The CEB Cup 2016 in Rouen and Chartres is going to see a French Final. On Saturday the Rouen Huskies and the Barracudas Montpellier won their semi-finals against the Croatian clubs Olimpija Karlovac and Nada SSM Split. Meanwhile the Zurich Barracudas and KNTU Elizavetgrad were successful on day one of the consolation phase.
Classification Round:
Minsk – KNTU Elizavetgrad 2-15 (8)
KNTU Elizavetgrad defeated Minsk 15-2 in the first game of the classification round in Rouen on Saturday morning. After Minsk took the lead in the third, KNTU scored twice in the fourth and three times in the fifth to get up 5-1. Nine runs in the eighth eventually blew the score wide open and ended the contest after eight innings. Roman Boiko reached base five times, scoring three runs, while driving in four. Heorhii Hvrytishvili pitched six solid innings for the win. Yauheni Kisliakou took the loss.
Zurich Barracudas – Vienna Wanderers 13-9
In the Swiss-Austrian matchup in the classification round in Chartres the Zurich Barracudas beat the Vienna Wanderers 13-9. Zurich scored eight runs in the first and led 11-4 after five innings. However Vienna scored five runs in the last two frames even though they didn’t threatened the Barracudas. Five different players scored twice for Zurich. Josh Crouse and Nderim Coma drove in two each. Coma also threw six frames to pick up the win. Amin Many lasted just one out in the first and got charged with the loss.
Semi-Finals:
Barracudas Montpellier – Nada SSM Split 7-1
The Barracudas Montpellier reached the finals first with a 7-1 win over Nada SSM Split in the afternoon. Two batters into the game Split had a 1-0 lead after a triple and a single. However Thomas Langloys (8 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO) found his rhythm on the mound and Montpellier got back into the game. They tied the game in the second and got up in front through a two-run home run by Eric Herman in the third. They added four more runs as insurance afterwards and seal the finals participation. Simon Vicente and Herman combined for five RBI. Split’s player coach Andrew Jones took the loss, surrendering three hits, three runs and three walks in three innings.
Rouen Huskies – Olimpija Karlovac 4-0
Owen Ozanich led the Rouen Huskies to a 4-0 shutout over Olimpija Karlovac in the second semifinal. The French national teamer allowed just three hits in nine scoreless innings, while striking out ten. He faced just two batters over the minimum and threw 103 pitches to complete the distance. At the plate Rouen took advantage of a couple of defensive mistakes by Olimpija in the first, scoring three runs for a quick 3-0 lead. A RBI double by Andrew Medeiros in the second already finalized the score. Michael Darrah matched Ozanich after the second and conceded six hits, four runs (3 ER) and five walks in eight innings, taking the loss.
Outlook
Three games are on the schedule on Sunday. In the morning at 10am the Vienna Wanderers and Minsk meet in Rouen in the game for 7th place. The winner keeps his federation’s spot in the CEB Cup, while the loser’s gets relegated to the Federations Cup. At 11am Nada SSM Split and Olimpija Karlovac meet up in Chartres in the Bronze Medal Game. The championship game is set for 3pm in Rouen. The Rouen Huskies have home field advantage over the Montpellier Barracudas. Huskies TV is going to broadcast the game live on YouTube.
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