By Gabriel Fidler, Managing Editor.
TŘEBÍČ, Czechia – Sweden and Switzerland pulled off impressive upsets on Day 2 of the European Baseball Championship, while Germany tossed a thrilling shutout against Israel and France survived a nail-biter with Croatia. In the day’s early games, Spain and Great Britain were big winners, while Ukraine knocked veteran professional Mike Bolsenbroek out of the game before the Netherlands recovered for its win. The second half of the day’s doubleheaders also included a lop-sided romp for the host nation Czechia, which joined Group D opponents Spain in becoming the first two teams to advance to the next round.
Tomorrow’s game include multiple games in Groups A-C to determine the teams headed to the playoffs, with Great Britain vs. Italy the game with the highest stakes and the Czechs battling Spain for the Group A title. All matches will be streamed live on https://www.baseballeurope.tv, and you can hear Mister-Baseball.com’s Managing Editor Gabriel Fidler on the call for both games from Pool B tomorrow.
Group A (Ostrava)
Spain 13 – Austria 1 (8)
Greece 0 – Czechia 14 (7)
Standings
Team W-L
Czechia 2-0
Spain 2-0
Austria 0-2
Greece 0-2
Group B (Třebíč)
Hungary 3 – Great Britain 22 (5)
Italy 3 – Sweden 8
Standings
Team W-L
Great Britain 2-0
Sweden 1-1
Italy 1-1
Hungary 0-2
Group C (Brno)
Netherlands 16 – Ukraine 3
France 3 – Croatia 1
Standings
Team W-L
Netherlands 2-0
France 1-1
Croatia 1-1
Ukraine 0-2
Group D (Praha/Prague)
Switzerland 7 – Belgium 2
Israel 0 – Germany 2
Standings
Team W-L
Germany 2-0
Israel 1-1
Switzerland 1-1
Belgium 0-2
Box Scores [Link].