The Czech Republic has won the U23 European Championship 2019. In the final on Sunday evening in Prague, Czech Republic they defeated Germany 4-1. Strong pitching by Lukas Hlouch, Ondrej Furko and Daniel Padysak laid the foundation for the victory. The Czech team, which dramatically had lost the final two years ago, secured the win this time.
Germany’s silver medal is their best result at a U21/U23 European Championship since bronze in 2008. Germany won a complete set of medals this summer in Baseball European Championships with Gold at the U15, Silver at the U23 and Bronze at the U12 European Championships. Germany and the Czech Republic qualified for next year’s WBSC U23 Baseball World Cup by reaching the final.
Belgium defeated France 2-0 to claim third place. Great Britain finished in fifth place ahead of defending champion Netherlands, Ukraine and Croatia. Paul Kirkpatrick (GBR) was named Best Pitcher of the tournament, Filip Smola (CZE) Best Batter and Martin Muzik (CZE) MVP.
Final Standings:
|
1
|
 CZECH REPUBLIC |
|
2
|
 GERMANY |
|
3
|
 BELGIUM |
|
4
|
 FRANCE |
|
5
|
 GREAT BRITAIN |
|
5
|
 NETHERLANDS |
|
7
|
 UKRAINE |
|
8
|
 CROATIA |
Complete results and statistics are available through www.baseballstats.eu.
Photo by Czech Baseball Association
How can Great Britain and the Netherlands be equal 5th? In Group C Great Britain is 3-0 and Netherlands is 3-1. Even if you measure it by head to head, Great Britain beat Netherlands 2-1.