The European Cup Qualifiers started in four cities around Europe on Monday. The tournaments will determine four contestants, which will battle against the TEMPLIERS SENART (FRA) and the TENERIFE MARLINS PUERTO CRUZ (ESP) later this year for two spots in next year’s European Cups, last until Saturday.
Ostrava, Czech Republic
Rain hindered play in Ostrava and the finals aren’t set yet. In the morning AMZ KUTNO defeated VOJVODE 8-5 for their first win this week. Perelizhniy hit a grand slam for VOJVODE. Mikolajczyk, Rainko and Zurkowski drove in two each. Later on they tried to get the game between MGPU-SYOS 42 against BC JUADAS VIKINGAS in. First it was rained out and rescheduled for Saturday morning. A few hours later it was ruled as a forfeit win for MGPU. The undefeated Russian team is already qualified for the best-of-three final series and awaits its opponent. On Saturday morning the ARROWS OSTRAVA host BREST ZUBRS and hope to follow MGPU into the finals. It is a make-up game of the Friday evening rainout.
Complete Schedule (including box scores)
Trnava, Slovakia
VINDIJA VARAZDIN and KNTU-OSVSM won their games on Friday and will play against each other in the final series on Saturday. KNTU defeated VINDIJA 4-1 on Thursday and goes into the best-of-three series with a 1-0 lead. On Friday VARAZDIN crushed ALEXANDRIA 11-1 in seven innings. Danijl Levak struck out ten in six strong innings. B Prather went two-for-five with two runs scored and three RBI. R Malja scored three times. In the later afternoon KNTU needed two runs in the last two frames to defeat host TRNAVA ANGELS 3-2. They tied the contest with a RBI single by Syvyrynchuk in the eighth and won it when S Tikhonets scored from first on a single by D Nelipa in combination with an error by the right fielder. In the third game of the day KARLSKOGA BATS won against 9-5 OBUDA BRICK FACTORY.
Complete Schedule (including box scores)
Attnang-Puchheim, Austria
No games were played in Attnang-Puchheim on Friday, as steady rain made the field unplayable. The three matches apparently will not be rescheduled and the BERN CARDINALS will host the MOSQUITO ATHLETICS in the best-of-three final series on Saturday. The CARDS crushed the A’s 15-3 on Wednesday and they need just one more win to clinch first place at a Qualifier for the second year in a row.
Complete Schedule (including box scores)
Antwerp, Belgium
The MANNHEIM TORNADOS and the HOBOKEN PIONEERS will play the best-of-three final series at the Qualifier in Antwerp on Saturday. The German vice champion leads 1-0 thanks to a 6-0 shutout on Wednesday. Both teams celebrated lopsided victories on Friday. MANNHEIM crushed the OSLO PRETENDERS 20-0 in five innings. Marvin Appiah, usually nowhere found a mound in an elite league game, allowed two base runners in five innings for his second win this week. Catcher Lukas Egetmeyer went three-for-four with two triples, four runs scored and two RBI. Fred Kraft drove in four. The PIONEERS later on defeated the LAUSANNE INDIANS 12-1. K Branden went two-for-three with a homerun, a double, two runs scored and three RBI. The ESPOO EXPOS needed two runs in the top of the seventh to hold down the WHITE SHARKS 7-5. J Kurvinen scored the winning run on a wild pitch. T Ropponen later reached home on a throwing error by the Portuguese third baseman.
Additionally it was announced that the INDIANS were taken out of the competition. The Technical Commission ruled according to article 26d2 of the Competition Rules (pdf-file):
Each team will be composed of a minimum of 12 (twelve) players and a maximum of 20 (twenty) players. (See art. 14).
Teams with less than 12 (twelve) players are rejected from the competition.
With this decision all games against LAUSANNE this week were meaningless, which had no influence on the final standings besides the fact that the Swiss vice champion isn’t ranked.