Excitement and anticipation are on the rise in Stuttgart, Heidenheim and Neuenburg, the three German cities hosting the European Championship this summer. Less than a month remains to July 23, with the host locations working hard to wrap up final logistics, prep the fields, and complete stadium set-ups. But when it comes to the circus known as baseball, the German organizers are among the best on the continent; the twelve participating nations expect nothing less than a perfectly organized tournament. With the countdown on to the first pitch of the European Baseball Championship, the athletic aspect finally moves into focus after weeks of infrastructure preparations at each of the hosting locations.
Germany’s head coach Greg Frady, meanwhile, will be pleased to hear that the German club teams ended their European Cup duties with brilliant results. The defending Germany Champion Heidenheim Heideköpfe took part in the qualifying tournament in Brno, Czech Republic, fighting to and an outstanding second place finish behind the reigning Italian champions Fortitudo Bologna. As such, they become the first German team to participate in the European Cup Final Four Tournament, which will be held in late September in Barcelona. The Heideköpfe will test their merit n the quasi semi-finals against three Italian clubs.
The Solingen Alligators, from Germany’s North Division, put on an equally impressive show during their participation in a CEB-Qualifier for the CEB Cup Final in September. As hosts of the week long tournament, comparable to the UEFA Cup competition, the Alligators qualified for the final by going undefeated against their European competition, topped off by an exciting final against the Swiss champion Therwil Flyers.
Frady was pleased with the practice his players received against tough European competition: it’s hard to imagine a better way to prepare for the EU Championship, than the way the numerous national team players on Heidenheim and Solingen were able to. The national team coach will name his 40-man squad roughly 30 days before the first match, which will then be whittled down to 24 during the subsequent preparation. As part of this preparation, Frady will see the men in Black-Red-Gold take the field in warm up games against Belgium and Great Britain.
by Klaus Eckle, translated by Ty Eriksen