The first round at the European Championship Cadets U15 in Paderborn and Dortmund, Germany ended on Thursday with four games. The Netherlands and Czech Republic prevailed in Group A and B with Germany and Lithuania also reaching the semi-finals on Friday.
The third game day started in the morning with a 5-4 win of the Ukraine against Sweden. It was the first victory for the Ukraine, while Sweden remained winless. Two errors in the bottom of the seventh helped Blue and Yellow to a comeback walk-off victory. Yaroslav Kliuienko struck out three in two scoreless innings of relief for the win. Max Hill took a complete game loss.
In the second match in Paderborn the Netherlands improved to 3-0 in the tournament with an 11-1 win over Russia. Eight runs in the bottom of the second blew the score wide open. Denzel Bryson went 2-for-2 with three RBI to lead the way. Rick Timmermans struck out five in four innings to take the win. Kirill Pavlov lasted just 1 1/3 frames and got charged with the loss.
In the lone game in Dortmund on Thursday Lithuania won the decisive match for second place in Group A 9-4 against Belarus. Five runs in the first gave them an early lead. Renatas Skukauskas pitched three innings and drove in three at the plate. Eight different players scored. Aliaksan Lukashevich struck out seven in six relief innings and collected three hits for Belarus.
In the evening game in Paderborn Germany looked like a three-game winner for 6 1/3 innings. But then the Czech Republic rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh and prevailed 5-4. A failed pickoff attempt at second base allowed the tying run to cross the plate. An unnecessary overthrow at first base made the Czech team walk off with the win.
In the semi-finals the Netherlands will square off with Germany in Paderborn and the Czech Republic faces Lithuania in Dortmund.
Standings:
Group A
1) Netherlands 3-0
2) Lithuania 2-1
3) Belarus 1-2
4) Russia 0-3
Group B
1) Czech Republic 3-0
2) Germany 2-1
3) Ukraine 1-2
4) Sweden 0-3
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