The Qualifier for the European Championship Cadets U15 in Bratislava, Slovakia concluded the first round on Thursday. France, Poland, Slovakia and Austria have reached the semi-finals. The winners will be qualified for next year’s U15 Euros.
The third day of the competition started with a 21-9 victory of Slovakia over Switzerland – the completion of Wednesday’s suspended game (darkness). Switzerland had a 6-1 lead after the first, but Slovakia tied the contest in the second and didn’t stop scoring until the end. The best player on the field: Branislav Bukva. He went 4-for-4 with three home runs, four runs scored and ten RBI.
Switzerland then played the second game of the day against Hungary and lost 5-8. Five runs in the top of the second decided the matchup early. Peter Hagymasi gave up four hits, five runs (2 ER) and three walks in seven innings. Bence Takacs drove in three. Sven Ambuhl got charged with the loss.
France completed the first round with three wins after a 22-1 blowout against Serbia. They scored at least four runs in each of the four innings played. Baptiste Divet and Laurent Yang kept Serbia to two hits. Mathias Lescure went 2-for-2 with three walks, three runs and four RBI. Veljko Pavlovic took the loss.
Also in the afternoon Austria defeated Slovania 7-4 in a close game, deciding second place in Group B. It was a nail-biter until the Austrians added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh to secure the victory. Alex Seidl struck out nine batters in three innings of dominant relief. David Lajevec pitched 6 1/3 innings to take the loss.
In the afternoon Slovakia prevailed 10-9 over Poland. It looked like a sure victory for the Polish squad. However Slovakia plated six runs in the bottom of the seventh to erase a 4-9 deficit. Michal Horacek had the game-winner with a two-run walk-off single with one out.
Standings:
Group A
1) Slovakia 2-1
2) Poland 1-2
3) Switzerland 1-2
4) Hungary 1-2
Group B
1) France 3-0
2) Austria 2-1
3) Slovenia 1-2
4) Serbia 0-3
Complete Schedule, Results, Box scores and Live Play by Play can be found at www.baseballstats.eu