Day four of five at the preliminary round at the U18 European Championship 2018 in Grosseto, Italy was played on Thursday. Spain improved to 4-0 with an 8-4 win over host Italy in the evening game. Spain is qualified for the semifinals, having clinched first place in Group B. Italy will face Ireland on Friday in a matchup to determine second place. Ireland beat Germany 11-3 on Thursday, which dropped to 0-3 and only will have a chance to play in the classification round after finishing third in 2016.
In Group A the Netherlands remained undefeated and advanced to the semi-final with a 17-7 rout against France. The Dutch team scored nine runs in the last two innings to blow a close game open. The Czech Republic edged out Ukraine 2-1 for their second win this week. If they beat Great Britain on Friday they will join the Netherlands in the semi-finals, facing Spain. If Great Britain wins the matchup, there will be a three-way tie between Czech, France and the British with the TQB and the calculator coming into effect.
Results Day 4:
Standings after Day 4:
Schedule Day 5:
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