by PONY Baseball
The road to the 2018 Pony and Colt World Series begins in Gijon, Spain Thursday, Sept. 21 through Sunday, Sept. 23, as 13 teams, representing four different European nations, will vie for two automatic bids to the 2018 PONY European Zone Championships in Prague, Czech Republic in April.
El Llano Baseball Club, which is led by PONY Spain Director Roberto Diaz, is extremely excited to be hosting the event for the third time.
“We are very proud and happy about how things are improving and growing,” said Diaz. “Thirteen teams will visit Gijon to compete in this competition, which, slowly but surely, is and will be, for years to come, a nice competition for teams that are interested in competing and want to qualify for Prague. We hope these qualifiers will be successful and begin a new future with PONY in Europe. We thank that [PONY President & CEO] Abe Key and [PONY European Zone Director] Jan Bagin trust in us, and we hope to return their confidence in us.”
Pony 14U division
In 2016, the championship game of the Pony 14U division ended in a two-run comeback walk off, when France’s Academie de Bordeaux’s Marius Gadroy drove in Mehdi Gasp to win the game 3-2 over England’s Los Amigos London. Both teams are back in 2017 and are looking to make some noise during a return trip to the title bout. Standing in their way is Host El Llano, who is looking to also make a name for themselves after finishing third in 2016, when they fell 6-2 to London in the semifinals.
Schedule: *All times scheduled for local time Gijon, follow the tournament live, pitch-by-pitch via Game Changer
Thurs., Sept. 21 5:00 p.m. (La Laboral)
El Llano BC (Spain) @ CD Orioles (Spain) STATS
Fri., Sept. 22 4:15 p.m. (La Laboral)
Gava de Barcelona (Spain) @ Pole Bordeaux (France) STATS
Fri., Sept. 22 5:00 p.m. (La Morgal)
Llano Warriors (Spain) @ EBS Os Tilos (Spain) STATS
Fri., Sept. 22 5:45 p.m. (La Laboral)
Pole Bordeaux (France) @ El Llano BC (Spain) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 8:30 a.m. (La Laboral)
EBS Os Tilos (Spain) @ Amigos London (England) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 8:30 a.m. (La Morgal)
CD Orioles (Spain) @ Pole De Bordeaux (France) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 10:15 a.m. (La Laboral)
Amigos London (England) @ Llano Warriors (Spain) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 10:15 a.m. (La Morgal)
CD Orioles (Spain) @ Gava de Barcelona (Spain) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 12:00 p.m. (La Morgal)
El Llano BC (Spain) @ Gava de Barcelona (Spain) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 3:30 p.m. (La Morgal)
Game #10 (Teams TBD) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 3:30 p.m. (La Laboral)
Semifinal Game #11 (Teams TBD) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 5:15 p.m. (La Morgal)
Game #12 (Teams TBD) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 5:15 p.m. (La Laboral)
Semifinal Game #13 (Teams TBD) STATS
Sun., Sept. 24 9:45 a.m. (La Laboral)
Game #14 (Teams TBD) STATS
Sun., Sept. 24 10:30 a.m. (La Laboral)
Consolation Third Place Game (Teams TBD) STATS
Sun., Sept. 24 12:15 p.m. (La Laboral)
Championship Game (Teams TBD) STATS
Colt 16U division
In the 2016 championship game of the Colt 16U age division, France’s Academie de Bordeaux lost in the game’s final inning on a wild pitch. The team rebounded by advancing all the way to the title game of the PONY European Zone Championships, ultimately falling to European Zone and Colt World Series Champion The Netherlands. France is hoping to begin a new chapter in Gijon next week and like their Pony 14U counterpart, get back to the championship game. Third and fourth place finishers from a year ago, El Llano and Os Tilos, respectively, also return in 2017 and hope to make their mark at the tournament.
Schedule: *All times scheduled for local time Gijon, follow the tournament live, pitch-by-pitch via Game Changer
Fri., Sept. 22 4:15 p.m. (La Laboral)
Pole Bordeaux (France) @ El Llano BC (Spain) STATS
Fri., Sept. 22 5:00 p.m. (La Morgal)
EBS Os Tilos (Spain) @ Madrid Brewers (Spain) STATS
Fri., Sept. 22 5:45 p.m. (La Laboral)
El Llano BC (Spain) @ London Sports (England) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 8:30 a.m. (La Laboral)
Amigos London (England) @ Madrid Brewers (Spain) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 8:30 a.m. (La Morgal)
London Sports (England) @ Pole Bordeaux (France) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 10:15 a.m. (La Laboral)
El Llano BC (Spain) @ EBS Os Tilos (Spain) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 12:00 p.m. (La Laboral)
Pole Bordeaux (France) @ EBS Os Tilos (Spain) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 1:45 p.m. (La Laboral)
London Sports (England) @ Amigos London (England) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 3:30 p.m. (La Laboral)
EBS Os Tilos (Spain) @ Amigos London (England) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 3:30 p.m. (La Morgal)
Madrid Brewers (Spain) @ El Llano BC (Spain) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 5:15 p.m. (La Laboral)
Amigos London (England) @ Pole Bordeaux (France) STATS
Sat., Sept. 23 5:15 p.m. (La Morgal)
London Sports (England) @ Madrid Brewers (Spain) STATS
Sun., Sept. 24 8:45 a.m. (At TBD)
Amigos London (England) @ El Llano BC (Spain) STATS
Sun., Sept. 24 8:45 a.m. (At TBD)
EBS Os Tilos (Spain) @ London Sports (England) STATS
Sun., Sept. 24 10:35 a.m. (La Laboral)
Madrid Brewers (Spain) @ Pole Bordeaux (France) STATS
Sun., Sept. 24 12:30 p.m. (At TBD)
Third and Fourth Place Consolation Game (Teams TBD) STATS
Sun., Sept. 24 2:15 p.m. (At La Laboral)
Championship Game (Teams TBD) STATS
All of the games will be played on the University of Labor’s and La Morgal Sports Installation’s fields in Gijon and Lugo de Llanera, respectively. The winners of each age division receive an automatic bid to the 2018 PONY European Zone Championships in Prague, Czech Republic in April. Follow PONY.org and EUROPEAN.PONY.org, as well as PONY’s social media next weekend to follow the tournament.