The European Baseball Championships Junior in Bonn, Germany started on Monday with the preliminary phase. While defending champion Italy and host Germany won easily, the runner up of 2007, Russia, suffered a surprise defeat against Slovakia.
Russia – Slovakia 5-6
Slovakia stunned one of the favored teams in the tournament on Monday, as they beat Russia 6-5. The second-ranked team in the Juniors two years ago, tried to rally in the ninth, but was stop right in time. Michal Esmir (W 1-0) allowed five hits, one run and seven walks in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two. Alexander Khudyakov (L 0-1) had as much problems with the strike zone as Esmir, but couldn’t hold off Slovakia from the board. He conceded seven hits, five runs and seven bb in seven innings. Both starters also combined for five hit batters.
Italy – Spain 10-1
With new Houston Astro Luca Martone at second base and batting second, Italy defeated Spain 10-1. Eight runs between the fifth and eighth sealed the lopsided win for the Azzurri. Federico Castagnini went four-for-five with two runs scored and two RBI. Mirko Caradonna crossed the plate three times. Andrea Pizziconi (W 1-0) went five innings, issuing three hits, a run and two bb. He struck out three and also hit three batters. Filippo Crepaldi and Valerio Simone closed out the win by throwing zeros in the last four frames. Oscar Jimenez (L 0-1) surrendered one hit, two unearned runs and two walks in four innings.
Belgium – France 7-10
The French team scored eight runs in the top of the fifth en route to a 10-7 victory over Belgium. Guillaume Lafeuille collected four hits, two runs and two RBI. Maxime Lefevre went three-for-five with a walk, a double, three runs scored and a stolen base. Belgium tried to come back, but a four-run rally in the ninth wasn’t enough. Warren Coopman (W 1-0) gave up six hits, two runs and four bb in six innings. Gert Pissierssens (L 0-1) allowed six hits, seven runs and six walks in four-plus innings.
Ukraine – Germany 2-11
With the tough team Netherlands waiting on Tuesday, it was important for the German team to start with a win against the Ukraine on Monday. And the home crowd got its wish, as the squad of head coach Jesco Veisz came out swinging in an 11-2 win. Percy Marks and Shawn Larry each scored three times. Michael Croft drove in three. Christian Decher (W 1-0) struck out seven in seven solid innings, allowing five hits, two runs and three bb. Dmytro Fulga drove in two for the Ukraine. Roman Mayfat (L 0-1) threw 133 pitches over six innings, conceding six hits, seven runs (4 ER) and a whopping nine walks.
Schedule:
Tuesday, August 4:
11:00 Slovakia – Ukraine
12:00 Czech Republic – France
16:00 Spain – Belgium
17:00 Netherlands – Germany
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