Germany and the Czech Republic will face each other in the final of the U23 European Championship 2019 in Prague, Czech Republic. Germany scored six runs in the first and four in the third in an easy 10-0 victory over Belgium in the semifinals. Pascal Amon with a grand slam and Alexander Schmidt with a two-run shot provided the groundwork for the win in the first. Samuel Steigert pitched five scoreless four-hit frames.
The second semifinal was much closer, as France and the Czech Republic had a back and forth battle with several lead changes. The Czech Republic was leading 10-5, when they entered the seventh and last inning. France quickly put four runs on the board and had the bases loaded with no outs, trailing only 9-10. However Daniel Padysak came in and induced a force out at home, struck out the next batter and got another to ground out to first to escape that situation ending the game.
Germany and the Czech Republic now are qualified for the 2020 WBSC U23 Baseball World Cup. The Netherlands were defending U23 European Champion, but missed out on the semifinals in the 2019 edition. The Czech Republic played in the final of 2017 U23 European Championship, Germany came in fifth. The championship game will be played on Sunday at 7pm in Prague. A live stream is offered at www.baseballsoftball.tv. Complete results, schedule and live play by play are available through www.baseballstats.eu.
Sorry my error – my previous post said Netherlands were 3-1 I meant they were 3-2