Summary The Euro Interleague, which pits the top clubs from Central Europe and the Balkans, returned last week after a year’s absence. Europe’s largest multi-country circuit will feature only six teams, down…
Category: Croatia
Croatian Baseball League: Week 1
Summary Olimpija Karlovac began its title defense with a pair of resounding victories in Week 1 of the 2022 in Croatian baseball season. The central Croatian city had an astonishing campaign last summer,…
Croatian Baseball League: Pre-Season Tournaments
Summary Looking to continue its run of dominance from 2021, Olimpija Karlovac instead played second fiddle as the top team in Croatian baseball’s first preseason tournaments, with an Austrian baseball club making…
Freeman New Karlovac Head Coach
Olimpija Karlovac have appointed Don Freeman as head coach for the upcoming 2022 season, the defending Croatian champions have announced. Freeman, who was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of…
European Nations Make Biggest Leaps in Updated WBSC Rankings
The World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) released its updated men’s baseball national rankings earlier this week, with four European nations — Sweden, Hungary, Croatia and Great Britain — marking the biggest…
2021 European Championship Knockout Play Begins
The 2021 European championship continues in earnest today, with the four scheduled quarterfinals announcing the beginning of the knockout rounds. The four group winners — Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, and Spain —…
2021 European Championship Starts Play on Sunday
The 2021 European championship is slated to start on Sunday in Italy’s Piedmont region. At three sites in and around Turin, Europe’s top 16 men’s national teams will compete for the European…
2021 Federation Cup, Day 4: Herrera’s Homer Streak Reaches Four as Karlovac Sweeps
By Gabriel Fidler BRASSCHAAT, Belgium — Olimpija Karlovac made a big statement as play continued in the Federation Cup, blasting Vienna 23-6 and evading the hometown Braves 10-6 in the nightcap. José Herrera…
2021 Federation Cup, Day 3: Karlovac Still Unbeaten, First Win for Vienna Wanderers
By Francisco Barreto BRASSCHAAT, Belgium — After Day Two of the Federation Cup was lost to heavy rain, Croatian champion Olimpija Karlovac wasted no time on Day Three of the event, scoring…
2021 Federation Cup, Day 2: Rain Washes Out Both Games
By Gabriel Fidler Day 2 of the Federation Cup was a complete washout, with precipitation causing the postponement of two games for Olimpija Karlovac, one each against the Vienna Wanderers (1-1) and…
2021 Federation Cup, Day 1: Karlovac, Vienna Victorious; Three Teams Withdraw
By Gabriel Fidler and Francisco Barreto BRASSCHAAT, Belgium — A significantly condensed Federation Cup commenced in the northern stadium of Belgium’s twin baseball cities. A regular host of CEB events, the Brasschaat Braves…
Olimpija Karlovac Wins 2021 Croatian Title
Olimpija Karlovac defeated Nada Split 4-3 on Saturday, July 31, to win Game Seven of the 2021 Croatian championship series. Olimpija rallied from a 3-0 series deficit, winning four games in a…
Game 7 Decider in Croatia After Karlovac Turns Around Split’s 3-0 Series Lead
The 2021 Croatian champion will be crowned on Saturday in Karlovac after an exciting championship series that has gone the full seven games between the country’s perennial contenders Nada Split and Olimpija…
Croatian League Week 10: Varaždin Finishes Third, Will Face Nada, Winners of Eight Straight, in Playoffs
The final series of the regular season in Croatian baseball featured a pair of sweeps, with the first securing Vindija Varaždin the all-important No. 3 spot in the standings. Its consecutive 20-run…
Croatian League Week 9: Playoff Teams Set; Karlovac, Split with Home Field Advantage
The penultimate week of league play in Croatian baseball sewed up the final two spots in the playoffs as Zagreb and Varaždin will travel to Olimpija Karlovac and Nada Split, hosts for the…
Croatian League Week 8: Split Clinches Playoff Berth: Vindija Varaždin, Zagreb Draw Series
The impressive volte-face by Split culminated last weekend in its first achievement of 2021. The Adriatic club claimed a place in the first round of the Croatian Baseball Championship with sweep of visiting…
Croatian League Week 7: Surging Split Wins Two, Streak Reaches Five
Two weekends at Starom Placu (the “Old Ground”) in Split appeared to be just what the Adriatic club needed, as it has suddenly turned a corner in the 2021 Croatian Baseball League…
Croatian League Week 6: Three-Game Winning Streak for Split Moves Club to .500
Split may have had to wait six weeks for its home opener, but it was worth it as the Hope (“Nada”)earned a ‘W’ on both and Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, results were…
Croatian League Week 5: Standings Shakeup as Varaždin Takes Two from Zagreb
By: Gabriel Fidler Through the first month of play, it appeared that Karlovac would need to fend off only Zagreb on the way to defending its 2020 Croatian baseball title. The second…
Croatian League Week 4: Karin, Karlovac Break Out the Bats; Varaždin Sweeps
Karlovac continued its hold on first place in Croatia’s top circuit by shellacking Medvednica twice, with Damir Karin reaching base every time he came to the plate over the weekend. Meanwhile, Varaždin…
Croatian League Week 3: Karlovac Blasts Split in 2020 Title, Cup Rematch
Olimpija Karlovac continued its romp through the Croatian League with a pair of blowout victories over the visitors from the nation’s southern shore and became the first team to reach 10 wins…
This Week in Facebook (Week of April 25)
If you are not checking us out on Facebook regularly, then you are missing out on much of our coverage of the clubs, national teams, coaches, and players that make European baseball…
Croatian League Week 2: Herrera’s Three Longballs Power Karlovač in Zagreb Showdown
Last weekend, the second round of the Croatian Championship took place, with Karlovac hosting the two front-runners for the title, Zagreb and Olimpija. The resulting split did justice to the drama of…
Croatian League Week 1: Smith Homers Three Times as Karlovac, Zagreb Sweep
Croatia began its season this past weekend with a pair of two-game series. Karlovac’s Phil Smith knocked three balls out of the park in Varaždin on Sunday as Olimpija took both games. Fran Stančić Vidrač had…
2021 European Championship Group Draw
The four groups for the 16-team, 2021 European Championship in Italy are set. With a peak of roughly 200 viewers tuning in to the organizing committee’s midday Facebook live event, the 12…