The preliminary round ended today in Regensburg. DOOR NEPTUNUS and the FC BARCELONA already had clinched their tickets for the final round. DANESI NETTUNO and the BUCHBINDER LEGIONAERE joined them today. At 15:30 local time NEPTUNUS now will face NETTUNO in a more than interesting matchup between the Netherlands and Italy. In the evening at 19:30 the LEGINOAERE hope for a massive crowd to lead them over BARCELONA.
Danesi Nettuno – Olimpija Karlovac 12-1
KAR 100 000 0 1 2 4 NET 027 102 X 12 16 1
NETTUNO used a seven-run third to crush OLIMPIJA 12-1 and advanced into the semi-finals in second place of pool A. Giuseppe Mazzanti hit a homerun and drove in four runs. He and Ramon Tavarez combined for six runs scored. Luis Ugueto and Renato Imperiali each had two RBI.
Mauro Salciccia overcame a rocky first and allowed just two hits, one unearned run and two walks in seven innings for the win. Garry Tongue gave up 16 hits, twelve runs (7 ER) and three base on balls in six innings to take the loss.
MGPU SYOS 42 – DOOR Neptunus 2-20
NEP 404 381 0 20 18 0 MGP 000 002 0 2 4 2
As expected NEPTUNUS had no problem to beat MGPU in their last game of the preliminary round. After the laughable 20-2 pounding they stay undefeated in the tournament. Derick Francisca hit a homerun and scored four times. Benjamin Dille had four hits in six at bats, driving in two. Jeroen Sluijter got three RBI. Every hitter in their lineup at least scored or drove in a run.
Wouter Lensselink started and threw five no-hit innings for the win. He gave up just two walks, striking out one. Maxim Shevchenko took the loss after four-plus innings, twelve hits, 16 runs (15 ER) and seven walks allowed.
AVG Draci Brno – FC Barcelona 2-5
FCB 000 000 140 5 6 4 DRA 011 000 000 2 7 2
The FC BARCELONA wasn’t at the top of his game, but found a way to win anyway. They overcame a 0-2 deficit after three periods to defeat DRACI BRNO 5-2 and finished first in the pool B standings.
BRNO had taken the lead on a fielding error by third baseman Jesus Golindano and a RBI single by Tomas Polansky. BARCELONA needed three innings to search for an answer and cut the deficit in a half, when Jorge Balboa stole home. Oscar Roman tied the game in the eighth with a RBI single. Albert Diaz followed with a two-run single to decide the outcome. Balboa added an insurance run with a RBI triple.
Andoni Ortiz struck out nine in 7 1/3 innings for the win. He allowed seven hits, two runs and two walks. DRACI starter Radek Prochazka gave up three hits, one run and a walk in 6 1/3 innings. Pavel Budsky took the loss.
Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg – Templiers Senart 4-3
SEN 120 000 000 3 2 2 REG 010 020 001 4 8 1
The BUCHBINDER LEGIONAERE did everything to fill the stands at the weekend. They overcame a 0-3 gap to defeat the TEMPLIERS by a score of 4-3 thanks to a walk off RBI double by Alex Lauterbach in the bottom of the ninth. REGENSBURG advances into the semis and faces the Spanish powerhouse FC BARCELONA in the night game on Saturday.
SENART took advantage of the wildness of REGENSBURG starter Mike Bolsenbroek (1+ IP, 0 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 WP) and scored three runs in the first two periods on a sac fly by Ian Young, a RBI single by Gaspard Fessy and a RBI groundout by Daniel Meurant. The LEGIONAERE came on the board in the bottom of the second, when Markus Gienger delivered a RBI single. They tied the contest in the fifth on a RBI single by Philipp Howard and a RBI double by Lauterbach. They had a few chances afterwards, but failed to score. Until the ninth, when Simon Kudernatsch reached base with a walk and scored the game winner on Lauterbach’s second double of the evening.
Nonetheless the player of the day was reliever Philipp Hoffschild. He replaced Bolsenbroek in the second with the bases loaded and no outs. Two runners scored, but this was the last time the TEMPLIERS would put anything on the board. Hoffschild closed out the game with eight brilliant innings of relief, allowing just two hits and a walk, while striking out six. It was his longest outing this season. Evan Blesoff got the nod for SENART. He gave up seven hits, three runs and two bb in six innings. Mattieu Brelle-Andrade took the loss after 2 1/3 relief innings.
