by Jakub Janda
Israel beat Belarus in a close game, Austria fought hard aganist Russian but lost, Czech Republic beat Romani as did the Lithuanians to the Slovenians.
Game 5: Israel rallies late to comeback against Belarus
Israel gets down by six but pushed hard in late frames to win over Belarus 12:11.
Belarus stormed off the gates with two hits resulting in two errors and three runs, their starter Kiryl Lapchanka kept Israelis in check in the bottom of the inning. Another Belarusian surge struck immediately in the second, two walks were followed by a three-run homerun to centerfield by Aliaks Lukashevich.
Down by six, Israel fought back as they used patience and timely hitting – two walks and two hits caused a pitching change but more importantly three runs – score neared at 6:3. Third inning saw no pressure from either side, both pitchers kept their opponents to zeroes.
Belarus pushed hard for three runs in the fourth, making it 9:3, nevertheless Israel made their case in the bottom of the inning pushing for five – nearing to 9:8. Top of the fifth featured another two Belarusian runs, but the Israelis took charge later on. They put up four unanswered runs to take the lead 12:11 and their reliever Betzalel Kupietzky received a win for shuting Belarusian offense in last two frames.
Israel has taken a close victory over Belarus, having its tournament tied at 1:1. Belarus gets down by 0:2.
Game 6: Five-run lead not enough for Austria against Russia
Austria was not able to keep the commanding lead as Russia prevailed and came back in extra innings – 18:13.
Austrian starter Tobias Mathes entered the game dominantly striking out the side in the first three innings and recording nine punchouts. Austria shifted the momentum to their bats as the team scored twice in the second, putting pressure on reigning champion.
Russians fought back in the third, loading the bases on control issues by Mathes and scoring twice to tie it at 2:2.
Austria answered right back, hitting Russian starter Oleg Trukhachov hard and touching him with six straight hits for five runs – score went up to 7:2. Russian offense did not fall asleep and touched Austrian bullpen for four costly points, making the score 7:6.
After Austria survived a jam in the sixth, it responded to take the lead 8:6. Russian hitters never gave up and enjoyed outpouring slugfest, as they turned the fortune around and came back to take another lead 11:8. Even though Russia tried hard to close it out, the Austrians fought even harder and tied the game at 11:11. Extra innings were coming up, using the tie breaker rule – runners were put on first and second with nobody out.
Russia had a strong show-off, scoring five to take a 16:11lead. Austria was able to score two but did not cause the surprise as the game ended at 18:13.
Russia goes on unbeaten with two wins, hard fighting Austria has one win and one lose.
Game 7: Lithuania beats Slovenia in six innings
Lithuanian offense managed to get over Slovenia 24:6.
Lithuania managed to manufacture a first-inning run off Slovenian starter Mark Rudolf which turned to be the only run for some time. Slovenian and Lithuanian starting pitchers kept opposing hitters in check till the fifth inning, a feat which is rarely achieved in U12 baseball.
Top of the fifth became the breaking point as Lithuania attacked hard as a walk followed by three singles and another walk resulted in pitching change as Zan Pirman came in. Another three base-on-balls transformed the lead to 9:0 for Lithuania. Next six runners reached home plate, making it 15:0.
Slovenian hitters did not give up and scored six times, avoiding the mercy rule. Lithuanian offense kept scoring in the sixth inning to make it 24:6.
Lithuania now has two wins and will face the Czech Republic on Wednesday for the first place in the group, Slovenia has two loses.
Game 8: Czech Republic defeats Romania
Czech Republic beats Romania 33:0.
Czech team scored thirteen times in the first and his pitchers did not allow Romanian hitters to register a single hit, as the game turned in a slugfest. The final result was 33:0. Michael Kotačka homered twice.