Spain gained promotion to the next Under-23 European Baseball Championship in 2027 in the friendly confines of Camp Municipal de Beisbol i Sofbol de València, but several other countries in the U23 Baseball Euros Spain Qualifier put on offensive showcases, with several good pitching performances mixed in as well. We take a look below at the leaderboards and awards cabinet for the tournament.
Offensive Leaders
Minimum two plate appearances per team game.
- Nadav Machlin (Israel) put on one of the most impressive displays of any European national team tournament this summer, ripping four home runs in five games and hitting .533/.588/1.400, adding two stolen bases. He was tops in the tournament in total bases (21), home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS, finishing No. 2 in RBI (10) and stolen bases (tied).
- The MVP, however, was Eusebio Salas (Spain), which is what a two-homer game in the final and a tournament-leading 11 RBI and three stolen bases (tied for first) will do. The second baseman was second in OPS and third in slugging and home runs (3, tied), posting a .400/.684/1.300 mark.
- Jakub Križan’s name has been everywhere the past few weeks for Slovakia, and he finished No. 1 in triples (3), No. 2 in slugging (1.333), and third in RBI (9) and total bases (16, tied). His OPS of 1.980 was only eight points off the lead, and he did not strike out in 17 plate appearances.
- Jake Arnow (Israel) was second in home runs (3, tied) and total bases (18) and fourth in slugging, hitting .467/.579/1.200.
- Teammate Aviad Schechter posted similar numbers at .500/.632/1.143, finishing second in runs (10).
- Marco López (Spain) took home the “Leading Hitter” award after posting the second-best average overall, at .636, and the highest if one does not include the final day of play (which WBSC, for whatever reason, does not): .857.
- Dovid Solomon (Israel) ended the tournament with the best average and slashed .857/.917/1.000.
- Markos Lagios (Greece) was just behind him at .818/.733/.909.
- Jakov Belošević (Croatia) made the most of limited playing time, notching a .500/.667/1.250 mark.
- Marc Willi (Switzerland) was his team’s top hitter at .400/.600/.600.
- Yağız Aksoy (Türkiye) did not strike out in his 10 plate appearances, registering a .286/.500/.286 line.
Pitching Leaders
Minimum four innings.
- Maxim Samson (Slovakia) led the tournament in wins (2-0), strikeouts (13)
- Aidan Murray (Greece) was second in WHIP (0.98) and third in batting average against, with hitters managing a .158/.261/.158 line against him. His eight Ks in 5.1 innings were tied for second.
- José Piméntel (Spain) was tops in WHIP (0.60) and tied for No. 1 in ERA (0.00 in five innings).
- Akiva Epstein (Israel) also kept opponents off the board in five innings, taking home “Best Pitcher” honors. He struck out six.
- Fynn Himmelsbach (Switzerland) was the third hurler with a blank sheet over five frames, also whiffing half a dozen.
- Süleyman Çolpan (Türkiye) pitched the most innings of any player (11.2), tying for the lead in games (4) and starts (2).
- Bartol Bosanac (Croatia) was his team’s top moundsman, whiffing five in 4.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA and 1.29 WHIP.
Previous coverage includes: Day 5 [link]. Coverage of the U23 Baseball Euros Germany Qualifier can be found here [link].
Final Standings
| Team | W-L | RF | RA |
| Spain | 4-0 | 62 | 19 |
| Israel | 4-1 | 63 | 22 |
| Slovakia | 3-2 | 32 | 32 |
| Switzerland | 1-3 | 13 | 39 |
| Greece | 2-2 | 37 | 29 |
| Croatia | 1-3 | 16 | 40 |
| Türkiye | 0-4 | 8 | 50 |