Germany wins U-12 Baseball European Championship 2024
06/07/2024 2 Minute Read

Germany wins U-12 Baseball European Championship 2024

Germany has won the U-12 Baseball European Championship 2024. They defeated the Netherlands 5-0 in the Gold Medal Game on Saturday evening in Paderborn, Germany. Its the fourth title for Germany in that age category after 2016, 2022 and 2023. Both teams qualified for the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup 2025 by reaching the final. Earlier in the day Czechia shut out Italy in the game for third place. In the relegation round France and Ukraine celebrated wins on Saturday, as France finished fifth, Austria sixth, Ukraine seventh and Lithuania in eighth place.

Gold Medal Game: Netherlands – Germany 0-5 (Box score)

Germany claimed their third consecutive U-12 Baseball European Championship in dominant fashion on their home court in Paderborn, Germany. In the Gold Medal Game Germany took a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning and then added two more runs in the fifth to secure the 5-0 shutout over the Netherlands.

In a rematch of last year’s final Germany’s starting pitcher Matthes Max Schwarcke struck out ten batters in five innings, while allowing just three hits and three walks. Thore Warlies closed out the victory by striking out the side in the sixth.

In the first inning Germany quickly loaded the bases with no outs. All three runners eventually scored in the frame, two on a two-run single by Matthes Schwarcke and one on a fielder’s choice. In the fifth inning they added two more thanks to a RBI triple by Keylen Fernandez Ruiz and the following sac fly by Jonathan Strübing.

The Dutch team had base runners in each of the first five innings but couldn’t capitalize from these opportunities. Marcelo Javier Montenegro Espinoza got charged with the loss after tossing 4 1/3 innings. Andrew Jerome Arends, Kjeld Koehorst and Noud Slot each collected a hit.

Germany won all five games they played in the tournament, trailing only once in the last preliminary round game against Czechia. In the semi-finals and finals they scored a combined ten runs in the first inning and allowed just seven hits in shutouts against Italy and the Netherlands.

Bronze Medal Game: Italy – Czechia 0-11 (Box score)

Czechia celebrated an 11-0 shutout over Italy in the Bronze Medal Game on Saturday afternoon at the U-12 Baseball European Championship. The game was close in the beginning, as Czechia took a 2-0 lead after two innings. In the fourth they widened the gap with a six-run rally, before ending the contest effectively with three runs in the fifth. Stepan Svec, Dominik Kliner and Tobias Foret hit home runs for Czechia. Matthias Gustavo Lichem and Adriana Salabova combined to keep Italy to two hits in five scoreless innings.

Relegation Round: Austria – France 8-16 (Box score)

France defeated Austria 16-8 on Saturday in the relegation round of the U-12 Baseball European Championship to claim fifth place in the final standings. In a high-scoring affair the French team scored 11 runs in the first two frames to decide the outcome early. Charlie Baron-Martinez reached base four times, scored three runs and connected for a home run. Tim Charbonneau also crossed the plate thrice. Oskar-Tim Kampichler and Tobias Kropik scored twice for Austria.

Relegation Round: Ukraine – Lithuania 7-4 (Box score)

Early in the morning on Saturday Ukraine beat Lithuania 7-4 in a close affair to clinch seventh place in the final standings, while also avoiding relegation into the B-Pool for next year’s competition. Lithuania completed the tournament without a win in five games. For Ukraine it was the first victory this week. Ukraine scored all seven runs in the first three innings en route to the win. Six different players crossed the plate for runs. Yehor Tushyn scored twice and also closed out the game with six strikeouts to earn the save.

All results and box scores from the U-12 Baseball European Championship can be found at www.wbsceurope.org. All games were streamed live through www.baseballeurope.tv, where also video on demand is available.

Photo by Adam Kazmierczak