In a thrilling final, Germany and Italy, both of whom had already qualified for the Under-18 Baseball World Cup, remained tied for much of the game before a pair of dramatic rallies produced a European champion. The Netherlands left no doubt it should be in the conversation for top Under-18 squads on the continent in the bronze game, while Spain and Czech Republic battled through a rollercoaster game for fifth place, reminding fans what a gauntlet European baseball is at the national level. Great Britain, Belgium, and Israel also registered wins, the latter the nation’s first in the U18 Baseball Euros.
Final
Federico Magalotti and Jules Moser matched each other 1-1 through four innings in the Under-18 European Baseball Championship title game. The latter struck out 10 in four innings, scattering three walks and a single hit for Baseball Deutschland. With Magalotti on the mound, Germany finally broke the deadlock in the fifth, loading the bases with one out on singles by Simeon Lindt and Emilio Götz, followed by a walk to Moser. After a foul pop and two pitching changes, Benito Bull dropped a single throught the right side and Lindt and Götz scampered home.
Italy immediately answered, however, jamming the sacks with no out after a free pass to Leonardo Prizzon, a double by Federico Tamburini, and a plunking of Corrado Resca. A grounder scored Prizzon and another walk, this time to Magalotti kept the bases full. Dario Lomi lined a ball to center that caused problems, with two more circling round by the time play stopped. Giulio Bissa then beat out a bouncer to second and Italy had a 5-3 lead.
The final frame was full of last-gasp heroics. Pablo Suárez started Italy off with a double down the left field line, scoring on a two-out single by Resca. The Germans were then handed two runners on a base on balls and a catcher’s interference. With two outs, Samuel Redle bounced a ball to shortstop that looked like it might end the game, but the first baseman legged out a single to score Simeon Lindt and narrow the deficit to two once more. Takuma Lupo buckled down, however, and induced another grounder, this one resulting in an easy flip to second, and Italy became the Under-18 European Baseball champion for the sixteenth time, one fewer than the Netherlands. It was the second-consecutive silver for Germany.
Bronze
The Orange put the game out of reach quickly, posting four runs in the first, three in the second, another four in the third, coasting to a blow-out win. Matteo Manaranche gave France a chance, allowing only an unearned run over the final three frames, but Les Bleus could not make much of eight hits, despite a Luca Bernardi homer. Tyrick Geerman struck out six in four innings, permitting two runs on five hits and no walks for the win. Lorenzo Willem finished a triple short of the cycle for the Netherlands, going 4-for-4 with three runs and four ribbies, while Tai Keng Lee had a double and a single and Guus Toemen had two singles and two walks. The third-place finish ensured the Netherlands would retain the overall lead in medals in European Under-18 Championships, 32-to-31 over Italy.
Fifth
Spain took the first lead in its matchup with Baseball Czechia after Alejandro Cornieles doubled in the second. The runs, however, scored following a walk, an error, another free pass, a hit batter, and a wild pitch, putting the Iberians up 3-0.
Lukáš Urbánek manufactured two runs for the Czechs in the third after drawing a leadoff walk and moving to third on a bunt and a grounder. Michael Coleman drew a base on balls and then took off for second, Urbánek then sprinting home. In the chaos, one run scored and Coleman ended up at third, scoring on an errant pitch. The Spanish quickly replied, with Heysen Rey launching a rocket down the left field line with two runners on, boosting his team’s lead to 6-2.
The Yankees’ Jan Kubelka then lifted a ball to left center, landing at second base following the drive. He scored on a Viktor Kánok bounder through the left side of the infield. The Czechs kept rallying the following frame, as Jakub Kliner walked and stole second, trotting home on a double by Coleman. Still with only one out, David Škopek then ripped a triple, but was stranded at third.
Mickleyner Rojas responded to the pressure of a 6-5 lead with a booming double with two outs in the sixth. Two wild pitches scored the Spanish second baseman, but two others were left stranded. Adrián Cendros then went 1-2-3 past the Czechs, setting up the Spanish for a final time at bat. In what turned out to be a crucial bit of hitting, Manuel Milano doubled home Cyprian McIntosh, who had reached on an error, later scoring on a groundball to give Spain a four-run lead.
Cendros walked the leadoff hitter, but then quickly registered two outs, and it appeared the Spanish would soon have fifth place in the books. However, Škopek then launched a big fly to deep right, bringing the Czechs within two. A coaching visit was all that Cendros needed, though, and a strikeout ended the thriller.
Seventh
It was Austria, not Great Britain, that jumped out to a big lead. Down 1-0, the Central Europeans plated four in the bottom of the first, with Sebastian Perzi and David Vaskovich both smashing triples. The two sides added single runs over the next two frames before GB exploded in the fourth, scoring five, adding four more an inning later on a single swing from Christian McCarthy. From there, the British kept scoring, added one in the sixth and two in the seventh.
McCarthy went 2-for-5 with five RBI, while Kyle Griebenow had a triple and a double among four hits. Luke Donaldson was 3-for-4 with a quartet of ribbies, and Griff Franklin was 3-for-3 as part of an 18-hit Great Brtiain Baseball attack. Ben Peters completely shut down an active Austrian offense when he entered in the fifth, finishing off the game with 2.1 hitless innings, walking three and punching out four.
Ninth
Although Poland had its own offensive fireworks, Belgium took the lead in the third with a five-run frame, then posting four more runs an inning later, and finishing off the game via mercy rule with a relentless 11-run attack in the fifth. Victor Cauchon finished an eye-opening tournament with a 4-for-4, five RBI day, Joe Spurgeon had a triple and three ribbies, and Kentaro Martínez scored four times on the back of a single and three walks. Adam Sarota was 4-for-4 with a double for Poland, and Justin Zdeb had a triple, a walk, and a trio of RBI.
Eleventh
The lowest score of the day came in a nail-biting battle for national pride between the two already relegated nines of Hungary and Israel. Yosef Spilman gave Israel a 1-0 lead with a RBI-single in the second and a dropped fly ball doubled the lead an inning later. Hungary immediately evened the score, however, after Milán Sváb singled and Eli Reinoso took four consecutive balls out of the zone. Zalán Kocsis then ripped a hard bouncer through the left side that just kept going, legging out the two-run double.
Both clubs had runners on in the fourth, but Israel broke the deadlock in the fith after Omer Broker led off with a single, moving to third on a double by Noam Goldberg. A sacrifice fly from Adam Feder gave Israel the lead. An inning later, Meir Felemovičius smacked a two-out double, scoring on an error.
Meanwhile, Shai Eichler was aces out of the bullpen for Israel, completely shutting down a strong Hungarian offense. The southpaw permitted only two hits and a base on balls in four shutout innings, sending down six on strikes. Eichler thus enabled Israel to finish the U18 Baseball Euros on a high note, as the squad earned its first victory.
Offensive Leaders
Great Britain was the clear choice for best offense at the U18 Baseball Euros, slashing .392/.493/.551 with 47 stolen bases, each figure well clear of second place. It swiped nearly twice as many bases as the second-best finisher. Twenty-three percent of all home runs hit were by someone in a GB Baseball jersey.
- Elia Plusigh (Italy) was named “Leading Hitter” after hitting .579 through round robin play. He finished as the leader in hits (12), tying for the lead in doubles (4) and total bases (18). He was tied for second in RBI (10) and ranked No. 6 in average, slashing .522/.560/.783.
- Jan Kubelka (Czechia) was tops in slugging (1.077) and OPS (1.603), hitting .462.
- Victor Cauchon (Belgium) led in average (.667) and on-base percentage (.750), finishing second in slugging (.833) and OPS (1.583).
- Márkó Morua (Hungary) finished with a .500/.630/.800 line, tying for the lead in stolen bases (10), striking out just once in 27 plate appearances.
- Emilio Götz (Germany) led in runs (12) and finished one off the lead in total bases, hitting .455/.520/.773
- Adam Sarota (Poland) tied for the lead in triples (2) and total bases, and was second in slugging (.818), hitting .500.
- Luke Donaldson and Akshay Chopra (both Great Britain) also had 10 swipes. Donaldson hit .563/.696/.625, avoiding any strikeouts in 23 PA, while Chopra was at .500/.591/.667.
- Federico Magalotti (Italy) drew a whopping 13 walks in six games to top the field.
Pitching Leaders
Germany led in ERA (2.43) and opponents’ batting and slugging, with a final line against of just .189/.341/.268. The Netherlands was second in ERA (2.58) and led in opposing hitters’ OBP, with collective rates of .248/.328/.345.
Note that ERA is calculated incorrectly on the tournament page, but is rendered accurately here. Rate stats are for pitchers with more than five innings.
- Jules Moser (Germany) was named Best Pitcher after leading the tournament in strikeouts, with 18, despite pitching only nine innings. He was also tops in batting average against (.069), fourth in WHIP (0.78), and seventh in ERA (2.00). Moser was no slouch with the bat either, hitting .333/.435/.611 with a grand slam and only one strikeout in six games.
- Matteo Manaranche (France) led in ERA (0.00), striking out eight in 6.1 innings.
- Five pitchers went 2-0. with Lluc Mazón (Spain) did so with a 1.08 ERA, ranked second, and a .111 average against (No. 3).
- Bradley Verwoest also had a 1.08 ERA as one of a pair of aces for the Netherlands, with the Blue Jays’ Celwin Hurkmans finishing at 1.13, with 10 Ks in 8 IP.
- Mattia Muscio (Italy) was No. 2 in strikeouts (17), needing only 8.1 innings to reach the total. He had a 3.24 ERA.
- Takuma Lupo (Italy) was named MVP after throwing 3.2 frames with no earned runs across two appearances. He struck out two, gave up three hits, and walked three.
Playoffs
July 19
Eleventh: Israel 4 – Hungary 2
Fifth: Spain 9 – Czech Republic 7
Ninth: Belgium 20 – Poland 7 (5)
Third: France 3 – Netherlands 12
Seventh: Great Britain 14 – Austria 5
Final: Italy 6 – Germany 4
Final Standings
| Team | W-L | RF | RA |
| Italy | 7-0 | 71 | 24 |
| Germany | 6-1 | 67 | 21 |
| Netherlands | 5-2 | 54 | 18 |
| France | 4-3 | 49 | 44 |
| Spain | 4-3 | 44 | 39 |
| Czech Republic | 4-3 | 79 | 43 |
| Great Britain | 3-4 | 59 | 65 |
| Austria | 2-5 | 37 | 67 |
| Belgium | 3-4 | 46 | 60 |
| Poland | 1-6 | 34 | 80 |
| Israel | 1-6 | 16 | 55 |
| Hungary | 2-5 | 33 | 61 |