Press Release Major League Baseball International
The fourth edition of the MLB Academies Tournament brought together players from Europe’s top national baseball academies for six days of Spring Training-style games and practices. The purpose of the event was to provide additional competitive and instructional opportunities to academy players in the period between their off-seasons and regular seasons. Hosted at the Regensburg Legionaere’s baseball complex in Germany, the 2011 tournament saw six teams and 122 players compete in fifteen games .
Tournament Highlights
- 15 games, 122 players, 6 academy nations: Holland, France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Czech Republic
- Hosted by MLB and the Regensburg Academy at the Armin Wolf Arena in Regensburg, Germany – host site of the 2009 Baseball World Cup.
- Best Hitter – Oscar Combes, France (.500 BA, .636 OBP, 4-4 SB, 2 2B, 7 R)
- Best Pitcher – Oscar Meuris, Netherlands (5 IP, 9 K, 1 BB, 0 H, 0.00 ERA)
- Ten MLB organizations in attendance: Yankees, Padres, Diamondbacks, A’s, Cubs, Twins, Phillies, Pirates, Mariners, and Red Sox.
Format
Six teams competed in the tournament, representing the academies of Holland, France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. Each team also provided two to four coaches from their national academy systems to work with the players.
Each team played between four and six games depending on their available pitching and school/travel schedules.
Innings were capped at 25 pitches to limit the workload of pitchers, who also had mandatory rest days after each appearance. Teams were allowed to substitute freely, removing and re-inserting players as needed. As such, while scores were kept, the results don’t always reflect a true outcome of the game.
Each team held daily training sessions using the secondary fields and batting cages at the complex. MLB Academy Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Jeff Krushell held two individual conditioning sessions with each team and met with each country’s coaches.
Results
The Netherlands finished without a defeat, while the host Germans had 4 wins and a single loss to pair with their tie to the Netherlands to open the tournament.
Daily results were posted online at Mister-Baseball.com and photos were posted daily on the Regensburg Legionaere website.
Following the first game on Thursday, MLB hosted a closing ceremony in which each participating player received a certificate. The Best Pitcher (Oscar Meuris, Netherlands) and Hitter (Oscar Combes, France) recipients received trophies in a separate ceremony at the MLB Academy Tryouts held two weeks later in Haarlem, Netherlands.