The 2018 European Champions Cup in Rotterdam, Netherlands got underway on Wednesday. Four games were played. In the morning Unipol Bologna turned an early 0-1 deficit against Draci Brno into a 4-1 win with two runs each in the sixth and seventh. Osman Marval drove in two.
Also the second Italian club in the competition, ASD Rimini, celebrated a successful opening day. The reigning Italian Baseball League champion defeated the Rouen Huskies 12-5. Alex Romero homered and drove in five for the Pirates. Maxime Lefevre hit a home run for Rouen.
The VOITH Heidenheim Heidekoepfe were on the verge of an upset, leading L&D Amsterdam 2-0 midway through the fifth inning. They already had two outs with a runner on second when first baseman Ludwig Glaser made a fielding error. The next batter, Nick Urbanus, followed with a three-run home run to turn the game around. He later would score again through a wild pitch to finalize the 4-2 result.
In the evening Curacao Neptunus shut out T&A San Marino 3-0. It was the expected close game between two of the favorites. Benjamin Dille, Gianison Boekhoudt and Quintin De Cuba scored the decisive runs. Orlando Yntema earned the win. Viso Quevedo got charged with the loss. Former Major Leaguer Chris Collabello went 1-for-4 for San Marino.
Results Day 1:
Schedule Day 2:
Live play by play, box scores and all statistics can be found at www.baseballstats.eu