The Junior National Teams of the European Baseball power houses Netherlands and Italy will play in the finals of the European Championship Juniors in Bonn, Germany on Sunday. The Dutch squad beat France, while defending champion Italy won the rematch against 2007’s runner up Russia. Host Germany defeated Spain and will finish in fifth.
Semi-Finals:
Netherlands – France 9-3
The Dutch team clinched a finals berth with a 9-3 win over France. Jeroen de Haas (W 2-0) allowed just two runs (1 ER) on four hits and two walks in seven innings to lead his team to the championship game. Kevin Weijgertse and Mourik Huijser scored two runs apiece. Rashid Gerard drove in two. Eloi Secleppe (L 0-1) surrendered one hit, four runs (2 ER) and four bb in four innings.
Italy – Russia 5-2
Italy beat Russia 5-2, thanks to a pair of RBI singles by Federico Castagnini and Stefano Giannetti in the bottom of the fifth, which gave the Azzurri the commanding 4-2 lead. They added an insurance run in the sixth on a sac fly by Castagnini. Alexander Bolgov went three-for-three with two doubles for Russia. Andrea Pizziconi (W 2-0) allowed five hits, two runs and three walks in 7 2/3 innings. Boris Rusakov (L 0-2) surrendered nine hits, five runs (4 ER) and three bb in five innings.
Game for 5th:
Spain – Germany 2-8
Host Germany finished the tournament in fifth place after defeating Spain 8-2 on Saturday later afternoon. After Spain had taken a 2-0 lead in the second and Germany tied it two frames later, they decided the outcome with a four-run rally in the sixth. Michael Croft led the team with three hits, two runs scored and two RBI. Lukas Jahn tripled and also drove in two. Christian Decher (GER) got the starting nod and allowed two unearned runs on two hits and three walks. Philipp Adrian (W 1-0) picked up the win with 4 1/3 strong innings of scoreless relief. Juan Marte (L 0-1) gave up nine hits, six runs and a walk in 5 1/3 innings.
Classification Round
Czech Republic – Ukraine 8-1
The Czech Republic scored four runs in the opening period en route to an easy 8-1 win over the Ukraine. Arnost Dubovy went three-for-five with a run and a RBI. Matej Sucha drove in two. David Diblik (W 1-0) conceded four hits, a run and five bb in seven innings. Kostyantyn Korolov (L 0-2) surrendered ten hits, eight runs (7 ER) and four walks in eight innings.
Slovakia – Belgium 4-14 (8)
Belgium celebrated its first victory in the tournament with a 14-4 pounding of Slovakia. They took a fast 7-0 lead thru three innings and ended the contest due to ten-run rule after scoring a combined six runs in the seventh and eighth. Theodore Bellefroid and Thomas Vandenabeele scored three times each. Lorenzo Oeyen and Maxim Arnouts drove in two each. Gert Pissierssens (W 1-1) struck out ten in six wild innings. He gave up just two hits, an unearned run, but also eight walks, throwing 120 pitches. Michal Esmir (L 1-1) allowed one hit, four runs (3 ER) and five bb in two innings.
Standings:
Classification Round:
- Czech Republic 2-0
- Belgium 1-1
- Slovakia 1-1
- Ukraine 0-2
Schedule:
Sunday, August 9:
09:00 Classification Round: Ukraine – Belgium
12:00 Game for 3rd Place: Russia – France
13:00 Classification Round: Czech Republic – Slovakia
17:00 Championship Game: Italy – Netherlands