2007 European Championships

The 2007 European Championship was won, as usual, by the Dutch national team, claiming its fifth title in a row and 20th overall. The Netherlands claimed a spot in the 2008 Olympics with the win while Great Britain and Spain advanced to a qualifier in Taiwan for another Olympic spot. Britain later withdrew due to financial problems (they were unable to raise 40,000 pounds and UK Sport had stopped funding the British Baseball Federation in 2005), giving the slot to Germany. The Netherlands, Britain, Spain and Germany all qualified for the 2009 Baseball World Cup with their showings. The biggest disappointment came from the Italians, who finished 7th. This led to the firing of manager Giampiero Faraone, who had guided the team since 2002. The competition was held in September in Barcelona. The Czech Republic was penalized for using ineligible players, (Jakub Hajtmar, Jakub Toufar and Petr Cech), reducing them to 12th place despite winning two contests. The Czechs were penalized because the aforementioned players were under contract to Major League Baseball teams at the time of tournament and proper insurance was not taken out, which violated the Championship's strict guidelines.

In the Gold Medal game, the Dutch team won, 6-1, with David Bergman hurling a no-hitter until the 7th inning. Roger Bernadina, fresh from the US minors, doubled, homered and scored three times.

The tournament MVP was Brant Ust, a shortstop for Great Britain, who had played in AAA in 2007. Ust had been on Team USA 8 years earlier.

The Dutch team hit .368/.479/.564 to their opponents' .194/.269/.234. Their ERA was 0.87 to their opponents' 11.68. Among the stars were Rob Cordemans, Kenny Berkenbosch, Shairon Martis, Yurendell de Caster, Sharnol Adriana, Bernadina, Hainley Statia and Raily Legito.

For full rosters, see 2007 European Championship (Rosters)

Tourney All-Star Team

• C - Mike Nickeas, Great Britain
• 1B - Ian Young, Great Britain
• 2B - Yurendell de Caster, Netherlands
• SS - Brant Ust, Great Britain
• 3B - Raily Legito, Netherlands
• OF - Roger Bernadina, Netherlands
• OF - Daniel Figueroa, Spain
• OF - Sascha Lutz, Germany
• DH - Sharnol Adriana, Netherlands
• RHP - David Bergman, Netherlands
• LHP - Enorbel Marquez, Germany

Standings

• 1  Netherlands, 8-0
• 2  United Kingdom, 5-3
• 3  Spain, 6-2
• 4  Germany, 4-1
• 5  France, 4-4
• 6  Sweden, 3-5
• 7  Italy, 4-2
• 8  Croatia, 2-4
• 9  Ukraine, 1-5
• 10  Russia, 1-5
• 11  Austria, 0-6
• 12  Czech Republic, 2-4