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The Netherlands have won the inaugural edition of the U23 European Championship. In an epic Gold Medal Game on Sunday the Dutch team defeated host Czech Republic 10-9 in ten innings. Both teams already qualified for next year’s WBSC U23 Baseball World Cup by advancing to the finals of the U23 Euros.
The Czech team took a 5-1 lead after three innings, but the Dutch fought back to get ahead 8-6 after eight innings. In the bottom of the ninth the Czech Republic tied the game and even had the chance to win it there, but two strikeouts with the bases loaded ended the rally.
In the tenth inning Rachid Engelhardt drove in two runs for the Netherlands with the extra inning rule in effect. In the bottom of the frame the Czech Republic pushed a run over the plate with a bases loaded walk, but this times three consecutive strikeouts ended the inning and the game.
Earlier in the day Belgium stunned Spain to win third place in the final standings. Germany finished fifth ahead of France. The U23 European Championship debuted this year replacing the U21 European Championship on the European calendar to get in line with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
Final Standings:
|
1
|
 NETHERLANDS |
9
|
 UKRAINE |
|
2
|
 CZECH REPUBLIC |
10
|
 POLAND |
|
3
|
 BELGIUM |
11
|
 RUSSIA |
|
4
|
 SPAIN |
12
|
 SLOVAKIA |
|
5
|
 GERMANY |
13
|
 AUSTRIA |
|
6
|
 FRANCE |
14
|
 BELARUS |
|
7
|
 GREAT BRITAIN |
15
|
 LITHUANIA |
|
8
|
 CROATIA |
16
|
 GEORGIA |
Complete results, box scores and statistics are available through www.baseballstats.eu