Mister-Baseball has received a 23-player roster of the Ukrainian National Team for the 2010 European Championship. After qualifying for the tournament in Trnava, Slovakia in 2008, the Ukraine is placed into Group A together with Germany, defending champion Netherlands, France, Belgium and the Czech Republic. In their first game they will square off with the hosts in Stuttgart on July 23.
The team is led by veteran outfielder Dmitri Nelipa and infielder Ruslan Deykun, as well as slick fielder Denys Agapov and center fielder Andrew Kubalskyy. They are missing one of their better pitchers with southpaw Alex Trofimenko. So KNTU’s 19-year-old Dmytro Limarenko heads the pitching staff, after going 1-1 with an ERA of 1.50 and 23 strikeouts (seven walks) in 18 innings at the European Cup Qualifier in Brest a few weeks ago.
Overall the squad is a balanced mix of older, experienced players and young prospects, ranging from 39-year-old infielder Baserra Raydel Arbley to 16- and 17-year-old infielders Roman Boyko and Artem Lopata. It is going to be interesting how the Ukraine will fare against the other teams in a tough group. In five European Championships their best finishes were two ninth places in 1995 and 2007.
Roster Ukraine:
Pitchers: Anatoliy Korolev, Serhiy Maksymov, Mykola Cheremisin, Ihor Litvinchuk, Viktor Dovgalenko, Roman Yatsyuk, Dmytro Limarenko, Roman Mayfat, Olexiy Nezhiborets, Kostyantyn Korolev
Catchers: Bogdan Stovba, Ivan Cherepanov
Infielders: Denys Agapov, Olexiy Glukhiy, Serhiy Tikhonets, Ruslan Deykun, Maksym Symchyan, Roman Lopata, Baserra Raydel Arbelay, Roman Boyko, Artem Lopata
Outfielders: Andriy Kubalskyy, Dmytro Nelipa
Coaching Staff: Oleh Boyko (Manager), Yuriy Boyko (Coach), Stanislav Bakan (Coach), Vitaliy Lizogubenko (Delegation Leader), Evgen Illarionov (Team Physician)