Press Release Finnish Baseball and Softball Federation
The Finnish National Baseball team beat Estonia 23-21 in the final of the first Nordic Baseball Open. The tournament was played in Kostivere, Estonia, 20 km east of Tallinn. Norway took third place and Latvia finished in fourth.
Team Finland finished the tournament with three wins and one loss, the only loss coming host Estonia in the opening round 4-5.
The final was played in strong winds, which led to tough playing conditions for both teams. The game was a back and forth battle with the teams trading off strong offensive innings and at times strong pitching.
Tournament MVP Ville Saarman had Finland’s only home run in the opening round and pitched well in the final. Saarman made the final out of the game by stomping on first base. Timo Liiri came on in relief to hold Estonia at bay and collected the win. Estonia’s Paul Marley was selected tournament best hitter. He hit safely 14 out of 19 times for an impressive 0.736 batting average.
The Nordic Baseball Open is planned to be played every other year in between CEB (Confederation of European Baseball) tournaments. The tournament participants will be developing baseball countries in Northern Europe and the hosts will rotate on a regular basis.
Results:
Friday, 5 June
Game 1: Estonia 16-5 Norway
Game 2: Finland 21-11 Latvia
Game 3: Estonia 16-11 Latvia
Saturday, 6 June
Game 4: Finland 15-8 Norway
Game 5: Norway 15-12 Latvia
Game 6: Estonia 5-4 Finland
Sunday, 7 June
Game 7 (Championship): Finland 23-21 Estonia
Final Standings:
- Finland (3-1)
- Estonia (3-1)
- Norway (1-2)
- Latvia (0-3)