European Under-23 Baseball Championship – Netherlands crowns itself in Wr. European Champion Neustadt

Holland or Great Britain? That was the question before the European Under-23 Championship final at Ducksfield in Wiener Neustadt. Who gets the title? But at first we had to wait. The sun was so unfavorable at the scheduled start time of 7pm, that it incapacitated players and became a potential safety hazard. It started late at a crowded Ducksfield.

After the defenders dominated in the first half, the attack took place in the second round. The Dutch took advantage of a British error at first base to take a 2-0 lead. Jandro Trump and Jesse Fielders ran across home plate. GB, who lost 1-0 to the Netherlands in the group stage, responded quickly. Donovan Crook directs ‘homed’ from Michael Flaherty and Jacob Lambdin.

Great Britain runs the game

Pitcher Jayden Gonesh remained in trouble. The Brits captured all three bases before Daniel Foss replaced Güneş at the mound. After an error by his catcher, he had to swallow Crook’s third home run. With two straight wins, the defending champ at least prevented worse things from happening.

In the third inning, Thomas Flaherty’s nerves flickered. Two wins followed with a powerful hit and three walks, which Goroni Kilkbaum equalized 3: 3. After that, Pitcher Vos knocked down three more Britons on the base, and then was replaced by Mathijs Oosterbeek, who got the necessary points – 3-3 after three innings.

Britain is collapsing

In the fourth round, the British defense showed itself vulnerable and the Dutch let loose. Twice in a row the ball did not reach first base as planned. Brandon Rincons punished this with 4:3. The catch was made 5:3 by Raydley Legito. A sense of uncertainty had grown among the British by the second. The Marnix Robin, Sim Kuijper, scored six and seven points on the same play. Shortly thereafter, Ruendrick Piternella and Tromp went at home plate. The Wilders made it 10:3 before the Rincons hit their second home run in the fourth (11:3).

The maximum penalty for Great Britain

Leggetto and Rubin walked over home plate – 13:3. Another catch error made Kelkboom 14:3. Then, instead of a recovery pop-up, there was the following error. Kujper and Jair van Porcolo scored 15: 3 and 16: 3. After 13 innings, the British finished the first round of the fourth inning in the countless try. The match was decided and the British broke.

The Dutch finished the fourth period with their defense at breakneck speed. In the fifth, Rubin, Kilkbaum, Kuijper, Van Borcolo, Rincons, Max Copps and Tromp added seven more runs. Then the Dutch brought it home, even if they had to allow two more runs to make it 23: 5. Because of the superiority of the Netherlands, the European Championship final ended after five innings instead of the planned seven (mercy rule).