by Pavel Hrdina
First day of the Men’s European Championship offered some interesting games. The favorites managed to win all of their games without any bigger troubles, except for Denmark in the morning who had lots of work with Israel. However, in the end the Danish won 5:3.
Israel 3:5 Denmark – The Israeli players surprised Denmark
Opening game of the Championship was a nice one. The Danish went into the lead in the first inning and held it the rest of the way. Thanks to Daniel Julenon and Franklin Fernandez, who each hit a home run, there was a safe gap in the scoreline for most of the game, but not as comfort as the Danish would expect.
Czech Republic 17:0 Croatia – Massive win for the home side to boost confidence.
On their home field, team Czech Republic began this European Championship in a big way, defeating Croatia 17-0 in just four innings. Karel Kadecka led the parade with a two-run home run in the third inning and had 3 RBI in the game, as did Tomas Klein and Bartolomej Rizek.
Denmark 9:0 Belgium – Team Denmark moved to Pardubice for the second win
The Danish faced Belgium in their second game of the day and they showed their skills. Two home runs sparked them to get enough runs to finish the game after five innings. Tough start for Belgium who also had to move for their evening
television game against the Czechs.
Croatia 3:8 Great Britain – Croatia showed their better side, but lost again
After a disastrous first game of the tournament, Croatia bounced back with a much stronger effort, eventually falling 8-3 to a strong British team, which was playing its first game of the tournament. Darryl Hermann went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI to lead the British offense, while Hrvoje Jerbic had 2 RBI for Croatia.
Netherlands 13:1 Israel – Another nice effort of Israel, but a horror final inning
Game between the Netherlands and Israel ended with a huge gap in the scoreline, but the Israeli players held pretty good most of the time. However, their blackout in defense in the seventh inning resulted in eight more runs for the Dutch and a clear 13-1 win.
Belgium 0:10 Czech Republic – The Czechs finished Belgium in four innings
In front of an electrifying home crowd, the Czechs scored 6 runs in the first inning, then coasted to a 10-0 victory in four innings over Belgium. The offence was balanced, and pitchers Jonas Mach and Jaroslav Mueller combined for a one-hitter.