As it has done day after day at the Under-15 European Baseball Championship B Pool Ukraine left no doubt it was the undisputed champion of the Zottegem, Belgium qualification tournament, defeating the host nation in a closely contested game and advancing the U15 Baseball Euros. The other two games completed what was the best-played day of action in Zottegem, with Poland rallying in its last at bat and surviving Israel’s attempt to equalize in the bronze medal game, while Lithuania scored in every inning and just about contained Sweden in the fifth-place game.
In the second of two U15 Euros qualification games following the Austria B Pool’s conclusion a day earlier, Mil de Quint offered a herculean effort to Belgium in its attempts to advance to the main draw of the U15 European Baseball Championship, going 4-for-4 with a stolen base from the leadoff spot and starting the game with two scoreless innings, swapping to centerfield after 3.1 innings of two-run ball. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s explosive offense was denied an extra-base hit, relying instead on production up and down the lineup to produce two big innings in the victory. Andrii Vasiuk struck out six in the win.
Dawid Skarżycki started the game on the bench for Poland but ended up saving the day for the Polish baseball squad in the bronze medal game. In a rollercoaster of a third-place game, Poland scored six in the first and held a 7-4 margin after four. Israel then scored seven in the fifth before each team scored a single run, Poland’s coming on a double from Skarżycki, who had entered in center in the top of the inning. With the margin at 12-8 in Israel’s favor in the sixth, Poland then fired up the offense, taking advantage of three errors before Skarżycki stepped up and drilled a two-run to left for what would be the game-winning runs. After Israel scored and had the bases loaded, Skarżycki then came in to pitch, inducing a fly out for the save and a dramatic victory for Poland.
Gal Salzman did a little bit of everything for an Israel Baseball squad that came up a run short in its final at bat for the second day in a row. He led off the second with an inside-the-parker for Israel’s first marker, later taking two pitches the hard way, also drawing a walk. Caleb Cohen drove in three with a double and a single, walking twice, and getting plunked an eye-watering three times.
Domantas Kucinskas had three hits, including a double, for Lithuania, while Augustas Jonikavičius had a double and a single. Anton Hoback came off the bench for Sweden to go 3-for-3 with a double.
Box scores are available here [link]. Previous coverage of the Belgium U15 Baseball Qualifier: Day 5 [link]. See also coverage of the Austria U15 Baseball Qualifier: Day 6 [link].
Offensive Leaders (two plate appearances per team’s game minimum)
- Ukraine’s ‘Two Illias’ were the two top hitters in the tournament, tying for the final lead in batting average at .714. Illia Kolomoiets was named “Leading Hitter” with an .818 average going into the final day, and slashed .714/.800/1.429 to lead (or tie) all qualified hitter in triple slash categories. The centerfielder and pitcher tied for the lead in doubles (3), triples (2), and home runs (1), finishing second in runs (11) and RBI (14). He also swiped three bags. Illia Maksymenko, meanwhile, led in RBI (15), slashing .714/.737/.929 with no strikeouts in 18 plate appearances.
- Ford Schröder (Denmark) was second in OPS (1.875) and slugging to Kolomoiets and hit .625/.750/1.125.
- Teammates Mil de Quint and Sid van den Branden (Belgium) tied for the lead in hits (11), with the former hitting .688/.750/.938, his average third-best at the event. Van den Branden was third in slugging and OPS and fourth in hitting, finishing at .647/.682/1.118.
- Caleb Cohen (Israel) tied for the lead in stolen bases (7), hitting .500/.591/.778.
- Wout Frijns (Belgium) led in walks (8), leading to a robust .615 on-base percentage.
Pitching Leaders (four innings minimum)
Note that ERA figures are incorrect on tournament page, but have been listed correctly here.
- Thor Schelfaut (Belgium) was named Best Pitcher after leading the tournament in ERA (1.50), WHIP (0.83) and batting average against (.143), striking out 11 (second-most) in six innings over four apperances. He walked only two and did not give up an extra-base hit.
- Andrii Vasiuk (Ukraine) earned MVP honors after striking out 10 with a 2.57 ERA over two starts.
- Erikas Mordas (Lithuania) was the only pitcher with two wins, also strking out nine in six innings. Mordas also tied for the tournament lead in stolen bases (7) as well, hitting .308/.471/.462.
- Yair Tako (Israel) led in strikeouts (12) and innings pitched (7.1). The SS-P-1B was one of Israel’s top hitters, too, slashing .444/.565/.556, stealing six bases, and tying for the lead in HBP (3).
Playoffs Results
July 25
Fifth: Lithuania 15 – Sweden 8
Third: Israel 13 – Poland 15
Final: Belgium 3 – Ukraine 6
Final Standings
| Team | W-L | RF | RA |
| Ukraine | 5-0 | 77 | 12 |
| Belgium | 4-1 | 62 | 28 |
| Poland | 3-2 | 61 | 42 |
| Israel | 2-3 | 54 | 48 |
| Lithuania | 2-2 | 35 | 54 |
| Sweden | 2-2 | 39 | 60 |
| Denmark | 1-3 | 32 | 64 |
| Estonia | 0-4 | 21 | 75 |