, replaces Croatia, which recently informed the organizing committee that funding issues with their association, tied to the global economic crisis, were creating a difficult barrier in the way of arranging travel and covering other expenses, such as visas. Many of the Beijing Tigers played in the recent World Baseball Classic.
.
“We are sorry to get the news from Croatia, we have empathy for their situation, but we are ecstatic to add China to a truly global roster that includes teams from North America, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean,” said Seminoff.
.
“There were countries that wanted to participate but couldn’t because the roster was full, so finding a replacement did not take long. This event is of interest to so many national programs that are part of the International Baseball Federation, and I’m eager to see the show that will be put on. It will be first-class; the people of Prince George always do things at a high level.”

Results:
Croatian Baseball League
Zagreb – Olimpija Karlovac 4-2, 4-7

KAR 000 000 002  2
ZAG 100 300 00X  4

KAR 300 002 002  7
ZAG 001 030 000  4

Nada SSM – Vindija 5-2, 17-3

VIN 000 020 000  2 5 5
NAD 110 210 00X  5 8 3

VIN 011 100 0   3  6 3
NAD 283 301 X  17 12 2

Qualifying League
Gajnice – Sisak 8-2

SIS 100 010 000  2
GAJ 202 000 04X  8

Donat – Kaptol 4-3

KAP 000 210 000  3
DON 100 002 01X  4

Medvednica – Vindi-ISO 18-8

ISO 001 070 0   8
MED 405 009 X  18

Results March 28/29:
Nada SSM – Olimpija Karlovac 6-7

KAR 200 021 020  7
NAD 000 011 031  6

Game two postponed and rescheduled

BK Zagreb – Vindija Varazdin 8-6

VIN 500 100 000  6
ZAG 420 000 20X  8

BK Zagreb – Vindija Varazdin 17-7 (7)

VIN 210 004 0   7
ZAG 104 223 5  17

Similar to last year ZAGRAB, OLIMPIJA, NADA SSM and VINDIJA will play in the Interliga (against clubs from Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia) during the regular season and they already have secured their spots in the Croatian quarterfinals (best-of-three), which are scheduled to be played in September.

The four remaining playoff participants will be determined in a round-robin format between GAJNICE, SISAK, DONAT, KAPTOL, MEDVEDNICA and VINDI ISO-SPORT. Their regular season will start on the weekend of April 4th and 5th.

After the quarters best-of-five semi-finals will follow. The Croatian finals are being played in a best-of-seven format. In recent years there was a big gap between the four first-mentioned clubs and the others and it will be interesting to see, if this will change this year.

Schedule Hrvatska Liga 1st Game Day:
Saturday, March 28:
13:00 Nada SSM Split – Olimpija Karlovac
13:00 BK Zagreb – Vindija Varazdin
Sunday, March 29:
13:00 Nada SSM Split – Olimpija Karlovac
13:00 BK Zagreb – Vindija Varazdin
Complete Schedule (pdf-file)

Last Year’s Final Standings:
1. Zagreb
2. Karlovac
3. Nada SSM
4. Vindija
5. Gajnice
6. Sisak
7. Donat
8. Kaptol
9. Medvednica
10. Grabrik

Past Champions Croatia:
1992 Nada Split
1993 Zagreb
1994 Olimpija Karlovac
1995 Olimpija Karlovac
1996 Zagreb
1997 Olimpija Karlovac
1998 Olimpija Karlovac
1999 Olimpija Karlovac
2000 Olimpija Karlovac
2001 CEB: Hask Zagreb/IBAF: Kelteks Karlovac
2002 Kelteks Karlovac
2003 Kelteks Karlovac
2004 Nada SSM Split
2005 Nada SSM Split
2006 Kelteks Karlovac
2007 Kelteks Karlovac
2008 BK Zagreb
(Data courtesy ‘Baseball in Europe by Josh Chetwynd’)

Complete Schedule on Official Website

Promo Trailer:

Find more videos like this on mycitizen

OLIMPIJA scored in the third and sixth period for a 2-0 lead, hoping to extend the series at least for another game, avoiding a sweep. But ZAGREB rallied in the seventh to turn the score into their favor. Vanja Hales tied the game with a two-run hit over the third baseman. Ernesto Pereira followed with a bunt to bring home the winning run, before Agladious finalized the result at 4-2. Dejan Marin took over for starting pitcher Pereira on the mound and closed it out. Slobodan Gales took the loss for KARLOVAC.

NADA SSM won the series for third place 3-1 against VINDIJA to finish behind the two main forces in Croatian Baseball.

Results Croatian Finals:
Karlovac – Zagreb 0-1 (10)
Zagreb – Karlovac 6-4
Zagreb – Karlovac 14-5
Karlovac – Zagreb 2-4
(Zagreb wins series 4-0)

Final Standings:

1. Zagreb
2. Karlovac
3. Nada SSM
4. Vindija
5. Gajnice
6. Sisak
7. Donat
8. Kaptol
9. Medvednica
10. Grabrik

The series switched sites on Tuesday with ZAGREB winning game two on their home field 6-4 to take a 2-0 lead. M. Gofelnik picked up the win against M. Zdelar. They extended the advantage in the series to 3-0 on Wednesday, when they crushed KARLOVAC 14-5, putting the dominating Croatian team of the past years in a deep hole. ZAGREB last won the title in 2001.

The series continues on Saturday in Karlovac.

Results:
Saturday, October 4:
Olimpija – Zagreb postponed
Sunday, October 5:
Olimpija – Zagreb 0-1 (10)
Tuesday, October 7:
Zagreb – Olimpija 6-4
Wednesday, October 8:
Zagreb – Olimpija 14-5
(Zagreb leads series 3-0)

Schedule:
Saturday, October 11:
13:00 Olimpija – Zagreb
Sunday, October 12:
13:00 Zagreb – Olimpija*
Saturday, October 18:
13:00 Olimpija – Zagreb*
Sunday, October 19:
13:00 Olimpija – Zagreb*
*if necessary

Results:
Saturday, September 27:
Semi-Final: Vindija – Olimpija Karlovac 5-12 (previous results: 3-13, 0-10)

OLI 001 140 150  12
VIN 200 100 110   5

Semi-Final: Nada SSM – Zagreb 4-5 (previous results: 2-11, 5-6)

ZAG 200 020 010  5
NAD 210 000 010  4

Schedule Finals:
Saturday, October 4:
13:00 Olimpija – Zagreb
Sunday, October 5:
13:00 Olimpija – Zagreb
Tuesday, October 7:
13:00 Zagreb – Olimpija
Wednesday, October 8:
13:00 Zagreb – Olimpija
Saturday, October 11:
13:00 Olimpija – Zagreb*
Sunday, October 12:
13:00 Zagreb – Olimpija*
Saturday, October 18:
13:00 Olimpija – Zagreb*
*if necessary

Results Playoffs:
(semi-final 1)
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija 13-3
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija 10-0
(Olimpija is leading the series 2-0)

(semi-final 2)
Zagreb – Nada SSM 11-2
Zagreb – Nada SSM 6-5
(Zagreb is leading the series 2-0)

Results Consolation Round:
(fifth to eighth place)
Gajnice – Kaptol 9-4
Kaptol – Gajnice 3-6
(Gajnice is leading the series 2-0)

Sisak – Donat 14-4
Donat – Sisak 10-11
(Sisak is leading the series 2-0)

(ninth to eleventh place)
Vindi-ISO – Medvednica 5-4 (11)

Schedule Playoffs:
September 27/28*:
14:00 Vindija – Olimpija
14:00 Nada SSM – Zagreb
September 31*:
14:00 Olimpija – Vindija
14:00 Zagreb – Nada SSM
*if necessary

Results Quarterfinals:
September 13/14:
Olimpija Karlovac – Kaptol Zagreb 20-0, 11-4 (2-0)

KAP 000 000   0
OLI 561 017  20

OLI 024 32  11
KAP 103 00   4

Zagreb – Donat Zadar 19-5, 5-11 (2-0)

DON 101 120 0   5
ZAG 305 281 X  19

ZAG 110 001 314  11
DON 000 100 400   5

Nada SSM Split – Sisak Split 11-1, 14-4 (2-0)

SIS 000 000 1   1
NAD 240 100 4  11

NAD 250 220 12  14
SIS 120 001 00   4

Vindija Varazdin – Gajnice Zagreb 24-4, 7-4 (2-0)

GAJ 040 00   4
VIN 592 44  24

VIN 103 110 010  7
GAJ 300 000 001  4

Schedule Semi-Finals (best-of-five):
September 20/21:
14:00 Olimpija – Vindija
15:00 Zagreb – Nada SSM
September 27/28*:
14:00 Vindija – Olimpija
14:00 Nada SSM – Zagreb
September 31*:
14:00 Olimpija – Vindija
14:00 Zagreb – Nada SSM
*if necessary

Regular Season Final Standings:
1. HBL Interliga (wooden bats):

1. Olimpija 7-3
2. Zagreb 7-5
3. Nada SSM 6-6
4. Vindija 2-8

1.HBL Kvalifikacije (aluminum bats):

1. Gajnice 10-2
2. Sisak 8-4
3. Donat 8-4
4. Vindi ISO 6-6
5. Kaptol 5-7
6. Medvednica 3-8
7. Grabrik 2-10

May Results:
Interliga/1. HBL (wooden bat)
May 3/4:
Olimpija Karlovac – Vindija Varazdin 4-2, 9-0
May 10/11:
Nada SM Split – Olimpija Karlovac 6-7, 5-2
May 17/18:
Zagreb – Nada SM Split 1-6, 6-4
May 31/June 1:
Vindija – Zagreb 4-6, 2-9

Standings:
Olimpija 6-2
Zagreb 6-4
Nada SSM 4-6
Vindija 2-6

1. HBL 1B (aluminum bat)
May 3:
Donat Zadar – Kaptol Zagreb 16-6
Medvednica Zagreb – Grabrik Karlovac 9-8
May 10/11:
Grabrik Karlovac – Kaptol Zagreb 5-19
Gajnice Zagreb – Donat Zadar 4-7
May 24/25:
Vindi Iso-Sport – Kaptol Zagreb 15-5
Donat Zadar – Medvednica Zagreb 11-1
Grabrik Karlovac – Gajnice Zagreb 7-12
Vindi Iso-Sport – Sisak 14-7
May 31:
Medvidnica Zagreb – Sisak 3-8
Vindi Iso-Sport – Grabrik Karlovac 7-6

Standings:
Gajnice 4-1
Vindi Iso-Sport 4-1
Donat 3-2
Sisak 2-2
Kaptol 2-4
Medvednica 2-4
Grabrik 1-4

Interliga/1. HBL (wooden bat)
Olimpija – Vindija postponed
Nada SSM – Zagreb 3-2
Olimpija – Vindija postponend
Nada SSM – Zagreb 7-6
Olimpija - Nada 11-1
Zagreb – Vindija 16-0
Olimpija – Zagreb 5-8
Vindija – Nada SSM 4-0
Olimpija – Zagreb 9-2
Vindija – Nada SSM 9-5
Olimpija – Nada 10-0
Zagreb – Vindija  6-3

1. HBL 1B (aluminum bat)
Gajnice – Kaptol  7-6 (11 inn)
Grabrik – Sisak postponed
Vindi Iso-sport – Medvednica 0-19
Kaptol – Medvednica 12-11
Sisak – Gajnice 8-10
Donat – Vindi-iso 16-17
Medvednica – Gajnice 7-11
Kaptol – Sisak 6-10
Grabrik – Donat 8-4

The four “wooden bat” clubs Olimpija Karlovac (former Kelteks, 2007 champion), Zagreb, Nada and Vindija are joining the Inter League, which features teams from Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia and Croatia. The games between each other will also count for the Croatian championship. All four will reach the playoffs with the seed depending on the results of the aforementioned duels. The Inter League starts play on April 12th.

The other four spots in the Croatian playoffs will be determined between the other “aluminium bat” clubs, which will play a normal regular season. The participants are Kaptol, Sisak, Medvednica, Gajnice, Grabrik, Donat and Vindi Iso-Sport. They open the season on April 5th.

During the postseason, which is planned for the fall, all teams will switch to wooden bats. The quarterfinals are supposed to be played in a best-of-three-series, the semi-finals in a best-of-five-series and the finals in a best-of-seven series. The eliminated teams are going to determine the other classifications.

Summary:

• Four clubs in Inter League already qualified for Croatian playoffs (seeds determined through games against each other)
• Other Croatian clubs play normal regular season. Top four teams advance into the postseason.
• Quarterfinals: best-of-three
• Semi-Finals: best-of-five
• Finals: best-of-seven

Complete Schedule (pdf-file)

The highest level in Croatian Baseball is divided into two leagues. The 1A Hrvatska Baseball League, where wooden bats are used, and the 1B league with aluminium bats. The 1A league consists of four teams and is the most important one. However we will take a look at both leagues.

Kelteks dominated the 1A league. They won 20 of the 22 games during the regular season and defeated Zagreb in the finals. Kaptol Zagreb finished in first place of the 1B league with a 13-3 record in front of Donat (12-4) and Medvednica (11-5).

There are no team statistics available, so we concentrate on the individual categories. Due to the difference between the leagues it is hard to compare those two. But we can see trends. In the 1A league there are just two batters with averages higher than .400. In the 1B league there are three with averages higher than .500 and nine more hit better than .453. This is related to the different bats, used in Croatia. A guy has a much faster bat speed with aluminium than with wood. To our surprise the slugging percentages are on the same level. On the other hand the sample sizes in all categories are too small to prove any theories.

Top 5 Batting Average 1A league:
(Minimum 40 at-bats)
Jason POSPISHIL (Kelteks) .443 (34 R, 27 RBI, 26 SB)
Damir KARIN (Kelteks) .417 (15 R, 16 RBI, 11 SB)
Ivan RACIC (Nada SSM) .377 (12 R, 18 RBI)
Josep BROZINIC (Kelteks) .362 (25 R, 16 RBI)
Matija GROFELNIK (Zagreb) .356 (13 R, 18 RBI)

Top 5 Batting Average 1B league:
(Minimum 40 at-bats)
Nikola HORVAT (Grabrik Karlovac) .548 (15 R, 18 RBI)
Ivica ANIC (Donat Zagreb) .533 (16 R, 19 RBI)
Ivan DONDIVIC (Donat Zagreb) .507 (32 R, 24 RBI, 30 SB)
Igor BOBIC (Medvednica Zagreb) .492 (14 R, 35 RBI)
Damir MANDIC (Medvednica Zagreb) .490 (35 R, 9 RBI, 29 SB)

Pitching-wise the numbers in the major categories are not much different. One player was really dominant. Sasa DOKMANOVIC (Kaptol Zagreb) had 159 strikeouts in 74 innings pitched in the 1B league. He won eight games, had an ERA of 1.09 and a WHIP of 0.892.

Top 5 Earned Run Average 1A league:
(Minimum 24 innings pitched)
Gary TONGUE (Kelteks) 1.16 (7-0, 54.1 IP, 31 SO, 21 BB)
Mario ZDELAR (Kelteks) 1.70 (7-0, 69 IP, 48 SO, 16 BB)
Dejan MARIN (Zagreb) 1.99 (3-2, 58.2 IP, 29 SO, 19 BB)
Slobodan GALES (Kelteks) 3.24 (4-1, 33.1 IP, 34 SO, 10 BB)
Matija GROFELNIK (Zagreb) 3.36 (8-2, 83 IP, 92 SO, 50 BB)

Top 5 Earned Run Average 1B league:
(Minimum 17 innings pitched)
Sasa DOKMANOVIC (Kaptol Zagreb) 1.09 (8-1, 74 IP, 159 SO, 32 BB)
Elvis SALESEVIC (Sisak) 1.42 (3-1, 19 IP, 21 SO, 18 BB)
Pavao KARIN (Grabrik Zagreb) 3.33 (3-6, 67.2 IP, 37 SO, 43 BB)
Hrvoje TOLJANIC (Novi Zagreb) 4.02 (6-6, 96.1 IP, 80 SO, 53 BB)
Ivica ANIC (Donat Zagreb) 4.02 (8-3, 100.2, 91 SO, 31 BB)

Complete statistics of both leagues on official website of Croatian baseball federation.
Link to 1A league
Link to 1B league

1. Kaptol Zagreb 13-3
2. Donat Zadar 12-4
3. Medvednica Zagreb 11-5
4. Gajniece Zagreb 9-7
5. Grabrik Karlovac 9-7
6. Sisak 7-9
7. Novi Zagreb 6-10
8. Vindi Iso-Sport 5-11
9. V. Gorica 0-16

Regular Season:

1. Kelteks 20-2
2. Zagreb 13-9
3. Vindija 8-16
4. Nada SSM 5-19

Final:
Kelteks – Zagreb 4-0 (1-0, 9-1, 10-1) (Kelteks led already 1-0 going into the best-of-seven series due finishing the regular season in first place)

For third place:
Vindija - Nada SSM 3-1 (11-0, 4-5, 4-3) (Vindija led already 1-0 going into the best-of-five series due finishing regular season play in third place)

Liga 1B (Aluminium Bats) is still underway. You will find the final results here at Mister-Baseball.com, when they are available.

Kelteks swept the series 4-0.

Schedule:
Saturday October 13
13:00 Kelteks – Zagreb

Sunday October 14
13:00 Kelteks – Zagreb

Tuesday October 16
14:00 Zagreb – Kelteks

Wednesday October 17
14:00 Zagreb – Kelteks*

Saturday October 20
13:00 Kelteks – Zagreb*

*If necessary

Final Standings Regular Season:
1.KELTEKS 20-2
2.ZAGREB 13-9
3.VINDIJA 7-15
4.NADA SSM 4-18