Looking back at a few highlights in an eventful Baseball and Softball year 2009
While the Dutch Seniors national team is dominating European Baseball at will, it is a different story at various youth levels. This year European Championships were played at the Cadets, Juveniles and Juniors levels and in each of the tournaments, the Netherlands didn’t ranked first in the end.
Cadets
At the EC Cadets in Brno, Czech Republic from July 7th to 11th, Italy took home the title with a 9-2 victory in the championship game over Russia. Host Czech Republic won the bronze medal with a 11-8 win over the Dutch team.
Final Standings Cadets Brno:
- Italy
- Russia
- Czech Republic
- Netherlands
- Germany
- Austria
- Slovakia
- Ukraine
Juveniles
One week later the EC Juveniles took place in Dupnitza/Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Germany and France were missing in this tournament. The Czech team captured the title with a 13-6 win over Russia in the finals. Bulgaria took third place in front of Austria.
Final Standings Juveniles Dupnitza/Blagoevgrad:
- Czech Republic
- Russia
- Bulgaria
- Austria
- Lithuania
- Slovakia
- Ukraine
- Romania
- Turkey
Juniors
The highlight on the youth calendar in European Baseball in 2009 certainly was the EC Juniors in Bonn, Germany from August 3rd to 9th. Led by tournament MVP Federico Castagnini Italy beat the Netherlands 4-3 in the finals to win the Juniors crown. France won the bronze medal game with an 11-0 shutout over Russia.
Final Standings Juniors Bonn:
- Italy
- Netherlands
- France
- Russia
- Germany
- Spain
- Czech Republic
- Ukraine
- Slovakia
- Belgium
Complete Results and Stats on Official Competition Website of the CEB