Its going to be the first time that Germany is playing in a final of a U-18 Baseball European Championship. Italy is returning to the Gold Medal Game for the first time since 2021. Italy last won the U-18 title in Europe in 2015 in Ostrava, Czechia. Italy and Germany have qualified for the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in 2025 by reaching the final.
Meanwhile
in the other games Israel and Belgium celebrated crucial wins over Sweden and
Croatia in the relegation round to stay in the A-Pool in the U-18 Baseball
European Championship. Additionally Spain beat Czechia and France shut out
Austria to meet in the game for fifth place.
Semi-Final: Netherlands – Germany 1-6 (Box score)
In a
historic win Germany prevailed 6-1 over the Netherlands to reach the Gold Medal
Game at a U-18 Baseball European Championship for the first time ever. The team
of head coach Georg Bull shocked the Dutch team with six runs in the third,
from which the favorite never recovered. A two-run double by Julian Siegert-Bomhard
kicked off the scoring for Germany. RBI singles by Kenny Fermin Giere and Kyran
Norgren sandwiched a RBI double by Matteo Gründig. A sac fly by Pepe Stockhaus
capped the rally.
The Netherlands had trouble against Germany’s starting pitcher Jonathan Schäffer for the first five innings. In the sixth Mauricio Montenegro Espinoza led off the bottom half with a walk. Djean Macares hit a deep fly ball over the fence in right field, but while rounding the bases he passed Montenegro Espinoza. Macares got called out and only one instead of two runs scored. The momentum shifted completely to Germany afterwards.
Semi-Final: Italy – Great Britain 6-5 (Box score)
Italy is
joining Germany in the Gold Medal Game on Sunday after a 6-5 extra-inning win
over Great Britain in the second semi-final on Saturday evening at the
Armin-Wolf-Baseball-Arena complex in Regensburg. Italy needed to come back
twice against the surprising British team to reach the final. Great Britain
started strong and scored three runs in the top of the first inning on a
two-run single by Cayden Allen and a RBI single by Jack Warrington, chasing
Italy’s starter Matteo Marelli from the game.
Italy
answered right away through a two-run home run by Giacomo Taschin in the bottom
half of the opening frame. Also reliever Filippo Sabatini kept GB in check. He
struck out 11 in six-plus innings. In the fifth Italy used a RBI single by
Daniele Di Persia and an error to move ahead. But Great Britain struck again in
the top of the seventh inning with a sac fly by Jack Warrington to tie the game
and force extra-innings.
In extra-innings Great Britain moved its runners to second and third on a passed ball and Warrington scored through a sac fly by Aaron Caughlin to regain the lead at 5-4. In the bottom of the eighth Italy’s Federico De Cristan laid down a perfect bunt to lead off the frame and the bases were loaded. Ricardo Staurenghi then deposited the second pitch of his at-bat to right field for a two-run walk-off double.
Placement Round: Spain – Czechia 6-5 (Box score)
In a close
encounter Spain defeated Czechia 6-5 on Saturday afternoon to reach the game
for fifth place in the placement round at the U-18 Baseball European
Championship. A RBI single by Gabriel Reque Cruz in the bottom of the sixth
decided the outcome. Czechia just had erased a deficit in the top of the frame.
Ayson Mcintosh went 3-for-4 with three RBI. Dayan Gonzalez issued six hits, two
runs and two walks in four innings of relief for the win. Filip Kubicek and
Lukas Chromy scored twice for Czechia. Czechia has to settle for the game for
seventh place.
Placement Round: France – Austria 10-0 (Box score)
France shut
out Austria 10-0 in the second afternoon game on Saturday to join Spain in the
game for fifth place. France scored in five of the six innings played. Luca Le
Guillou allowed two hits and a walk in six scoreless innings for the win. Victor
Feliu went 4-for-4 with two runs and three RBI. Matteo Pierre had two RBI. Paul
Kerle and Jan Raunigger had the two hits for Austria.
Relegation Round: Belgium – Croatia 7-4 (Box score)
Belgium
turned a 0-4 deficit around to beat Croatia 7-4 to remain in the A-Pool for the
U-18 Baseball European Championship. They now will play for ninth place in the
final standings. A five-run rally in the sixth sealed the win for Belgium.
Cazimir Vandervelden went 3-for-4 with four RBI. Nando Mostaert closed out the
win by striking out four batters in two scoreless innings. Boris Christensen
had three hits for Croatia.
Relegation Round: Israel – Sweden 9-6 (Box score)
Israel
overcame a 1-6 deficit to defeat Sweden 9-6 to stay in the A-Pool of the U-18
Baseball European Championship in Regensburg, Germany. Sweden started the game with
three runs each in the first and second. Israel then scored two runs in the
third and four in the fourth to tie the game. Three runs in the fifth got them
ahead. Lyrr Friesem, Eyal Dagan, Idan Menashe and Gur Goldberg scored two runs
apiece for Israel. Simon Horne had three RBI for Sweden. Sam Herman went 3-for-3
with two runs scored and a RBI.
Outlook
The U-18 Baseball
European Championship ends on Sunday with the finals and the classification
games. The Gold Medal Game between Italy and Germany will take place at 19:00.
Prior to the day the Bronze Medal Game with Great Britain and the Netherlands is
scheduled for 14:00. The day starts with the game for ninth place at 10:00
between Belgium and Israel and the game for eleventh place between Croatia and
Spain at 10:30. At 14:30 the game for seventh place will be played between
Austria and Czechia, while the game for fifth place between France and Spain is
set for 17:30. All games are being streamed at www.baseballeurope.tv. Live play by
play is available for all games at www.wbsceurope.org.
Photo by Rene Thalemann
