The second day of the preliminary round at the European Championship Under 21 is in the books and two teams remain unbeaten. Spain celebrated a lopsided victory. Italy won a thriller against Germany. In addition France and the Czech Republic received their first wins.
Schedule September 5:
11:00 France – Italy
11:00 Belgium – Germany
16:00 Slovakia – Czech Republic
18:30 Spain – Russia
Belgium – France 3-7
FRA 110 000 500 7 10 0 BEL 000 101 001 3 6 1
France used a five-run seventh to beat Belgium 7-3. The highlight was a bases clearing triple by Philippe Lecourieux (3-3, BB). Jonathan Weaver scored twice. Hans Heyrman went two for three with two walks and a double for the Belgians.
Gregory Cros (FRA) gave up four hits, two runs and two walks in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out six. Joris Navarro picked up the win. Kenny Van Den Branden struck out eleven in seven innings, but also allowed eight hits, four runs and three base on balls to take the loss.
Germany – Italy 6-7
ITA 300 000 040 7 9 5 GER 102 100 011 6 6 2
Italy defeated Germany 7-6 after a wild and thrilling game. Stefano De Simoni had three hits, including two doubles to drive in two. Marco Sabbatani also got two RBIs. Los Angeles Angels minor leaguer Ludwig Glaser scored twice.
Italy started with three runs in the top of the first, but the German team came back and scored four unanswered runs till the fourth to take the lead. However the Azzurri decided the outcome in the top of the eighth through four runs. Germany tried to rally, but stranded two runners in the ninth.
Michelle Quattrini (ITA) gave up three hits, three runs (2 ER) and three walks in two innings. Valerio Simone picked up the win for three brilliant innings of relief. Benedikt Antwi (L 0-1) allowed nine hits, seven runs (5 ER) and four bb in eight innings.
Czech Republic – Russia 6-2
RUS 001 000 100 2 13 2 CZE 000 300 12X 6 13 5
In game that saw a combined 26 hits, the Czech Republic defeated Russia 6-2. Petr Zyma’s hit a three-run double to bring the Czech team a 3-1 lead in the fourth. Jan Felkl added a two-run single in the eighth. Alexey Kozin and Nikita Monakhov had three hits each for Russia.
The people in attendance saw a duel between Minnesota Twins minor leaguers on the mound. Jakub Toufar, who pitched for the major league organization in 2006 and 2007, allowed eleven hits, two runs (1 ER) and two walks in 6 1/3 innings for the win. Andrey Lobanov, who completed his first pro season this summer, gave up nine hits, three runs and two bb in six innings to take the loss.
Slovakia – Spain 2-18 (7)
ESP 012 581 1 18 16 2 SVK 100 100 0 2 6 4
Spain stayed undefeated by crushing Slovakia 18-2. They scored in every inning after the opening frame, highlighted by eight runs in the fifth. Daniel Sanchez went three for five with a double, a triple, four runs scored and four RBI. Aritz Garcia reached five times, scored three times and drove in three. Eight players had at least one hit.
Ruben Fente (W 1-0) struck out seven in a seven-inning complete game. He allowed two runs (1 ER) on six hits. Tomas Biskorovajny (L 0-1) pitched 4 2/3 innings, giving up eleven hits, 13 runs (7 ER) and a walk.
