Belarus finally cracked the win column with an impressive win over Bulgarian in the seventh-place game of the Under-15 European Baseball Championship qualifier in Schwechat, Austria. Later, the contenders for the U15 Baseball Euros B Pool title were reduced to two after Spain jumped out to a 9-1 lead after three and then survived successive big rallies from Russia and Austria made the most of its opportunities against neighboring Slovakia.
Dzmitry Hryntesvich drove in five with a double and two singles for Belarus and Ivan Mokhart had a triple and a double, driving in two. Artsiom Nasinski sent down 12 batters on strikes in a six-inning two-hitter.
James-Renan Leal had Spain’s only extra-base knock in a 2-for-3 day, while Gonzálo Herrero had two hits and two stolen bases from the leadoff spot. Russia countered with a trio of two-hit games from Stepan Kolobaev, Gleb Garbuzov, and Iaroslav Lukin. Garbuzov was solid out of the bullpen, whiffing six in 4.1 innings and allowing only one earned run.
Slovakia had three hits and four stolen bases from Ondrej Kotlárik, but left eight on base, with the first of its three runs coming home when Adam Serdel stole home and its final marker on a wild pitch. Austria, on the other hand, only managed seven walks and four hits, with two of them coming from Ben Preissl, who also swiped two bags. Oskar-Tim Kampichler struck out four in four frames for the win, permitting only an unearned run.
Box scores are available here [link]. Previous coverage of the Austria U15 Baseball Qualifier: Day 4 [link]. See also coverage of the Belgium U15 Baseball Qualifier: Day 4 [link].
Playoffs Schedule and Results
July 24
Seventh: Belarus 17 – Bulgaria 2 (6)
Semifinal: Russia 8 – Spain 9
Semifinal: Slovakia 3 – Austria 7
July 25
Fifth: Croatia – Hungary
Third: Russia – Slovakia
Final: Austria – Spain