Four of five days have been played in the first round of the European Championship in Regensburg, Germany. On Monday morning Belgium defeated Great Britain 5-0 behind a complete game shutout of Cedric Desmedt. The 22-year-old right-hander kept the British squad to three hits and four walks in nine strong innings. Steven Delannoy and Jamie Verheyleweghen scored twice. Alex Webb took the loss. Thomas de Wolf had a RBI double, got hit in the face during a tag play at third and had to leave the game. However he should be able to play on Tuesday against France.
The French team defeated Sweden 8-3 in the afternoon game. They improved to 3-1 in the tournament and look bound for the second round. Leonel Cespedes overcame a rocky first frame and struck out nine in seven impressive innings. Maxime Lefevre and Artur Paturel led the offense with two runs apiece, as France turned an early 0-2 deficit in a 7-2 lead after five innings. Albin Sivard eventually lost control of the strikezone and took the loss for the Scandinavians, issuing six hits, seven runs (4 ER) and seven base on balls in four-plus innings.
In the evening Italy won the highly anticipated matchup against host Germany 5-1 in front of a good crowd of 1,711 people at the Armin-Wolf-Arena. Luke Sommer put Germany ahead scoring on a single by Maik Ehmcke in the second. But two-run hits by Alessandro Vaglio and Alex Liddi in the fourth and the fifth got Italy the decisive lead. Michael Colla conceded three hits, a run and four base on balls in five frames. Markus Solbach took the loss, surrendering seven hits, five runs and a walk.
The first round ends on Tuesday with three games in Regensburg. In the morning Belgium is hoping to upset France, trying to get into a three-way tie and into the second round. In the afternoon Italy is looking for its fifth win in as many games against Great Britain. In the evening Germany takes on Sweden to round things up.
Standings:
1) Italy 4-0
2) France 3-1
3) Germany 2-2
4) Belgium 2-2
5) Great Britain 1-4
6) Sweden 0-5
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