Mister Baseball

The Qualifiers for the European Cup got going on Monday, the regular European Cup starts on Tuesday. Eight of the best teams in Europe will meet from June 17 to 21 in Grosseto, Italy and will determine two participants for the final four tournament in September/October 2008 in Barcelona, Spain. The preliminary round lasts from Tuesday till Thursday in a round robin format in two pools.

In group A defending champion CORENDON KINHEIM competes against the MARLINS PUERTO CRUZ, T&A SAN MARINO and TORNADO BALASHIKHA. In pool B, host MONTEPASCHI GROSSETO faces the MAINZ ATHLETICS, the ROYAL GREYS and the ROUEN HUSKIES. The top two teams from each group advance into the semi-finals on Friday. All games at the Roberto Janella and Simone Scarpelli ballparks can be followed via play-bay-play on the official website of the European Cup.

Teams with a big reservoir of pitchers should be favored, as the tournament is much different in comparison to the national championships in Europe. Usually the teams play at maximum three games a weekend, so five on five days in a row could be a challenge. The teams from the Italian Baseball League and the Dutch Major League should be considered as front runners for the cup.

Schedule for Tuesday June 17:
15:30 Marlins Puerto Cruz – Corendon Kinheim (Pool A)
15:30 Mainz Athletics – Rouen Huskies (Pool B)
21:00 T&A San Marino – Tornado Balashikha (Pool A)
21:00 Montepaschi Grosseto – Royal Greys (Pool B)

Complete schedule and live play-by-play on official website.

Montepaschi Grosseto (Italy)

They are the Italian champion and currently third-ranked club in the Italian Baseball League. GROSSETO hosts the event this year and is trying to feed off the home crowd in every game. They will be led offensive wise by Jairo and Kelly Ramos, who are batting .326 and .324 this season. Jairo has hit six homeruns this year so far, scored 23 runs and drove in 30. The leader of the pitching staff is veteran Lincoln Mikkelsen (ERA 2.52, 4-1). Besides him Chris Cooper (ERA 0.96) pitched brilliant the past few weeks. They had a few injury problems, as Junior Oberto appeared in just one game last Friday and Anthony Ferrari (ERA 3.38) also came back just a few weeks ago.

Corendon Kinheim (Netherlands)

KINHEIM is the title defender in the European Cup, as they won last year’s finals in San Marino against the ROUEN HUSKIES by a score of 3-1. They won the Dutch championship in the last two years and lead the standings of the Hoofdklasse at the moment with a 20-6 record. They have currently six players on their roster with batting averages over .300. Bryan Engelhardt leads the pack, hitting .367 with three homeruns and 18 RBI. Vince Rooi drove in 21 so far. Danny Rombley leads the club with 25 runs scored. David Bergman (4-0 ERA 1.56) and Patrick Beljaards (7-0, ERA 2.59 are at the top of the pitching staff. Besides the two, CORENDON also has a dominant closer in Michiel Van Kampen, who appeared in 14 of the 26 games, with seven saves and an ERA of 0.46.

Rouen Huskies (France)

They are the dominating French team in the last few years, but struggled at the start of the 2008 season. The HUSKIES reached the European Cup finals in 2007, losing to KINHEIM. They are currently in second place in the Elite League standings with a 12-4 record, four games behind the TEMPLIERS SENART. Maybe their focus was more on the tournament in Grosseto this spring, as they eventually will make the playoffs in their national championship anyway. Right in time for the Cup, they got their offensive force back, as Kenji Hagiwara returned from his stint at a college in the United States. He and Dany Scalabrini are the important pieces in the batting order. Ace Keino Perez is accompanied by Jason Kosow, Giovanni Ouin and Alexandre Sochon.

Marlins Puerto Cruz (Spain)

The MARLINS are the Spanish champion and moved into first place of the 2008 championship last weekend. After a rough start with three losses until April 20, the team got back on track and is riding a twelve-game winning streak. They didn’t changed much in the winter and still have a powerful team on hand. They struggled heavily in last year’s edition, losing the first three games without scoring a run. Richard Montiel, Nestor Perez and Dewis Navarro are all batting well over .350. They can also rely on three good starters with Leslie Nacar, Renny Duarte and Ivan Granados. However they look a bit thin in the bullpen.

T&A San Marino (San Marino)

The second team from the Italian Baseball League at the tournament has an up-and-down season so far. They are in fourth place with a 16-11 record. SAN MARINO already beat the dominating FORTITUDO BOLOGNA twice this year, but also lost five of six at the beginning of May. They are coming fresh of a sweep of GODO into the event. Their offense is led by Martin Vazquez (.380, 4 HR, 18 RBI) and Maximiliano Di Biase (.320, 3 HR, 21 RBI). But also leadoff hitter Seth La Fera (.295, 20 Runs) is getting hot. They have some problems in the starting pitching department, as only Horacio Estrada has a respectable ERA of 3.03 with Matteo Tonellato (ERA 4.66) and Mattew Marrone (ERA 6.75) struggling. They could turn to Brian Looney (ERA 1.42) and Tiago Da Silva (ERA 2.41). But both have combined for just four starts this season.

Mainz Athletics (Germany)

MAINZ won the German championship for the first time in 2007, upsetting favorite REGENSBURG in five games. This season they are only in fourth place in the southern conference posting a 12-10 record. Their offense is led by Sascha Lutz (injured), who is hitting well over .400 in addition to Max Boldt, Martin Kipphan and Mike Larson. Manuel Moeller (not available) is the main stay at the top of the pitching staff. The acquisition of Dimitar Nassapov helped to stabilize the bullpen and provides some depth. They also received a major spark a few weeks ago, when they cut ties with Daniel Hayes and brought back their hero of last summer, Keigo Miyagi (injured). He helps the club on both sides of the game. But if he is already capable to get deep into the game, when he starts on the mound, is not clear. Update (Tuesday): With key injuries to Miyagi and Lutz in addition to the missing Moeller, the team does not have a chance against the other clubs.

Royal Greys (Belgium)

The ROYAL GREYS won 2007 a third straight championship in Belgium, defeating the MORTSEL STARS in four games. They also won the European qualifier, beating the BERN CARDINALS 8-0 in the final game. Their winter was not that successful. They lost their best pitcher in Terrence Antonacci, who joined the HOBOKEN PIONEERS and had some back luck, when they signed the Hawaiians Gavin Ng and Cy Donald, as they left the club shortly after their arrival. They found replacements in Byron Bell and Daniel Howard. They finished the first part of the season in first place with a 12-2 record. Besides their success in Europe last year, they are definitely one of the underdogs.

Tornado Balashikha (Russia)

This is probably the most unknown team in the tournament. They won the Russian championship in 2007 and, like the ROYAL GREYS, also triumphed at a European Cup Qualifier. In 2008 they have won eight of their first twelve games in the national championship and are in second place behind fellow European Cup participant MGPU. To strengthen their pitching staff for the Cup in Grosseto, TORNADO signed the former DETROIT TIGER Pat Ahearne a few weeks ago. Anton Shirokyi and southpaw Vladimir Petrov will also start. It is going to be interesting to see, how the Russian champion fares against the prime of European baseball.