The U12 European Championship in Trebic, Czech Republic got underway on Monday with the first five games of the preliminary round. Belarus, Austria, France and Germany celebrated lopsided wins on the first day of the competition, while Lithuania edged out the Ukraine in a nail-biter in the fifth game.
Belarus – Slovakia 10-3
In the opening game of the U12 European Championship on Monday morning Belarus beat Slovakia 10-3. Five runs in the bottom of the third got Belarus in front for good and decided the outcome. They scored in five of the first six frames overall and celebrated an easy win. Pavel Autka did it all for Belarus, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a RBI, while also striking out four in three innings of one-hit relief for the win. Samuel Kolar took the loss, conceding seven hits, seven runs (6 ER) and two base on balls in 3 1/3 innings. At the plate he had two hits including a triple.
Austria – Poland 12-2 (5)
Austria beat Poland 12-2 in five mercy-rule shortened innings. Shortly after Poland had tied the game on a pair of wild pitches, Austria broke the 2-2 tie with an outcome-deciding seven-run rally in the bottom of the fourth. Three more runs in the fifth closed it out. Nico Schüler, Dan Kawanishi and Christof Ponweiser collected two RBI each. Kawanishi also struck out five in two impressive innings to start the game. His reliever Levin Heinzle picked up the win. Jan Rudzki got charged with the loss in relief.
Lithuania – Ukraine 9-8
In a thrilling nail-biter Lithuania edged out the Ukraine 9-8 in the afternoon game on field two in Trebic. A walk-off two-run single by Airidas Sukys in the bottom of the seventh lifted Lithuania to the win. The Ukraine had scored three runs in the top half of the seventh to complete a comeback and take an 8-7 advantage. However they weren’t able to close it out.
Romania – France 2-15 (5)
France started the U12 European Championship with a 15-2 win over Romania. After taking a 6-2 lead after three frames, seven runs in the fourth blew the score wide open. Mathys Lelievre reached base three times and scored as many runs. Baptiste Blancot went 2-for-3 with four RBI. Meanwhile Mathys Nayral conceded three hits in 2 2/3 scoreless innings to pick up the win in relief. Cristian Deaca and Valentin Constantin scored the two runs for Romania. Andrei Oprisan took the loss, surrendering eight hits, nine runs and three base on balls in three-plus innings.
Germany – Russia 11-1 (5)
Germany won their first game in U12 European Championship history with a convincing 11-1 win over three-time title holder Russia. Three runs apiece in the second, third and fourth blew the score open. When Russia threatened to come back the German squad answered with a double play and a crucial out at home to keep them at distance. Kalle Michel went 3-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI. Tim Fischer also collected two runs and two RBI. Moritz van Bergen drove in two as well. Noah Lindt earned the win by going four innings, allowing just one run on four hits and two walks. Maxim Gerasimov scored the lone run for Russia. Gleb Kosenkov issued four hits, four runs (3 ER) and a base on balls in two innings to take the loss.
Schedule
Complete schedule, statistics and live play by play are available through www.baseballstats.eu. More information is also available through the official Facebook page of the competition.