The 2010 European Cups will start on Wednesday with tournaments in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Brno, Czech Republic. Six teams on each site will battle for the top two spots in a round robin format, which will advance to the European Cup Final Four in Barcelona in September. The winner of the last two years, Danesi Nettuno, has to stay home in Italy after not qualifying.
In Brno the national champions from the Czech Republic (host AVG Draci Brno), Italy (Fortitudo Bologna), France (Rouen Huskies) and Germany (Heidenheim Heidekoepfe), as well as the runner ups in the Netherlands (Konica Minolta Pioniers) and Spain (CB Sant Boi) will participate. Obviously teams from Italy (Bologna without Yulman Ribeiro, but with Eddy Garabito and Jesus Matos) and the Netherlands are always favored. But the other four teams heavily reinforced their rosters especially for the European Cup, highlighted by former Major League pitchers Dusty Bergman (Heidenheim), Pat Ahearne and Greg McCarthy (Brno). Sant Boi is dominating the Division de Honor, led by the dynamic pitching duo with pro experience, Junior Guerra and Jose Guanchez. This definitely should become an interesting tourney.
Schedule, Wednesday June 2:
- 10am Konica Minolta Pioniers – Rouen Huskies
- 2pm Heidenheim Heidekoepfe – Fortitudo Bologna
- 6pm CB Sant Boi – AVG Draci Brno
In Rotterdam the national champions from Belgium (Hoboken Pioneers), the Netherlands (host DOOR Neptunus) and Spain (Tenerife Marlins Puerto Cruz) will play among the runner-up from France (Savigny Lions), the Coppa Italia winner Telemarket Rimini and T&A San Marino. The big favorite for the number one spot should be the home team Neptunus, as they are dominating the Dutch Hoofdklasse with ease. Rimini and San Marino also started well into the 2010 season, but they will miss some of their best foreign players (Jhonny Carvajal, Alex Serrano for Rimini, Ardley Jansen, Carlos Duran for San Marino). The Pirates still will have well-known pitchers Jim Brower and Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez. The Titans count on Henry Bonilla and Jose Escalona to lead the pitching staff besides Tiago Da Silva. Savigny with Pierrick Lemestre, Kyle Nash and Paul Mildren, and the Pioneers with Terence Antonacci and Randy Giorgiadis probably are the underdogs at the Familie Stadium.
Schedule, Wednesday June 2:
- 11am Telemarket Rimini – Savigny Lions
- 3pm Hoboken Pioneers – T&A San Marino
- 8pm DOOR Neptunus – Tenerife Marlins Puerto Cruz
Live play by play on official competition website of the Confederation of European Baseball