Similar to 2008, the European Cup is split into two divisions in the first phase with the two best teams each qualifying for the European Cup Final Four (called European Champions Cup) in Barcelona in June, though there are only twelve teams in Pool A this time. Due to the early date in the calendar both competitions will be held in weather friendly Italy. One of the two groups will be played in Matino from March 31st to April 4th, as the stadium of the originally appointed host BOLOGNA isn’t ready yet.
The second group in the European Cup is also packed with some of the best elite teams in Europe, despite the fact that with DRACI BRNO and T&A SAN MARINO only two national champions will be in the field. However with CORENDON KINHEIM and the FC BARCELONA the two European Cup winners of last year are on hand. Additionally French vice champion TEMPLIERS SENART and Italians regular season winner FORTITUDO BOLOGNA battle for the two first spots.
Schedule for Tuesday, March 31:
(in Matino)
10:30 Templiers Senart – FC Barcelona
15:30 Corendon Kinheim – AVG Draci Brno
20:30 Fortitudo Bologna – T&A San Marino
Complete Schedule, including live play-by-play
Fortitudo Bologna
FORTITUDO dominated throughout the regular season in Italy last year, but were eliminated during the semi-final round and had to settle with the Coppa Italia trophy. The last time a Bologna based club won a European Cup was 36 years ago, when AMARO MONTENEGRO BOLOGNA won the title in 1973. Nonetheless BOLOGNA is one of the favored clubs in the competition with Richard Austin and Joseph Mazzuca leading the offense. Ace Jesus Matos is back and will head the pitching staff with Cody Cillo, and newcomers Yulman Ribeiro and Eddy Rodriguez. The latter is a former Major Leaguer, who officially joined the team last week together with fellow Dominican big leaguer Eddy Garabito.
FC Barcelona
The FC BARCELONA might not have won a national championship in Spain since 1956, but they are on a nice streak in Europe. In 2007 they celebrated the victory at the CEB Cup in Croatia. Last season they won the European Cup in Regensburg, Germany and finished fourth in the European Cup Final Four. Similar to the MARLINS in the Nettuno-group, BARCA already had a head start into the competition, playing regularly since three weeks. Catcher Miguel Mora and infielder Jesus Golindano will miss the tournament due to injuries, Venezuelan outfielder Jehan Machado because of the foreign player regulations. Pitcher Homer Baez, infielder/pitcher Jason Friedman and shortstop Juan Salazar will fill the three spots on the roster. Baez and Pedro Belmonte lead an intriguing pitching staff, which has allowed a total of two runs (1 ER) in 46 innings so far in the Spanish championship. Baez was on the mound in 28 innings of them and should be able to start two games this week. Felix Isasi, Emmanuel Febles, Friedman and Jorge Miqueleiz should be able to provide enough offense even without Machado and Golindano.
T&A San Marino
SAN MARINO, fourth-ranked after the regular season, won the Italian title last August for the first time ever in seven games over NETTUNO. In the European Cup in Grosseto the club finished third, but reached the final four anyway, as the replacement team for KINHEIM. In 2006 T&A won the EC. With Tiago da Silva and Horacio Estrada at the top of the pitching staff, they certainly are no underdog. Max di Biase, Carlos Duran and Martin Vazquez they also have some big names in the heart of the batting order. Manager Doriano Bindi also welcomes Netherlands Antillean newcomers Johannes Gregorius, Randolph Kirindongo and Jansen Ardley on the team, which will make their debut this week.
Corendon Kinheim
KINHEIM won the Dutch championship in 2006 and 2007, but missed out on the three-peat, when they lost to AMSTERDAM in three games last fall. They were more successful in the European Cup repeating their triumph from 2007 with a 3-2 ten-inning victory over MONTEPASCHI GROSSETO. They later decided not to participate in the European Cup Final Four. CORENDON had a quite offseason after losing infielders Vince Rooi to AMSTERDAM and Roel Koolen to retirement. As replacement they signed the former 30-year-old former Minor (Twins/Reds) and Independent Leaguer Josh Renick, who is now supposed to provide some runs besides Bryan Engelhardt, Danny Rombley, Dirk van’t Klooster and Tjerk Smeets. David Bergman, Robin van Eis, Patrick Beljaards and Nick Veltkamp are their probable starters. Michiel van Kampen not only is the regular closer of the Dutch National Team, but also in KINHEIM.
Templiers Senart
Several players left the TEMPLIERS during the winter, but the core players stayed put. The French vice champion qualified through winning the Challenge de France for the European Cup. They won three of the six games at the European Cup in Regensburg last June and finished in fifth place. Their success depends on good pitching by their three main hurlers Evan Blesoff, Samuel Meurant and Mathieu Brelle-Andrade, which certainly have a tough job to shoulder such a work load this early in the season. Besides the American Blesoff, SENART fills the three foreign spots with the Cuban catcher Ernesto Martinez and American infielder Andrew Smith. They also rely on Ian Young, Alex Malihoudis (both British National Team) and Gaspard Fessy to produce some runs. Fessy will depart for STADE TOULOUSAIN after the European Cup.
AVG Draci Brno
DRACI is the dominating team from the Czech Republic. They have won every national championship since 1995, but hadn’t much luck on the European level so far. In 2007 they finished in seventh place, one year later in sixth. They needed to beat DINAMO BUCAREST and KNTU in the playoffs last September to avoid relegation. To have a chance against the big clubs in European Baseball, they brought former Detroit Tiger Pat Ahearne and Brett Cumiskey to provide some pitching depth besides Martin Schneider, Leos Kubat, Radek Prochaczka and Jakub Toufar. Pavel Budsky, Jan Jablonka and Tomas Polansky are responsible for enough offensive production.
Photos: © Oldman Pictures (top) and Photodigital/FIBS