The Tenerife Marlins advanced to the Final Four of the Baseball Champions League (BCL) Europe, joining Curaçao Neptunus, which later won for a third time at the familiar confines of the Familiestadion. Heidenheim Heideköpfe finished third, while Nettuno 1945 rounded out the group.
Tenerife 13 – Heidenheim 3
The Germans took advantage of early miscues to take a 3-0 lead in the third, but Lesther Galvan mashed a two-run homer for the Marlins in the next half frame. Heideköpfe retained the lead for another inning before Jesús Ustariz tied the game with an RBI-single in the top of the sixth. Ian Péres followed with his third home run in two games, and seven more runs in the eighth ended the game early. One-time Minnesota Twin Niklas Rimmel earned the win with seven strong innings, permitting only five hits and no walks. [Game Wrap]
Rotterdam 3 – Nettuno 0
In one of closest games of the Baseball Champions League, Neptunus broke a scoreless draw in the bottom of the fifth with two runs on an RBI-triple from Darryl Collins and a run-scoring two-bagger from Drew Janssen. Koen Postelmans was effectively win, working around five base on balls but only three hits in six innings for the win, while Aaron de Groot was superb to close things out, retiring all eight Nettuno hitters he faced. Hector García tossed four shutout frames with five punch-outs for the Italians. [Game Wrap]
The Final Four will be played a single site currently under bidding on Sept. 26–27, featuring single-game semifinals and championship game.
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Baseball Champions League Europe [link]
BCL Rotterdam Day 1 [link]
BCL Rotterdam Day 2 [link]
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BCL Regensburg Day 2 [link]