The preliminary round in the European Cup in Grosseto, Italy was finished on Thursday. CORENDON KINHEIM and MONTEPASCHI GROSSETO stayed undefeated and won their respective pools to move into the semi-finals. They are joined by T&A SAN MARINO and the ROUEN HUSKIES. The MARLINS PUERTO CRUZ and the ROYAL GREYS each take one victory with them into the Playdowns. TORNADO BALASHIKHA and the MAINZ ATHLETICS are still winless.
The first semi-final between KINHEIM and ROUEN is scheduled for 15:30 local time at the Jannella ballpark. The second follows at 21:00 between the two Italian Baseball League clubs GROSSETO and SAN MARINO.
Complete Schedule, Results, Standings and Stats visit official website.
Corendon Kinheim – Tornado Balashikha 9-1
BAL 100 000 000 1 5 7 KIN 210 101 04X 9 11 1
The Russian team TORNADO already is a heavy underdog in the tournament, so seven errors doesn’t help against the reigning European Cup champion KINHEIM. CORENDON defeated BALASHIKHA 9-1 and advanced undefeated into the final round.
Leadoff hitter Denny Rombley reached five times, going three-for-three with two walks, scoring three runs. Dirk Van’t Klooster and Tjerk Smeets each drove in two runs. Rene Cremer and Denny Beljaards scored twice.
Nick Veltkamp (KIN) allowed three hits and one run in his start over three innings. Duko and Eelko Jansen relieved him, with the latter getting the win. Artur Donetskiy was responsible for seven hits, five runs and five walks in six innings to take the loss.
Rouen Huskies – Royal Greys 7-0
MRG 000 000 000 0 5 1 ROU 010 112 20X 7 8 1
Jason Kosow had his best game since he arrived in Europe this spring. He struck out 18 batters in a complete game shutout to lead ROUEN to a 7-0 victory and into the semi-finals. He gave up just five hits and four walks. Obviously his pitch count of 143 pitches, 93 strikes was a bit higher than usual.
Kosow didn’t need much run support, though he got plenty of Flavien Peron, who went four-for-four with two doubles and four RBI. Boris Marche and David Gauthier each scored twice.
Daniel Calarco allowed seven hits, five runs and four bb in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out nine in his start for the ROYAL GREYS.
T&A San Marino – Marlins Puerto Cruz 10-1
MPC 100 000 000 1 6 4 SMA 101 403 10X 10 15 1
SAN MARINO crushed the MARLINS 10-1 on Thursday and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup.
Martin Vazquez reached base five times, going four-for-five with a double, a triple and two RBI. Seth La Fera (2-3, 3 BB) scored four runs and drove in two other. Richard Montiel drove in the only run for PUERTO CRUZ.
Matteo Tonellato allowed four hits, one unearned run and a walk in seven innings for the win. Deion Galvan got the start for the MARLINS. He gave up six hits, five runs and three bb in three-plus innings. After falling behind early, the Spanish champion decided to rest their pitchers for the Playdowns and even send out Dewis Navarro to the mound, their regular catcher.
Montepaschi Grosseto – Mainz Athletics 8-0
MAI 000 000 000 0 5 4 GRO 104 100 02X 8 8 2
In front of 200 people in the stands, the Italian champion GROSSETO celebrated an 8-0 shutout against the German counterpart MAINZ. They came through early and led already 6-0 after the fourth period. They never looked back.
The number one and two hitter in the MONTEPASCHI lineup, Jorge Nunez and Lorenzo Avagnina combined to score five runs. Antony Caracciolo drove in two. David Preziosi, who played in the Baseball-Bundesliga a year ago, had three hits and a RBI.
Luca Panerati allowed four hits and four walks in six innings to collect the win. The ATHLETICS send Jan-Niklas Stoecklin to the mound. He struggled with his control and was finished after 3 1/3 innings, giving up five hits, six runs (4 ER) and seven bb. Only 30 of his 77 pitches found the strike zone.
