2013 B-Level European Championship

The 2013 B-Level European Championship represented a change in format for the CEB. After having five European Championship Qualifiers in both 2008 and 2011, they opted for two smaller competitions, with each B-Level champion advancing to the 2014 European Championship.

July 22

Vienna

•  Belarus 6,  Lithuania 5. Belarus started off with an upset. 3B Aliaksandr Huryn went 4 for 5 with two doubles to lead the offense. For a losing cause, LF Marius Tatarunas had 3 hits (including a triple) and two RBI.
•  Russia 13,  Republic of Ireland 3. LF Viacheslav Vasilyev goes 4 for 6 with 3 doubles, 3 runs and 3 RBI while both RF Dmitry Semenov and DH Daniil Khomyakov reach base five times. Nikol Chermoshentsev got the win over American import Tom Enright.
•  Austria 7,  Slovakia 3. 800 fans show up for a baseball game in Austria to see the hosts win behind four-hit pitching by Christian Tomsich and Werner Harrasser and a 17-hit attack led by LF Moritz Hackl, C Peter Ferak and 3B Felix Zimmerle.

Zurich

•  Ukraine 14,  Slovenia 6. Ukraine began its bid to return to the European Championship with a strong effort as they pound Slovenian veteran Luka Kreitmayer for 22 hits. CF Artem Borshch and SS-2B Oleksandr Mamontov each get four hits, Mamontov scoring three times.
•  Bulgaria 10,  Poland 3. Eugenii Cheernozemsky easily outpitches American John Dobkowski. 3B Kristian Temelkov goes 3 for 5 with 4 RBI.
•  United Kingdom 14,  Switzerland 5. The home team had an attendance of 983 but the support wasn't enough to help them past Britain. American Greg Hendrix fans 15 and the relievers add three more, while SS Zack Wiley scores four runs and 1B Ian Young drives in four. An American pitcher also takes the loss in Ryan Byrne.

July 23

Vienna

•  Russia 6,  Lithuania 1. In a match-up of former Soviet Republics, the larger one easily won as former Twins farmhand Nikita Lobanov struck out eight. Lithuanian Robertas Vilimas topped him with 9 Ks but walked 7 to Lobanov's one. 3B Maxim Ayzatulin and LF Viacheslav Vasilyev both drove in two for Russia.
•  Belarus 10,  Slovakia 2. Anton Pryputnevich allows only one hit and one run in 5 1/3 relief innings though he walks six, getting the win for Belarus. 3B Aliaksandr Huryn again shines (3 for 5, 2 R, 3 RBI) while C Aliaksei Kachurka also drives in three.
•  Austria 7,  Republic of Ireland 5. Austria scores twice in the 7th to break a 5-5 tie with the American-loaded Irish team. Werner Harrasser tosses 3 2/3 shutout innings of relief for the win after Clemens Cichocki starts slowly (5 R in 4 2/3 IP), while Felix Zimmerle notches the save.

Zurich

•  United Kingdom 13,  Poland 3. Mike Renery uses the knowledge gained from playing in Poland this season to fan nine in a win. Australian CF Matt Roxburgh scores four runs for Great Britain.
•  Bulgaria 6,  Slovenia 5. In a 10-inning affair, both pitchers went the distance. Petyo Petkov got the win despite striking out none while Ales Mravlje took the loss. Slovenian 3B Rudolf Uros went 4 for 5 with 4 steals, 2 runs and 3 RBI but the rest of his team got just two hits. In the bottom of the 10th, CF Petar Petrov singles in the winner.
•  Switzerland 5,  Ukraine 2. Switzerland uses a well-balanced offense against Kostyantyn Korolev while the University of Nevada's Daniel Levine strikes out ten in a three-hit victory.

July 24

Vienna

•  Russia 7,  Slovakia 3. Kiril Chermoshentsev turns in a poor start and Russia surprisingly trails 3-2 after 5 1/2 innings, contained by David Uhnavy. Pavel Talakin turns in 5 2/3 hitless innings of relief, though, for the win, and the offense wakes up late. DH Nikita Monakhov (2 R, RBI), LF Viacheslav Vasilyev (2 RBI) and CF Victor Samchuk (2 for 2, BB, R, RBI) lead Russia's attack. SS Jan Jablonka drew 3 walks for Slovakia.
•  Lithuania 10,  Republic of Ireland 0. In a match-up of winless clubs, Lithuania wins a mercy-rule romp behind a balanced offense and a 12-strikeout whitewash by Edvardas Matusevičius.
•  Austria 10,  Belarus 0. With two unbeaten teams facing off, host Austria cruised on a two-hit shutout by Michael Schneider. The team drew 10 walks and three players scored two runs apiece.

Zurich

•  United Kingdom 12,  Slovenia 0. In an unsurprising romp, Benjamin Pearson and two relievers combine on a four-hitter while LF Sam Wiley (2 for 3, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI) paces a strong attack.
•  Ukraine 6,  Bulgaria 4. Ukraine hands Bulgaria its first loss. Dmytro Limarenko gets the win, Anatoliy Korolov the save, LF Ievgenii Poliakov has 2 runs and 2 RBI, SS Enver Lyumanov also scores twice and 1B Ruslan Deikun bangs out three hits.
•  Poland 3,  Switzerland 2. The hosts came up on the short end of a close one as Marek Deska struck out 11 in a 5-hit, 139-pitch effort. Lukas Croton took the loss despite a quality start.

July 25

Vienna

•  Slovakia 11,  Lithuania 3. Slovakia got its first win in a romp. Marek Červený got the win over Marijus Dargis. SS Jan Jablonka (4 for 5, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI) and C Martin Bosy (4 for 6, 2 R, 6 RBI, 3B, HR) provided stellar hitting.
•  Belarus 7,  Republic of Ireland 3. Andrei Los goes the distance and gets well-balanced offensive support as Belarus improves to 3-1 and Ireland remains winless.
•  Russia 6,  Austria 4. The two unbeaten teams left in the Vienna tool squared off, with Russia scoring 5 runs in 1 2/3 innings off Paul Astl before reliever Franz Haisjackl contained them to one run the rest of the day. It was enough, though, for Denis Leonov (7 K, 4 R in 6 1/3 IP) and Maksim Shevchenko (2 2/3 IP, 0 R). The offense came from some of Russia's usual suspects in 3B Maxim Ayzatulin (2 for 5, 2 R, RBI), C Nikita Monakhov (3 for 4, 2 R, RBI) and DH Viacheslav Vasilyev (3 for 5, 2 RBI).

Zurich

•  United Kingdom 4,  Ukraine 2. Spencer Kreisberg fans 8 and allows one run in 8 to beat the Ukraine. CF Matt Roxburgh scores twice while LF Sam Wiley drives in two in Britain's first close game after back-to-back routs.
•  Poland 12,  Slovenia 4. 18-year-old 2B Milosz Paprocki goes 4 for 4 and 5 Polish players score multiple runs in an easy win. Karol Lapczyk gets the win, while Rok Vadas gives up 17 hits and throws 168 pitches.
•  Bulgaria 3,  Switzerland 2. In a close game, DH Evgenii Chernozemsky's 8th-inning single scores 1B Martin Andonov with the winner. Alexander Blagoev gets the win, Tobias Siegrist takes the loss.

July 26

Vienna

•  Slovakia 11,  Republic of Ireland 5. Ireland finished 0-5 with its loss to Slovakia. Slovakia drew 13 walks and got good days especially from 3B Martin Brunegraf (2 for 3, 3 BB, 3 R) and C Martin Bosy (0 for 2, 3 BB, R, 3 RBI).
•  Belarus 7,  Russia 6. Belarus pulled off a stunner, sending the Russian powerhouse to its first loss. Russia went up 2-0 early, but Belarus pulled ahead 5-2 after 6. Russia then retook the lead and was up 6-5 going into the bottom of the 9th. In that inning, Kiril Chermoshentsev plunked 3B Aliaksandr Huryn, who stole second. RF Anton Pryputnevich singled as well. P Vadym Rabushkin hit into an error by 1B Nikita Kotlyar (his 3rd error, the entire Russian total), scoring Huryn with the tying run. 1B Aliaksai Kachurka then singled in Pryputnevich with the winner. Huryn and C Ihar Solohar each finished with two RBI and Huryn was also the top Belarussian hurler (2 R in 5 IP). Kotlyar and 3B Oleg Semenov each had 3 hits in a losing cause. Belarus keeps up their hope for a spot in the finals, but they need Austria to lose.
•  Austria 3,  Lithuania 2. The hosts tied Belarus and Russia at 4-1 in front of 800 fans thanks to a strong pitching effort from Felix Zimmerle, while Aivaras Jacyna took the loss. CF Dominik Talir scores twice and C Peter Ferak drives in two for Austria. In the 5th, Talir walked, stole second and scored on a Ferak hit for the winning run. Zimmerle allowed no runs after the second. Austria's win ensures that they will go to the championship against Russia.

Zurich

•  Ukraine 10,  Poland 7. 2B Milosz Paprocki again has a big day (3 for 4, R, 2 RBI) for Poland but recent Yankees signee Artur Strzalka is toasted for 9 hits and 8 runs in 4 2/3 IP. Anatoliy Korolov got the win despite 5 runs in 7 innings. Six players had multiple hits for the Ukraine, with 1B Ruslan Deikun going 2 for 3 with two walks, a double, a run and two RBI.
•  United Kingdom 6,  Belarus 4. Bulgaria remains a pleasant surprise, while Britain finishes the round-robin unbeaten. DH Mitch Evans (3 for 5, 2 2B), 1B Ian Young (3 for 3, 3 R, RBI) and 3B Maikel Azcuy (3 for 3, R, RBI) provide the bulk of the British offense.
•  Switzerland 11,  Slovenia 1. Slovenia finishes winless, routed by the home team. Andrea Girasole gets the win while Uros Rudolf takes the loss. SS Martin Godnic is 3 for 3 with a run for the losers, while the winning team's offense includes fine showings from 1B Hide Oshima (2 for 3, R, 3 RBI), 3B Angelo Rodriguez (3 for 3, 2B, RBI) and 2B Sebastian Zwyer (3 for 3, 2 R, RBI).

July 27

Vienna

• Finale:  Russia 3,  Austria 2. Russia had to battle to remain in the Euros, getting a stiff challenge from the home team. Russia turned to former minor leaguer Andrey Lobanov while Austria countered with Christian Tomsich. Austria went ahead in the second. With two away, 3B Felix Zimmerle and 3B Lukas Scheicher singled and an error by CF Victor Samchuk made it 1-0. In the second Lobanov plunked 2B Fabian Hirnschal, who advanced on a sacrifice and a grounder. C Peter Ferak singled to make it 2-0. Lobanov would allow no more runs, though.

Russia got on the board in the top of the 4th. 2B Aleksandr Maksiakov singled and was balked to second. With two outs, DH Daniil Khomyakov singled to cut it to 2-1. Austria got two men in scoring position in the bottom of the inning but Lobanov whiffed Hirnschal on a full count. Austria got their first two runners on in the 7th but Hirnschal bunted into an out at third, CF Dominik Talir struck out and RF Ferdinand Obed flew out. In the 9th, Russia finally got the lead. With their backs to the wall, Maksiakov opened with a four-pitch walk and 3B Oleg Semenov singled. Werner Harrasser relieved the fading Tomsich. DH Dmitry Semenov bunted the runners over. Maksiakov was caught stealing home, presumably on a botched squeeze play. One out from falling, Russia survived when Talir dropped Samchuk's fly to center to make it 2-2. SS Maxim Ayzatulin then singled for his 4th hit of the day, scoring Samchuk with the winner. Austria still had a shot, though. With one out in the bottom of the 9th, Lobanov walked Scheicher on four pitches (he would finish with 130 pitches on the day). Scheicher was bunted over, then PH Richard Alzinger singled to put the tying run on third and the winning run aboard. Moritz Hackl batted for Talir but grounded out to short to end it.

Zurich

• Finale:  United Kingdom 2,  Ukraine 0. Great Britain ensured they would remain in the top level of the Euros in a pitching duel. Greg Hendrix fanned 13 in a five-hitter. The only runs came in the second off Kostyantyn Korolov. LF Sam Wiley singled, then DH Brett Rosen doubled. 1B Ian Young singled in Wiley. After 3B Maikel Azcuy struck out, RF Ryan Trask singled home Rosen with the insurance run.

MVPs

• Austrian catcher Peter Ferak went 8 for 16 with 3 walks and 5 RBI to win the MVP of the Vienna pool.
• British pitcher Greg Hendrix struck out 28 in 16 innings and won both of his games, including his five-hitter gem in the finale.

Standings

Vienna

•  Russia, 5-1
•  Austria, 4-2
•  Belarus, 4-1
•  Slovakia, 2-3
•  Lithuania, 1-4
•  Republic of Ireland, 0-5

Zurich

•  United Kingdom, 6-0
•  Ukraine, 3-3
•  Bulgaria, 3-2
•  Poland, 2-3
•  Switzerland, 2-3
•  Slovenia, 0-5