ASD Rimini and L&D Amsterdam will play in the final of the European Champions Cup in Rimini, Italy on Saturday evening. RAI Sport 2 is going to broadcast the contest live. Amsterdam reached the final by beating Curacao Neptunus Rotterdam 11-7 on Friday afternoon. Rimini followed in the evening with a 4-2 win over Fortitudo Bologna. Additionally the VOITH Heidenheim Heideköpfe shut out the Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg in the third inner-country matchup of the day. The game between T&A San Marino and Kotlarka Prague was postponed to Saturday morning after another thunderstorm.
Classification Round:
Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg – VOITH Heidenheim Heideköpfe 0-2
The Baseball-Bundesliga matchup was won by the VOITH Heidenheim Heideköpfe 2-0. Shawn Larry’s two-run double in the first provided all the scoring needed for Heidenheim. Wesley Roemer issued just seven hits and a walk in nine scoreless frames. Niklas Rimmel took the loss for Regensburg, allowing five hits, two runs and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. Regensburg is now going to face the loser of the San Marino-Prag game on Saturday afternoon.
Semi-Finals:
L&D Amsterdam – Curacao Neptunus Rotterdam 11-7
L&D Amsterdam beat Curacao Neptunus Rotterdam 11-7 to reach the final and end the hopes for the defending European Champions Cup winner. After Neptunus had taken a 4-2 lead in the fourth and still were up 5-4 after six innings, Amsterdam put two runs on the board in the seventh and five in the eighth to seal the victory. Linoy Croes highlighted the big rally with a two-run home run. Nick Urbanus scored three times. Gilmer Lampe had four hits for Amsterdam. Gianison Boekhoudt went deep for Rotterdam. Rien Vernooij drove in three. Kyle Ward received the win, Bayron Cornelisse the loss.
Fortitudo Bologna – ASD Rimini 2-4
In a rematch of last year’s Italian Series, ASD Rimini edged out Fortitudo Bologna 4-2 en route to the finals. Ricardo Hernandez pitched six strong innings, allowing four hits, two runs and two walks to do the groundwork. Carlos Teran then shut the door, striking out five of the ten batters he faced closing out the win. Jose Flores reached base five times for the Pirates. Brent Buffa took the loss for Bologna.
Outlook
The grand finale will be played at 20:30 in Rimini. RAI Sport 2 is going to broadcast the game live. ASD Rimini is the home team against L&D Amsterdam. In the afternoon Fortitudo Bologna and Curacao Neptunus Rotterdam square off in the bronze medal game. The day starts at 11am with T&A San Marino making up Friday’s rainout against Kotlarka Prague. The loser is then going to face the Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg in a meeting, which decides about eighth place and the relegated club.
Live play by play and all statistics are available through www.baseballstats.eu