Not many surprises at the 2019 European Champions Cup in Bologna and Castenaso, Italy. The teams from Italy and the Netherlands have reached the semi-finals. Curacao Neptunus Rotterdam improved to 3-0 in group A with an 8-3 victory over the Rouen Huskies. It was a close game for the first six innings. Rotterdam broke the tie in the seventh and added four runs in the eighth to secure the victory. Dudley Leonora and Quintin De Cuba had three RBI apiece.
Also L&D Amsterdam cruised through the first round at the Champions Cup with a clean 3-0 record. The Pirates won Group B undefeated thanks to a 22-2 clubbing of Arrows Ostrava. Gilmer Lampe, Denzel Richardson and Kenny Berkenbosch hit home runs. Berkenbosch drove in six, Lampe five. Seven players scored at least two runs for Amsterdam. Terrell Joyce had a solo shot for Ostrava.
Meanwhile the Italian teams secured second place in both groups. Parmaclima overcame an early 0-7 deficit against the Bonn Capitals to win 17-8. Bonn put seven runs on the board in the second, but Parma answered with eight in the third. Parma added seven more runs in the last two innings to turn the game into a lopsided affair. Bonn had 7-1, 4-0 and 7-0 leads during their first-round matchups, but lost all three.
In the evening game Unipol Bologna downed the Deurne Spartans 11-0 in eight innings to earn second place in Group B. Fortitudo already led 8-0 after three innings en route to an easy victory. Andrea Pizziconi dominated on the mound. Alessandro Vaglio scored three, Eladio Russo and Alessandro Grimaudo two runs each.
In the semifinals Curacao Neptunus now will take on Unipol Bologna, while L&D Amsterdam and Parmaclima will square off as well. The other four teams hope to avoid relegation for their respective federation.
Results and Schedule:
Complete results, stats and live play by play are available at www.baseballstats.eu.
Photo by Lorenzo Bellocchio