After Germany and France on Wednesday, the Czech Republic and Russia clinched the other two spots in the semi-finals of the U15 European Championship in Chartres and Rouen, France one day later. The first round ended on Thursday with the Czech team blowing by Austria 11-1. Russia prevailed 9-8 over Lithuania. France remained undefeated with a 14-3 win over Slovenia. Both semi-finals will be broadcasted live at http://www.cmin.tv/.
Czech Republic – Austria 11-1 (6)
The Czech Republic clinched their spot in the semi-finals with an 11-1 victory over Austria in the afternoon game in Chartres on Thursday. The finalist from last year took a quick 2-0 lead in the first and blew the score wide open by scoring nine runs between the fourth and the sixth. Austria only managed a run in the top of the third. Ondrej Lochman went 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBI. Marek Krejricik scored three times for the Czech team. Alexander Kienberger scored the only run for Austria. Tomas Hrbek issued four hits, a run and two walks in five innings for the win. Arthur Weinwurm conceded one hit, two runs and five base on balls in 1 2/3 innings to take the loss.
Russia – Lithuania 9-8
Russia prevailed 9-8 over Lithuania in the afternoon game in Rouen on Thursday to secure second place in Group A and a spot in the semi-finals on Friday. Russia scored seven runs in the first and led 8-1 after the second. However Lithuania nearly erased that deficit afterwards, but Russia maintained a one-run lead in the end. Andrey Pekhotkin and Sergei Dudykin had two RBI each. Danil Chernov and Vladislav Dudin scored twice. Anton Trusov pitched four innings for the win. Vytas Valincius and Ugnius Navickas scored two runs apiece for Lithuania. Valincius also took the loss, getting chased from the mound with no outs after issuing one hits, seven runs and five walks in the first.
France – Slovenia 14-3 (5)
France remained undefeated in three games in the tournament with a 14-3 win over Slovenia on early Thursday evening. 11 runs in the second blew the score wide open. Pierre Emmanu Planes scored three runs for the French squad. Nicolas Khoury, Louis Brainville and Louis Foucaud combined for six RBI. Lucas Khemache picked up the win in relief. Nik Perko got charged with the loss. Tevz Gantar collected two hits for Slovenia.
Standings after First Round
Schedule for Day 4
- 13:00 Chartres: Germany – Czech Republic (Livestream)
- 15:00 Rouen: Lithuania – Slovenia
- 17:00 Chartres: France – Russia (Livestream)
Live streaming is available for all games from Chartres at http://www.cmin.tv/ Live play by play, box scores and all statistics are available through the CEB competition website www.baseballstats.eu. A dedicated Facebook page was launched as well is available through www.facebook.com/eurobaseball15U2016.