Greece and Spain matched up for a wild one to determine the playoff teams for Group B of the Under-23 European Baseball Championship B-Pool at Camp Municipal de Beisbol i Sofbol de València, Spain, while Aviad Schechter homered for Israel and Matej Chrvala did the same for Slovakia, as both cruised to the semifinals from Group A.
The Greek baseball squad totalled more hits than the host nation, and collected all the extra-base knocks, but Spain took advantage of walks and errors to force seven lead changes in the game, only tying the game for good in the bottom of the seventh. The eighth—extra innings at the Under-23 level—was an absolute rollercoaster, with Greece first scoring four, then Spain walking off after plating five of its own. Constantine Coines homered for the Greeks, while Markos Lagios had three hits, including a two-bagger, and he and Nick Sullo both drove in three. Marco López was 3-for-3 for Spain, scoring two runs, while Miguel Blanco had two hits and Eusebio Salas had a hit, four walks, and two stolen bases.
Akiva Epstein tossed a shutout for Israel in its win, finishing the U23 Baseball Euros Qualifier with five scoreless innings and six strikeouts across four innings. In fact, over two U23 tournaments in his career, he has yet to allow a run in eight frames, striking out 17 and permitting only four hits. Nadav Machlin and Jake Arnow led the offense as usual, the former notching a double and a pair of singles, and the latter going 2-for-2 with a two-bagger.
Jakub Križan continues to impress for Slovakia, ripping a pair of triples, while Matej Škerlec and Maxim Samson had three hits. Chrvala, Mário Miklovič, and Richard Jaslovský all had two hits, as did Türkiye’s Yağız Aksoy. Jakub Holekši punched out six in four shutout innings.
Box scores are available here [link]. Previous coverage includes: Day 2 [link]. Coverage of the U23 Baseball Euros Germany Qualifier can be found here [link].
Group A Results
Aug. 6
Croatia 0 – Israel 15 (4)
Slovakia 11 – Türkiye 1 (6)
Group B Results
Aug. 6
Greece 13 – Spain 14 (8)
Playoffs Schedule
Aug. 7
Fifth: Croatia – Greece
Semifinal: Switzerland – Israel
Semifinal: Slovakia – Spain
Group A Standings
| Team | W-L | RF | RA |
| Israel | 3-0 | 48 | 2 |
| Slovakia | 2-1 | 25 | 16 |
| Croatia | 1-2 | 10 | 31 |
| Türkiye | 0-3 | 5 | 39 |
Group B Standings
| Team | W-L | RF | RA |
| Spain | 2-0 | 30 | 16 |
| Switzerland | 1-1 | 9 | 20 |
| Greece | 0-2 | 17 | 20 |