The Qualifier U15 European Championship in Huenenberg, Switzerland started on Monday with the first two games of the preliminary round. Host Switzerland and Poland claimed victories on opening day, defeating Slovakia and Belarus along the way. Poland faces Belarus on Tuesday, while Great Britain enters the competition against Switzerland.
Slovakia – Poland 9-20
Poland celebrated a 20-9 win in a slugfest against Slovakia on Monday afternoon. After two innings Poland was leading 9-7 in a close game. But while Slovakia only managed two more runs in the remaining six innings, Poland put 11 on the board and secured the victory. Jan Mroziewski and Kacper Blacha drove in four runs each. Mroziewski also scored five runs. Peter Drobny collected three RBI for Slovakia. Jan Pruszynski conceded two unearned runs on two hits and four walks in four innings of relief to pick up the win. Adam Zacko got charged with the loss, surrendering five hits, nine runs (8 ER) and seven base on balls in 1 2/3 frames.
Belarus – Switzerland 5-7
Host Switzerland had a perfect start into the tournament in Huenenberg on early Monday evening. Six runs in the first two innings gave them an early advantage en route to a 7-5 win against Belarus. Belarus tried to rally, but was only able to cut the deficit to two runs. Livio Bundi drove in three runs at the plate and pitched three innings of no-hit relief to pick up the win. Nicola Abt scored twice. Siarhei Verbal crossed the plate twice for Belarus. Ilya Sladzinski gave up ten hits, seven runs (6 ER) and two base on balls in seven innings to take the loss.
Schedule Day 2:
Live play by play, box scores and statistics are available through CEB’s competition website www.baseballstats.eu. Local organizers have launched a dedicated Facebook page for the tournament at www.facebook.com/baseballem2016