In a title game to remember, Poland went round-for-round with southern neighbors Slovakia at the European Baseball Championship B-Pool at the Wrocławska Arena Sportu Baseball Field, with the winner only determined in extra innings. Slovakia’s extra-inning triumph earned the country qualification to the 2027 European Baseball Championship in Regensburg, Germany, which will mark the second time it has appeared in the tournament’s top tier, following 2021. It is another devastating loss for Poland, a baseball federation clearly on the rise, as it falls in a one-run game at home in a qualifier championship for the second attempt in a row.
Championship Game
Poland scored runs at the B-Pool Baseball Euros with ease, and had allowed only 13 runs across the three round robin games against teams other than Slovakia. After the latter cruised undefeated to the title bout and Poland had to use additional pitching a strong Ireland nine, the final game from Wrocław seemed as if it might be a back-and-forth affair. The 600-strong crowd were not disappointed, as Poland and Slovakia rewarded them with a rollercoaster game.
It took two batter for the Slovaks to score, as Matej Grendža-Donský led off the bottom of the first with booming double down the left field line and Jakub Križan doubled him home. Slovakia would leave the bases loaded in the inning after Matej Škerlec and Filip Zrubec singled, which felt for most of the game like a crucial moment.
Sam Mieszkowski-Lapping led off the third with a solo shot for Poland, and Connor Bowie did the same in the fifth to give the host nation a fragile lead. To this point, Slovakian ace Samuel Deák had been cruising, as had Polish starter Adam Alexis, but the latter ran into trouble in the inning as well, with Križan and Mário Gottschall slapping back-to-back two-out singles. Matej Rudohradský then doubled both home, putting Slovakia on top once more.
The Polish baseballers, however, started to show some real fight in their next at bat. With a runner on first, Mieszkowski-Lapping went yard again. Then, an erorr led to a pitching change, and Hubert Zgórzyński greeted the new huler with a a base knock, setting up Joey Kalafut for a big two-bagger to center that scored both.
Alexis finished his final inning well, punching out two to bring his total to 10, before Poland’s offense got going again. Filip Sarota launched a rocket over the wall in right center for one, and two walks, a hit batter, and a single led to another.
With an 8-3 lead and a supportive home crowd, Poland appeared to be cruising, but the tide quickly turned with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. With a run on first, Grendža-Donský, Križan, Gottschall, and Rudohradský each singled, scoring two. A passed ball brought home a third run, but the next batter cleared the bases anyway, as Škerlec sliced a triple to right field. Suddenly, the game was tied.
Neither club could do anything in the ninth, with Slovakia’s closer, Jakub Ižold, dealing his third inning of relief and Deven Pietrzak working around a single. In the tenth, with tiebreaker runners placed on first and second, Ižold induced a groundball that erased the lead runner, struck out the next batter, and served up a weak grounder to first.
Faced with the same scenario, Adam Zacko and Grendža-Donský stole second and third, but the former erased on a groundball, setting up an intentional walk. That set up Slovakia’s eighth-inning hero, Škerlec, with the bases loaded, and the leftfielder delivered again, driving a single to right as the Slovaks erupted from the bench, leaving Poland stunned.
Ižold earned the win with four innings out of the bullpen, striking out two. Škerlec, Križan, and Gottschall all had three hits, with Škerlec and Rudohradský driving in three. More than half of Poland’s hits went four extra bases, with two safeties apiece from Zgórzyński, Mieszkowski-Lapping, and Bowie.
With the walk-off victory, Slovakia will return to the European Baseball Championship in 2027, hoping for a better finish than 2016, when it finished No. 16.
Offensive Leaders
- Jakub Križan (Slovakia) was named “Leading Hitter” after topping the tournament in average (.571), tying for first in hits (12), finishing second in OPS (1.477) and on-base percentage (.667) and third in slugging (.810).
- Hubert Zgórzyński (Poland) was tops in runs (13), hits (12, tied), doubles (4), and total bases (18), finishing third in average, with a full slash line of .462/.516/.692. He was one of a long list with three stolen bases, tied for second overall.
- Mieszkowski-Lapping (Poland) led in OBP, slugging, and OPS, finishing second in hitting, with an overall line of .500/.733/1.250. He drew a whopping five hit by pitches in 15 plate appearances, and was one of five players with two home runs, though, of course, both of his came in the championship game.
- Joey Kalafut (Poland) was one of the other players with a brace of longballs, led in RBI (13), tied for second in total bases (17), and finished third in OPS (1.321), totalling a batting line of .409/.548/.773.
- Colin Walsh (Ireland) had two dingers and was second in slugging and four in OPS (1.300), finishing at .353/.476/.824.
- Matej Škerlec (Slovakia) was second in doubles (3) and fifth in OPS (1.269), hitting .500/.542/.727.
- Lars Liguori (Norway) had two homers and hit .267/.429/.733. Alexander Deutsch also had an OPS over 1.000 for the Scandinavians, slashing .462/.533/.538.
- Viacheslav Babii (Ukraine) led the tournament in walks (7) and hit his team’s only home run, finishing at .267/.500/.533.
- Martin Brunegraf (Slovakia) was named MVP. He finished fifth on his hot-hitting team in average (.368) and fourth in OPS (.929), the latter figure No. 17 overall.
Pitching Leaders
- Brendan Flaherty (Ireland) was named Best Pitcher, throwing 8.1 innings without permitting a free pass or an earned run over two games, striking out 13. In addition to leading in ERA, he had the best WHIP (0.37) and batters hit an anemic .103/.103/.138, the lowest OPS allowed of any pitcher.
- Michael Sosna (Poland) was fourth in ERA (1.17) and struck out 11 in 7.2 innings over two games, permitting just a .080/.207/.080 line.
- Adam Alexis (Poland) struck out 13 (tied for second) over 11 innings with a 3.27 ERA.
- Andrii Kostashchuk (Ukraine) also had 13 Ks, but did it in just 9.1 frames with a 3.86 ERA.
- Dovydas Neverauskas (Lithuania) led the tournament in strikeouts (17) and was second in innings (11), though his ERA was 9.82.
Box scores are available here [link]. Previous coverage includes: Preview [link], Day 3 [link]. See also coverage of the Baseball Euros Bulgaria Qualifier: Day 4 [link].
Results
Aug. 1
Final: Poland 8 – Slovakia 9 (10)
Final Standings
| Team | W-L | RF | RA |
| Slovakia | 6-0 | 66 | 24 |
| Poland | 4-2 | 77 | 33 |
| Ireland | 3-2 | 36 | 33 |
| Ukraine | 1-4 | 25 | 42 |
| Lithuania | 1-4 | 24 | 56 |
| Norway | 1-4 | 18 | 58 |