Tag Archives: European Championship

Team GB suffer 3-1 defeat to France in 2012 Euro opener

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Team GB will need to show some British bulldog spirit on Saturday after suffering a 3-1 defeat to France in their opening game of the 2012 European Championships.

There are no easy games in international competition, but on paper drawing France first gave Sam Dempster’s team a good chance to get their tournament started with a victory.  The French are the lowest ranked team (41st), based on the International Baseball Federation’s rankings, among the six in Britain’s Group B and they are 18 places behind Team GB (23rd) in that system.

Great Britain got off to the perfect start by taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Third baseman Michael Johnson struck a triple off French starting pitcher Patrice Briones to bring home Aaron Hornostaj, who had led off the game by reaching base on a hit-by-pitch.

France levelled the score at 1-1 in the second inning when left-fielder Frederic Hanvi scored on a ground-out by catcher Boris Marche. The frustration for Team GB came from the fact that Hanvi had reached third base with a certain amount of help, getting on base via a walk by GB starter Aeden McQueary-Ennis and then making it around to third on catcher Sam Wiley’s throwing error in trying to stop Hanvi from stealing second base.

Hanvi caused havoc again in the fourth inning as the French scored twice to take a decisive 3-1 lead. France’s left-fielder repeated his first inning trick by patiently working a walk and then stealing second base and coming home on a throwing error by McQueary-Ennis. Yan Dal Zotto reached first base on the same run-scoring play and he ultimately made it around to home plate for France’s third run of the game, doubling the frustration caused by the initial error.

McQueary-Ennis got out of a bases-loaded jam to end the inning and to limit the damage; however the damage that had been caused would prove fatal to Team GB’s hopes of an opening day victory.

Paul Waterman pitched four outstanding innings in relief to keep France off the scoreboard for the rest of the game, allowing only two base-runners, both on singles, while striking out four.  Unfortunately the Team GB bats just couldn’t get much going against Briones.

The French starter’s most vulnerable point actually came in the top of that fateful fourth inning when Great Britain had runners (Wiley and Matt McGraw) on first and second, only for Briones to escape thanks to a Craig Pycock pop-up to the shortstop.

Briones matched Waterman’s efforts by allowing only two hits over the next four frames and that meant Great Britain came to bat in the top of the ninth inning trailing 3-1. McGraw gave British fans hope of a come-from-behind win with a two-out double, yet he would get no further as Briones struck out pinch-hitter Richard Klijn to end the game.

The final scoreboard proved to be a frustrating sight for Team GB. They out-hit the French six to five, but the four errors to France’s none were the difference.  On the same night in MLB, the Pittsburgh Pirates committed seven errors (leading to a brutal nine unearned runs) against the Chicago Cubs showing that such days can happen to any team when they are playing hard to earn a ‘W’.

Great Britain will put it down to experience and come back fighting against the Czech Republic. The Czechs, ranked 20th in the world by the IBAF, showed their ability and battling qualities by pushing Germany beyond the regulation nine innings on Friday, ultimately losing 5-4 in ten innings.

Both the Czechs and Team GB will be out to get their first win on the board in Utrecht on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 19.30 local time, 18.30 British time, and the action can be followed on a live basic play-by-play feature on the CEB’s website (click on the Live Utrecht link when the game is in progress).

POSTSCRIPT: Bob Fromer’s full game report can be found on the BBF website.

2012 European Championship begins

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Great Britain’s Senior Baseball Team will jog out onto the diamond in Utrecht, Netherlands on the evening of Friday 7 September to begin an exciting month of tournament play.

Tonight’s game against France (first pitch at 18.30 U.K. time) is Team GB’s opener at the 2012 European Baseball Championships.

The twelve teams involved in the tournament have been split into two groups of six. Great Britain and France are joined in Group B by the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The teams will all play each other once in a round-robin event over the next five days. The top three teams in the group will progress on to the latter stages of the event, culminating in the Final on Sunday 16 September.

Team GB’s Euro adventure has a slightly different feel about it this time around as it is not their only focus. Sam Dempster’s men will move on from the Euros to compete in their World Baseball Classic qualifier in Regensburg, Germany, later in the month (the min-tournament begins on 20 September).

As in football, the Euros historically have been the second most prestigious international event for European teams, just behind the World Cup. The emergence of MLB’s World Baseball Classic in 2006 as the premier international tournament effectively moved the two more-established events down one slot in the pecking order.  The WBC has been expanded for the 2013 event, the third time of it being staged, affording Great Britain its first opportunity to try to qualify for the main event next year.

Team GB has never won the European Championships and would dearly love to do so, but if the team and us fans had the choice right now of winning the Euros or qualifying for the main World Baseball Classic event in 2013 I’m sure most, if not all, would favour the latter.

Of course, no team can hope to choose which event they want to win. Achieving either major goal will be a real challenge due to the fierce level of competition the team will face.

The WBC roster will be quite significantly different, and in theory significantly stronger, than the smaller Euro roster and should have a better chance of success, particularly in the shorter format that comes with the WBC qualifier.

That doesn’t mean the Euros will simply be a warm-up for the main event though.

There is much to play for even alongside the tournament title itself. A solid performance will put Team GB back into the top Pool A of European teams (meaning we would not have to go through a qualifier to get to the next European Championships, as we had to do this time around) and finishing in the top four would book a place at the next World Cup.

More than anything, beyond qualification for other events and potential medals and trophies, there is the simple pride of wearing the GB jersey and cap and representing everyone involved in baseball in the U.K. Baseball and softball were not part of the Olympics – and there’s no need to go back over that depressing tale one more time here - but the team can still be part of a glorious sporting summer for the nation.

I’ve no doubt that Sam Dempster and his team will do us proud in the Euros and, once completed, we can then look forward to the WBC qualifier with even more excitement.

Further details about Team GB’s September events can be found on the BBF website.

Full details about the European Baseball Championship can be found on the CEB website.

Great Britain’s World Baseball Classic confirmed

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Great Britain’s World Baseball Classic adventure will take them to Germany this September and see them compete in a four-team group alongside the hosts, Canada and the Czech Republic.

Details of the qualifying stage of the WBC were announced at a press conference in Regensburg, Germany on Monday. The qualifying tournament is scheduled to take place between 20-24 September 2012.

The success of the first two WBCs has resulted in the tournament expanding from 16 to 28 teams thanks to the addition of a new qualification stage.  The four teams that failed to win a game in 2009 – Canada, Chinese Taipei, Panama and South Africa – have each been put into a four-team group which they will need to win if they want to return to the big stage.

More importantly, the qualifying group stage gives 12 new teams a chance to make it to the WBC and Great Britain are among them.

Ever since Team GB’s participation was announced last June, British baseball fans have been excitedly looking forward to finding out where the group will be staged and who we will be competing against.

Great Britain last played in Germany during the 2010 European Championships. The Armin-Wolf-Baseball-Arena in Regensburg, Germany, was used to host a group containing China, Germany, USA and Venezuela in the 2009 Baseball World Cup and it should prove to be a great host venue.

Tough competition

As expected, Great Britain will be facing some tough competition in the qualifying group. Sam Dempster’s team will not be favourites heading into the event, but don’t rule them out from springing a surprise and qualifying for the main World Baseball Classic, scheduled to take place in March 2013.

Canada are the experienced WBC team, although they have just fallen short of qualifying for the second round in both of the first two times that the main tournament has been staged.

In 2006 they gained a memorable 8-6 victory over the U.S., followed by an 11-8 win over South Africa; however a 9-1 defeat to Mexico landed them with an early exit.  In 2009, Canada hoped to make the most of home-field advantage with their Pool being held at the Blue Jays’ Rogers Centre. It didn’t turn out that way. The U.S. got their revenge by narrowly defeating Canada 6-5 before Italy dumped the hosts out of the tournament by winning their game 6-2.

While the WBC hasn’t quite gone to plan for them, Canada recently won the bronze medal in the 2011 World Cup. The main WBC rosters are essentially put together in a short space of time, so the team’s World Cup performance is perhaps more indicative of the level of play we can expect from them in the WBC qualifier, with a roster containing players that have experience in playing together.

Germany are an emerging force in European baseball both on and off the field, as shown by the facilities in Regensburg that will be used for this Pool.  The Germans hosted the 2010 European Championships and finished third with only the two established Euro superpowers Italy and the Netherlands ahead of them. Based on that showing, they will be a tough team to beat on home soil.

As for the Czech Republic, they and Team GB were evenly matched in the 2010 European Championships. Both finished fourth in their respective First Round group – with only the top three teams progressing to the Second Round -  and that meant they were pitted against each other in a Seventh Place play-off game. The Czech’s won that game 8-4, so Great Britain have a score to settle there.

Provisional Schedule

The provisional schedule for the group shows that it will follow a double-elimination format, with Team GB getting the event underway with a game against Canada at 7 p.m. local time on Thursday 20 September (that is still subject to change, of course).

Germany will play the Czech Republic the following day and then there will be two games on the Saturday, with the two first-game winners facing each other to determine the first qualifier for the Final and the two first-game losers facing each other to stay in the tournament.

Which game Team GB are involved in will depend on their result against Canada and then how Germany gets on against the Czech Republic, as Germany’s second game will take place at 7 p.m. on the Saturday.  The tournament organizers will no doubt be predicting a Germany-Canada 7 p.m. showdown and for Great Britain and the Czechs to meet at 2 p.m., but we shall see.

There will be a semi-final on the Sunday afternoon followed by the Final on the Monday evening. Depending on the precise travel arrangements, it looks like fans could get across during the day on the 20th and then depart again on the 25th after a great extended weekend of baseball.

Start making plans

It promises to be an exciting event, following hot on the heels of Team GB’s involvement in the 2012 European Championships in the Netherlands in early September. With the official details now published, manager Sam Dempster, Team GB General Manager Jason Greenberg, the rest of the team, and us fans, can start putting preparations in place for what will be a super September for the Senior Men’s National team.

Great Britain Baseball Senior Team tryout details announced

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Recruitment plans for the Great Britain Baseball Senior National Team have been revealed today ahead of an exciting year of international baseball events in 2012.

Tryout events will be staged in London, New York, San Diego and Toronto to help shape the rosters competing at the 2012 European Baseball Championships in September and the World Baseball Classic qualifying events at the end of the year.

In recent years, the Great Britain national team effort has aimed to bring together young talent in the UK with players who have experience playing around the world.

This approach has seen Team GB claiming a silver medal at the 2007 European Championships and competing against leading international teams such as Cuba and Japan in the 2009 Baseball World Cup.

The latest recruitment drive will begin in San Diego on 8 January 2012 and the full details from the press release are copied below.

Team GB is recruiting for the World Baseball Classic

The Great Britain Baseball Senior National Team is recruiting talented ballplayers from all parts of the globe.

In late 2012, Team GB will compete at the European Championships in Holland and the World Baseball Classic qualifying rounds. The British Federation is assembling a competitive roster to help them win both competitions, and they are calling for all British ballplayers with high school, collegiate or professional experience – living in the UK or further afield – to contact the coaching staff.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent Great Britain at the most elite and prestigious level,” said Jason Greenberg, General Manager of Team GB. “Our players travel to fascinating places and compete against the world’s top talents, and the WBC and the Euros will provide unique exposure to MLB and international scouts.”

Team Captain Brad Marcelino added, “We have a good mixture of personalities that love to get after it and compete for every pitch. Our team has a history of winning and playing above outsiders’ expectations. We will be facing opponent rosters comprised of mostly MLB and ex-MLB players, and we are prepared to take GB to the next level in 2012. No competitive ball player will want to pass this up, as the experience of playing for your country is one you will never forget.”

ELIGIBILITY TO PLAY IN THE WBC

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association set the eligibility requirements for the World Baseball Classic. Each player on the GB roster must meet at least one of the following criteria:

1) Holds British citizenship and carries a valid passport
2) Is a permanent legal resident in the UK
3) Was born in the UK or British territories
4) Is a direct descendant of a British citizen
5) Has a parent who was born in the UK or British territories
6) Is eligible for British citizenship or to hold a UK passport

The full eligibility rules as stipulated by World Baseball Classic Inc. can be found online at:
http://web.worldbaseballclassic.com/about/rules.jsp#player_eligibility

ELIGIBILITY TO PLAY IN THE EUROS

In order to represent Great Britain in a European (CEB) competition, players must:

  • Hold British citizenship
  • Have a valid UK passport

2012 EVALUATIONS AND COMPETITIONS

GB Baseball is scheduling tryout events for potential recruits in England, the United States and Canada. The first event will take place at the University of San Diego on Sunday 8 January. Any player with high school, collegiate or professional experience who is eligible to represent Britain in the World Baseball Classic or in European competition is encouraged to attend.

GB Baseball West Coast Tryouts
Cunningham Stadium
University of San Diego
Sunday 8 January 2012
1pm – 6pm

Additional evaluation events will be held in the Toronto, New York and London areas in April or May 2012. Specific dates and venues will be announced shortly after the winter holidays. Visit www.gbbaseball.com to sign up for the Team GB newsletter.

REGISTER TO TRYOUT / CONTACT THE STAFF

If you are interested in representing Great Britain or attending an evaluation event please contact Brian Essery (GB Coach and Recruitment Director) and Jason Greenberg (General Manager) at recruitment@gbbaseball.com.

Pre-registration for the 2012 evaluation events is mandatory.

2012 promises to be an exciting year for the Great Britain Baseball Senior National Team.  If you meet the above criteria and want to give yourself a chance to be part of it, make sure to get in contact with Brian and Jason.

Great Britain compete in European Championship qualifier this week

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GbHlSqTeam GB are in Israel this week as they aim to qualify for the 2012 European Championships.

Starting on Tuesday, Great Britain will face Lithuania, Israel and Georgia before the final is played on Friday.  The team head into the qualifier as favourites to progress, but Sam Dempster’s team will know better than to treat any opponent lightly.

The group in Israel is one of five taking place this week, with the winner of each group qualifying for the 2012 Euros that are scheduled to take place in the Netherlands next September.

Great Britain fell into the qualifying stage due to a disappointing 2010 European Championship showing. 

They were knocked out in the first round with a 2-3 record despite getting a win in their first game against Croatia.  A 4-3 loss against Greece condemned the team to an early exit, one all the more frustrating due to the team’s positive showing at the 2009 World Cup.

Sam Dempster has taken on the roll of manager since last year’s event and he will see this qualifier as a way to get the team heading in the right direction once again.

Great Britain’s schedule is as follows:

Tuesday 26 – Lithuania (15.30 local time, 13.30 BST)

Wednesday 27 – Israel (19.30 local time, 17.30 BST)

Thursday 28 – Georgia (15.30 local time, 13.30 BST)

The Confederation of European Baseball’s website isn’t the most up-to-date or visually impressive, but I’ve always liked their no-frills tournament coverage.  The section for Great Britain’s qualifying group will have all the box scores and play-by-play details and, hopefully, the ‘Live’ option at the top of the page will live updates of the games in progress.

Good luck to the team.

New GB player eager to seize Tel Aviv opportunity to keep up a family tradition

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For Muhlenberg College catcher Brett Rosen, it seemed that the 2011 baseball season would be a short one when less than two-fifths of the way through the 38-game NCAA Division III schedule he received news that he had a glandular fever infection. Despite 2011 being his freshman year, he’d seen time behind the dish in seven of those first 15 games; however, the news brought a sudden end to that promising start.

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Team GB to take a Tel Aviv tour to qualify for the 2012 European Championships

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Team GBIf you missed the news on Twitter, first reported by Mister-Baseball.com, the Great Britain Senior National Team now know what route they need to take to qualify for the 2012 European Baseball Championship.

Team GB will head to Tel Aviv, Israel, at the end of July for a four-team tournament including the host nation, Lithuania and Georgia.

The many Brits who think of baseball as ‘that rounders game played by Americans’ would scarcely believe such an event could take place. 

Finding out that Great Britain has a team is often a surprise in itself.  Adding Israel, Lithuania and Georgia into the baseball mix would leave people doubting your sanity, but it’s a great example of the varied and diverse baseball culture that, unknowingly to many, exists in Europe.

The news story on the official Great Britain website provides some additional details, for instance noting the respective IBAF world rankings of the four teams.  They would lead you to believe that Great Britain should qualify comfortably.  Certainly they will go into it as favourites and should be confident of progressing, but new Head Coach Sam Dempster will know that taking any baseball team lightly is the first step towards a humbling defeat. 

I’ve no doubt that Dempster and General Manager Jason Greenberg will have the team well-prepared for the trip and to re-start the national team’s rise after a disappointing 2010 campaign.

The final paragraph in the Great Britain story also raises the possibility that the games might be streamed live on the internet.  Tel Aviv’s time zone is two hours ahead of British Summer Time so we could be able to follow the games at a convenient hour.

2010 GB baseball archive update

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Team GBI have recently updated the GB archive for 2010 for both the Seniors and Juniors, and the additions – alas – tell the tale of a season of huge disappointment. The GB Seniors slipped back to the European Championship Qualifying Pool for the first time since they won the B-Pool event on home soil in 1996. The Qualifying Pool is where the GB Juniors still find themselves, after a mixed showing at their European Championship event. One positive to come from the season is the possibility of Britain hosting a major international tournament for the first time since that B-Pool triumph with 6 wins and no losses 14 years ago. Continue reading →

Great Britain head home from the European Championship after 4-3 loss to Greece

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GbHlSqGreat Britain’s 2010 European Championship came to a disappointing end yesterday in Neuenburg, Germany.  Pat Doyle’s men narrowly lost their final First Round game 4-3 to Greece in ten innings.  The result means Great Britain will finish fourth in Group B, just outside the top three places that lead to qualification for the Second Round.

Having beaten Spain 5-1 on Monday to keep their Second Round hopes alive, Team GB’s game against Greece was their second ‘must win’ contest in two days.  It looked like they would make it two wins from two, and earn a 3-2 tournament record, when Matt McGraw gave GB a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth inning.  The outfielder, who went 4-for-6 in the game, doubled to lead off the inning, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then came around with the go-ahead run when Evan Romanchuk reached on a fielder’s choice. 

However, Greece have surprised many with their confident play so far in the tournament and they hit straight back in the bottom of the frame.  Alex Smith, who gave up two runs in seven innings, walked the lead-off batter James Demetral and Greece’s second baseman came around to level the game again at 2-2 despite the best efforts of reliever Stephen Spragg.  Continue reading →

Great Britain fall to 1-2 after two weekend defeats in the European Championship

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EC2010SmThe Great Britain Senior baseball team faces an uphill battle to qualify for the second round of the 2010 European Championships after defeats to Sweden and Italy over the weekend.

Team GB’s campaign began positively with a 10-1 win over Croatia on Friday and they headed into their game against Sweden on Saturday full of confidence; however, the offence that had worked so well the day before was shut down by Sweden’s starting pitcher Joakim Klasson as Great Britain were defeated 4-1. 

Klasson held Great Britain scoreless through the first eight innings, getting a key double-play in the sixth inning when Matt McGraw grounded out to the third baseman with two on and no outs, and escaping unscathed from a bases-loaded situation in the seventh when Michael Trask flied out to end the inning. 

Sweden were leading 4-0 at that point.  Great Britain’s starting pitcher Brian Essery balked home Sweden’s opening run in the second inning, gave up two runs on four hits in the third inning and then saw Tony Dermendziev come home on a fielding error by third baseman Michael Johnson in the fifth inning.  Essery pitched seven innings in total, conceding eight hits and four runs.  It wasn’t quite the start Essery may have wanted, but he battled all the way and kept the game close.

Unfortunately, the offence couldn’t take full advantage of the opportunities they created, grounding into five double-plays in total.  They did break up the shut-out attempt in the bottom of the ninth when Trask earned a walk with the bases loaded, but Rich Klijn then grounded out to end the game with three base-runners left stranded.

That result meant that Great Britain would head into back-to-back games against the two Group B favourites, Italy and Spain, with a 1-1 record rather than the ideal scenario of facing arguably their two toughest opponents with two wins already on the board.

The difficulties Great Britain face in qualifying from that position were made clear in Stuttgart on Sunday when Italy showed why they are one of the tournament favourites by beating Team GB 12-2  in a game called after seven innings due to the ten-run ‘mercy’ rule. 

Italy went into the game on the back of two impressive victories over Spain (by a score of 9-1) and Greece (13-1 in 7 innings) and they quickly got out in front with three runs in the first inning off GB starter Mike Renery.  Italy then doubled their lead by plating three runs in the third inning, two coming courtesy of a home run by veteran Jiminez Chapelli.  Italy’s hitting coach, former Major League All-Star Mike Piazza, is clearly teaching his pupils well. 

Italy’s pitching wasn’t doing badly either.  Starter Cody Cillo held Great Britain hit-less through 3.2 innings before Sam Wiley broke up the no-hitter attempt in the fourth inning.  Wiley went on to drive in Team GB’s only two runs in the seventh inning when he took a liking to the first pitch he saw from reliever Chris Di Roma and thumped it over the right field wall for a two-run homer.  That still left Great Britain trailing by ten runs, 12-2, and Di Roma closed out the inning to bring the game to an early end.

It was a comprehensive win for Italy, but Pat Doyle and his coaching staff will look to take the positives from the defeat, not least of which being a three-up, three-down inning by the young left-handed pitcher Ted Gieschen.

Tomorrow’s game against Spain, moved from Heidenheim to Stuttgart, is basically a ‘must win’ affair for Great Britain.  Spain’s form in their opening two games, a 9-1 loss to Italy and a narrow 7-6 win over Croatia, suggests that Team GB can get their tournament back on track if they perform to the best of their ability.  A win tomorrow would set up a potentially decisive final game against Greece on Tuesday afternoon.

Great Britain 1 – 4 Sweden: Box score and play-by-play, Great Britain Baseball report,

Great Britain 2 – 12 Italy: Box score and play-by-play,