2013 European Cup

The 2013 European Cup was the 50th European Cup. The format was changed this year as the Final Four was scrapped. Instead the two group winners played in a best of three series to decide the champion. Eight countries participated, including the first ever appearance by a team from Switzerland, with the Bern Cardinals qualifying. Former major leaguers to appear were Darwin Cubillan (San Marino), Chris Aguila (Bologna), Alex Romero (Rimini) and Yorman Bazardo (Rimini).

Unipol Bologna won their second straight European championship as they beat Italian rivals Telemarket Rimini in the final.

Competing Teams

Barcelona

• CB Barcelona (Spain) (Manager: Jorge Miqueleiz)
• Corendon Kinheim (Netherlands) (Hans Lemmink)
• Draci Brno (Czech Republic) (Arnošt Nesňal)
• Rouen Huskies (France) (Keino Perez)
• Telemarket Rimini (Italy) (Christian Catanoso)
• Paderborn Untouchables (Germany) (Stefan Fechtig)

Regensburg

• Bern Cardinals (Switzerland) (John Baum)
• Regensburg Legionäre (Germany) (Martin Helmig)
• L&D Amsterdam Pirates (Netherlands) (Sidney de Jong)
• Eagles Prague (Czech Republic) (Richard Kania)
• T&A San Marino (San Marino) (Doriano Bindi)
• Unipol Bologna (Italy) (Marco Nanni)

Results

June 4

Barcelona

• Draci Brno 1, Rouen Huskies 0. In the opener, Owen Ozanich (Rouen) and Martin Schneider (Draci Brno) engaged in a pitching duel, neither team scoring till the 9th. Schneider left after 6 1/3 innings, having walked five, and was relieved by new club addition Karl Malecek. Radim Chroust would save the win for Malecek. In the 9th, Ozanich finally allowed an unearned run, when 2B Dylan Gleeson's miscue let LF Michal Ondráček score.

• Telemarket Rimini 1, Corendon Kinheim 0. In a second pitching duel, Rimini edged Kinheim in 11 innings. Yorman Bazardo and Enorbel Márquez combined on a one-hit, 12-strikeout, four-walk gem for Rimini, the lone hit being a single by CF Remco Draijer to open the 6th (he was stranded at second). David Bergman did his share for Kinheim, tossing nine shutout innings. In the 11th, though, Rimini scored off reliever Arshwin Asjes, when DH Alex Romero had a bases-loaded single to score 2B Riccardo Babini. RF Mario Chiarini had three hits for the victors.

• CB Barcelona 4, Paderborn Untouchables 2. Ricardo Hernández allowed one run in 7 innings to give Spain the win over Germany, while Andres Gimeno got the save. Eugen Heilmann went the distance in the loss and SS Jendrick Speer was 2 for 4 with two steals and a run.

Regensburg

• Unipol Bologna 4, L&D Amsterdam Pirates 3. Amsterdam ace Rob Cordemans continued his long run of poorly supported no-decisions and losses in European Cups, allowing 3 hits and a run in 7 innings but getting a no-decision as his club only scored once off Raul Rivero. It remained 1-1 until the 10th, when Bologna got three runs off Jurrian Koks. Matteo D'Angelo got the win and Nick Pugliese the save. In the bottom of the 10th, Rashid Gerard fanned for Amsterdam with the tying run on third.

• T&A San Marino 8, Eagles Prague 3. DH Jairo Ramos Gizzi went 3 for 4 with two runs to lead San Marino in a win over Prague. It was 2-2 in the 5th, when 2B Francesco Imperiali singled in Ramos with the go-ahead run. Leonardo D'Amico takes the win, Bradley Merritt the loss.

• Regensburg Legionäre 14, Bern Cardinals 8. Regensburg survived a scare. Not fearing the first Swiss entry much, they sent out a couple younger hurlers early on and promptly allowed 7 runs in the first two innings, with a 3-run homer by 3B Marc Obussier the big blow. Reliever Wolfgang Reitter allows only two hits in five shutout innings, and Regensburg's bats then come into play. C Christopher Howard hits a towering three-run homer in the third, CF Philipp Howard goes 3 for 3 with a walk and two steals, 1B Christoph Zirzlmeier is 3 for 5 with 3 runs and 2 RBI and RF Enzo Muschik drives in 3 more.

June 5

Barcelona

• Paderborn Untouchables 2, Draci Brno 0. Harry Glynne fanned nine in a five-hit shutout. Zach Samuels matched him for four innings, before DH Björn Schonlau singled in a run in the 5th.

• Telemarket Rimini 2, CB Barcelona 1. In a closely-fought match, the Italian entry prevailed over Spain. In the second, LF Filippo Crociati got a two-out single for Rimini, after which Jorge Balboa issued three straight walks to force in a run. In the 4th, Crociati again got things going with a single. He took second and third on a botched pick-off by Balboa, then was singled home. Roberto Corradini contained Barcelona until the 7th, when veteran 1B José Luis Riera singled in 2B Jesús Golindano. Barcelona loaded the bases but reliever Carlos Pezzullo escaped without further harm. Pezzullo tossed a scoreless 8th and Enorbel Márquez finished with a shutout 9th to wrap up the win. Showing European standards are different than American ones, Balboa threw 175 pitches and walked 8 in a complete game effort.

• Rouen Huskies 9, Corendon Kinheim 7. Rouen pulled off an upset of Kinheim, scoring 3 runs on 5 hits in the first off Glenn Wassink and getting two more in the third off Jean-Paul Gulinck. Kinheim rallied to tie it at six, but Rouen got three more in the 9th against Arshwin Asjes, aided by errors by SS Rene Cremer and Asjes. Keino Perez got the win in relief of Jose Rodriguez. 1B Jeffrey Arends was 2 for 3 with a double, run and RBI in a losing cause, while Cremer scored 3 times. SS Carlos Hereaud led Rouen, going 2 for 3 with 3 walks, 2 runs and 2 RBI.

Regensburg

• Eagles Prague 12, Bern Cardinals 4. 3B Lukas Borecky (3 for 4, 2 SB, BB, 2B, 3 RB) and CF Matěj Hejma (2 for 4, HR, 2 SB, 3 R, 4 RBI) lead the offense in a Czech rout of Switzerland. Daniel Vitek got the win while former Tigers farmhand Patrick Lawson was handed the loss to fall to 0-2.

• Unipol Bologna 14, T&A San Marino 4. In a match-up of Italian Baseball League clubs, Bologna blew San Marino out of the water. San Marino led 4-0 going into the bottom of the 5th, but Chris Cooper then folded and his defense didn't help, with errors by 3B Giovanni Pantaleoni and 1B Joe Mazzuca. For the day, San Marino made five miscues. Roger Luque got the win, 1B Luca Bischeri was 3 for 5 and SS Juan Carlos Infante drove in three. A lot of the damage was done against San Marino relievers Alessandro Ercolani (4 R in 1/3 IP) and Simone Bazzarini (5 R in 0 IP).

• L&D Amsterdam Pirates 9, Regensburg Legionäre 1. SS Mike Duursma scored three and drove in two, while Ben Grover turned in a solid pitching effort to give Amsterdam the win. Dutch hurler Mike Bolsenbroek struggled, giving up 6 runs (3 earned) in 1 2/3 IP for Germany, while Regensburg made six errors in front of their home crowd, half of them by SS Matt Vance (who was 2 for 3 with a steal and a RBI as Regensburg's top hitter).

June 6

Barcelona

• Draci Brno 10, CB Barcelona 3. The hosts got obliterated as C Alex Derhak (3 for 5, 2B, 2 R) and LF Michal Ondráček (4 for 5, 3 R, RBI) lead the Czech charge. Michal Sobotka turned in a solid effort for the win, while Andrés Gimeno was not as sharpo (5 BB, 7 H, 5 R in 4 1/3 IP) in a losing effort.

• Corendon Kinheim 9, Paderborn Untouchables 6. Kinheim finally got their first win of the Cup but it didn't come easily.

3B Octavio Medina drew an opening walk from Dutch national team hurler Leon Boyd; after a single, SS Jendrick Speer hit a run-scoring single. DH Björn Schonlau hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Taylor Swift didn't start much sharper, issuing opening walks to SS René Cremer and RF Dirk van 't Klooster, then Kinheim pulled off a double steal. Swift recovered to retire C Ramiro Balentina, LF Bryan Engelhardt and 1B Jeffrey Arends in order without allowing a run. Kinheim again blew a chance in the second, as Swift issued walks to 3B Mervin Gario, CF Remco Draijer and Cremer but did not allow a score.

In the third, Paderborn padded their lead on a walk and a triple. Kinheim finally stopped stranding runners in the bottom of the inning as Balentina led off with a single and Engelhardt went deep to cut it to 3-2. C Robert Herrmann and 1B Tristan Gerdtommarkotten singled for Paderborn in the 4th and a throwing error by Engelhardt made it 4-2.

The tide turned in in the bottom of the 5th. Swift continued to display wildness, walking Balentina and Engelhardt. He struck out Arends but walked DH Quintin De Cuba. Gario then singled in two runs to tie the score. Daniel Rahn relieved Swift and got an out on a force, but he then plunked Draijer and gave up a 2-run single to Cremer as Kinheim went ahead by a 6-4 margin. They added insurance in the 7th on a one-out single by Balentina, a walk to Arends, de Cuba getting plunked and a two-out single by 2B Roy Seltenrijch (Arends was out trying to score on the play).

Jean-Paul Gulinck replaced Boyd in the 7th and tossed a shutout inning. In the 8th, he was replaced by former Reds minor leaguer Arshwin Asjes. Herrmann greeted him with a single. RF Sascha Brockmeyer and Gerdtommar both singled as well to load the bags. After an out, LF Marcel Schulz singled in one run and Medina hit into a run-scoring force to cut it to 7-6. Paderborn got no further, though. In the 8th, Kinheim added a couple insurance runs. Balentina singled, Engelhardt doubled, Arends hit a sac fly and De Cuba got a RBI single. Herrmann finished with 3 hits in a losing cause, while Balentina had 3 runs for the victors and Engelhardt had 3 hits and 4 runs.

• Telemarket Rimini 6, Rouen Huskies 3. 17-year-old Yoann Vaugelade nearly pitched Rouen to an upset win but player-manager Keino Perez (a former Indians farmhand) blew it in relief. Rouen went ahead in the bottom of the first on a one-out walk to 2B Dylan Gleeson from Sandy Patrone and a RBI double by SS Carlos Hereaud. C Boris Marche singled, then a sacrifice fly made it 2-0. While both teams had opportunities, neither one scored again until the 7th. SS Jack Santora drew a one-out walk and DH Alex Romero walked with two outs. 44-year-old LF Jim Buccheri then delivered a run-scoring single, knocking out Vaugelade (3 H, 6 BB, 1 R in 6 2/3 IP) in favor of Perez. In the 8th, Rimini feasted on the veteran hurler. 1B Giuseppe Spinelli singled and Perez made an error on a bunt by 3B Adolfo Gomez. 2B Riccardo Babini bunted into a force at third, then CF Leonardo Zileri drew a full-count walk. Santora then got the big hit, a 3-run triple down the right field line to put Rimini ahead 4-2. Hereaud opened the 8th with a double and came around on a one-out single to close it to 4-3. Rimini got two more in the 9th off Perez, though. Buccheri doubled, C Riccardo Bertagnon laid down a bunt hit and Spinelli cracked a run-scoring double. After an out, Babini hit a sacrifice fly for a 6-3 lead. Cuban veteran Enorbel Marquez had a perfect 9th for his second save of the Cup.

Regensburg

• Unipol Bologna 2, Eagles Prague 1. Carlos Richetti (7 IP), Fabio Milano (1 1/3 IP, W) and Nick Pugliese (2/3 IP, Sv) combined on a 11-strikeout, three-hit win for Bologna. Prague's David Barta nearly matched them despite seven walks and no strikeouts. Bologna got on the board in the third. DH Gabriele Ermini and RF Claudio Liverziani drew walks from Barta. After an error by C Oliver Kocura advanced the runners, CF Chris Aguila hit into a run-scoring twin killing. The Czechs tied it in the 7th. SS Michal Zýma was plunked by Richetti. With one out, CF Matěj Hejma and RF Jan Pojer hit back-to-back singles to make it 1-1. Bologna got the decisive run in the 9th. With two out, Liverziani doubled, then Aguila singled on Barta's 144th pitch for the winner.

• L&D Amsterdam Pirates 16, Bern Cardinals 1. Amsterdam routed Bern in a 7-inning mercy rule game. Jos de Jong and Nick Stuifbergen combined on a three-hit effort for Amsterdam. Tobias Imboden is shelled for 10 runs and 10 hits in 4 innings but only 3 of the runs are earned as Bern makes four errors. RF Bas de Jong (3 R) and backup LF Wesley Connor (2 R, 3 RBI, HR) lead a balanced Pirates offensive that features 10 players scoring runs and 9 driving them in.

• Regensburg Legionäre 7, T&A San Marino 6. Regensburg bounced back from a rough loss yesterday to win a squeaker over the 2011 European Cup champs. San Marino definitely got off to a better start, scoring four times in the top of the first against former White Sox farmhand Justin Kuehn. In the bottom of the third, Regensburg came right back against Jim Magrane. CF Philipp Howard bunted into a one-out error by 1B Joe Mazzuca, then 3B Ludwig Glaser singled and C Christopher Howard cracked a two-run double. 1B Christoph Zirzlmeier grounded Howard over, then DH Michael Weigl singled in Howard to close it to 4-3. San Marino added an insurance run in the second when 3B Giovanni Pantaleoni walked, stole second, took third on a sacrifice bunt by SS Seth La Fera and scored on a sacrifice fly from LF Willie Vasquez. The Germans tied it in the 5th. Glaser and Howard singled and an error by Vasquez put the runners in scoring position. Zirzlmeier grounded in Glaser then Weigl had his second RBI single, tying the score. Things remained deadlocked from there until the 10th, with Darwin Cubillan replacing Magrane in the 8th. In the top of the 10th, DH Jairo Ramos Gizzi (facing reliever Jonathan Eisenhuth) drove in Pantaleoni to put San Marino back ahead. In the bottom of the 10th, after an error by C Simone Albanese, Cubillan intentionally walked RF Maik Ehmke and 2B Lukas Jahn. SS Matt Vance laid down the winning squeeze bunt.

June 7

Barcelona

• Draci Brno 10, Telemarket Rimini 4. Draci Brno got a crucial win to tie Rimini for first place, pounding Alessandro Norri and three relievers for 10 runs on 13 hits and 9 walks. Among the offensive leaders were 1B Zach Samuels (3 for 4, 2B, BB, 3 R, 3 RBI), 2B Jakub Hajtmar (2 for 5, 2 RBI) and 3B Tomáš Polanský (2 for 4, 2 BB, 3 R). Petr Minařík turned in a strong outing, holding the Italian club to two runs in 7 innings. 3B Adolfo Gomez was 4 for 5 with a run and a double in the losing effort.

• Paderborn Untouchables 10, Rouen Huskies 5. Two 1-2 clubs squared off in another important game. Neither pitcher had a good day particularly, but they had long ones: Eugen Heilmann threw 139 pitches in a complete game win (10 H, 5 R) while Mathew Smith gave up 14 hits and 10 runs in 8 innings in a loss, throwing 136 pitches. Four players have two RBI for Paderborn while LF Marcel Schulz has 3 hits from the #9 spot in the order.

• Corendon Kinheim 7, CB Barcelona 0. Nick Veltkamp tosses a four-hit, nine-strikeout shutout to even Kinheim's record at 2-2. LF Bryan Engelhardt goes 2 for 3 with a walk, triple, two steals, two runs and a RBI to lead the Kinheim offense. RF Dirk van 't Klooster doubles, scores and drives in two.

Regensburg

• Unipol Bologna 9, Bern Cardinals 2. 3B-2B Francesco Fuzzi drives in four, 1B-LF Daniele Malengo scores three and Mattia Barbaresi and Junior Oberto combine for 11 strikeouts in an easy win for Bologna.

• T&A San Marino 4, L&D Amsterdam Pirates 0. In a crucial match-up of two disappointing teams, San Marino rides the arms of Tiago Da Silva (3 H, 3 BB, 6 K in 8 IP) and Darwin Cubillan (1 H, 1 K, 0 R in 1 IP). On the other hand, Kevin Heijstek gave up 10 hits and 3 runs in 6 innings. CF Lorenzo Avagnina (2 for 5, R), SS Seth La Fera (2 for 5, 2 R) and LF Willie Vasquez (3 for 4, RBI) provide solid production from the 1, 2 and 3 slots.

• Eagles Prague 5, Regensburg Legionäre 3. The hosts blow it to fall to 2-2 and hurt their chances of advancing. Prague got going in the first when DH Martin Laube hit a one-out homer off former minor leaguer Mike Bolsenbroek. Regensburg came back in the second, aided by errors by 3B Lukas Borecky and 1B Jan Homolka, scoring twice. They had a chance at another but DH Michael Weigl was gunned down at the plate. Prague retook the lead in the third on an error by 1B Christoph Zirzlmeier, a walk to Laube, a one-out intentional walk to CF Matěj Hejma and a sacrifice fly by RF Jan Pojer. A delayed double steal of home made it 3-2. In the 5th, Prague got insurance on a double by Borecky, another error by Zirzlmeier and a RBI grounder from C Tom Ward. They made it 5-2 in the 6th on a double by Pojer and two grounders. Regensburg had not gotten anything off starter Tomas Duffek since the second until the 8th, when 3B Ludwig Glaser walked, Borecky made an error and Weigl delivered a run-scoring single. Bradley Merritt relieved Duffek and closed out the upset.

June 8

Barcelona

• Corendon Kinheim 1, Draci Brno 0. Kinheim got the win that would send them to the finals instead of Draci Brno in an exciting pitching duel. David Bergman struck out ten and allowed just two hits and a walk to get the better of Martin Schneider, who tossed a four-hitter. Kinheim got the game's lone run in the 5th when 3B Mervin Gario was plunked, stole second and scored on a single by DH Rachid Engelhardt. Bergman had allowed just one hit (a single by 1B Zach Samuels) through eight. In the 9th, Samuels got his second single and was bunted over by C Alex Derhak. That brought up two Czech national team veterans in LF Michal Ondráček and 3B Tomáš Polanský, but Ondráček flew out and Bergman got Polanský looking at strike three.

• Telemarket Rimini 2, Paderborn Untouchables 1. Tommaso Cherubini and Harry Glynne also had a pitcher's match-up. Rimini got on the board against Glynne in the third. 2B Riccardo Babini, the #9 batter, singled and advanced on a grounder. SS Jack Santora walked and RF Mario Chiarini singled to bring up cleanup man Alex Romero, who hit into a run-scoring force. In the 6th, Paderborn got a great opportunity, loading the bases against Cherubini. Reliever Carlos Pezzullo got RF Sascha Brockmeyer to pop into a rally-killing double play. In the 8th, Rimini got a crucial insurance run. Chiarini hit into an error and advanced on a wild pitch then scored on a triple by 3B Adolfo Gomez. In the bottom of the inning, Paderborn scored off Roberto Corradini on a one-out walk and steal followed by a two-out single by DH Björn Schonlau. Corradini retired the last four batters he faced to earn the save, though.

Regensburg

• T&A San Marino 5, Bern Cardinals 2. Bern puts up a solid game in its final contest to finish 0-5 in their first European Cup. Luca Martignoni gets the win and Leonardo D'Amico the save, while Patrick Lawson falls to 0-3. CF Lorenzo Avagnina, LF Willie Vasquez and 1B Joe Mazzuca each get two hits for a well-balanced San Marino effort offensively. SS Marcos Paulino has three hits for the losing side.

• L&D Amsterdam Pirates 19, Eagles Prague 5. Amsterdam routed Prague in a 7-inning mercy rule contest. Their 19-hit offensive included big days from LF Wesley Connor (5 for 5, 2 2B, SB, 3 R, 5 RBI), 1B Kenny Berkenbosch (3 R), RF Bas de Jong (3 R), CF Roelie Henrique (3 RBI) and 2B Björn Hato (3 RBI). Jos de Jong got the win. Bradley Merritt allowed 7 runs in 1 1/3 IP to take the loss; five relievers did nothing to staunch the bleeding.

• Unipol Bologna 9, Regensburg Legionäre 4. Bologna remained unbeaten, holding a slim 3-1 lead before exploding for five runs in the 7th. Adam Clerici allows two hits and one run in seven innings for the win, while Wolfgang Reitter takes the loss. 1B Daniele Malengo scores 3 runs, six Bologna batters get two hits and backup RF Nick Nosti goes 2 for 3 with two runs, 3 RBI and a homer.

June 9

Barcelona

• CB Barcelona 2, Rouen Huskies 1. In a game delayed a day by rain, Barcelona squeaked past Rouen in a battle for last place in the pool. The teams combined for only seven hits. Owen Ozanich allowed only one hit in six innings for Rouen. He gave up one unearned run, in the 4th, on a walk, an error by 2B Dylan Gleeson and a sacrifice fly by SS Oscar Angulo. The Huskies tied it in the 6th. LF Gaspard Fessy singled, just the second hit off Ricardo Hernandez, after which RF and #9 Bastien Dagneau laid down a bunt. CF Oscar Combes singled in Fessy. In the 7th, Barcelona took the lead for good after Jose Rodriguez relieved Ozanich. 2B Jesús Golindano singled. Angulo was retired, then Golindano stole second and 1B José Luis Riera had the game-winning single.

• Telemarket Rimini 6, Corendon Kinheim 2. Rimini beat out Kinheim for a spot in the finals in a game where all the runs came in the first three innings. In the first, Rimini got going against former AAA hurler Leon Boyd. SS Jack Santora drew a one-out walk and stole. RF Mario Chiarini and DH Alex Romero both singled to make it 1-0, then 3B Adolfo Gomez grounded in Chiarini. Kinheim got back one run in the second against Yorman Bazardo. DH Quintin de Cuba singled and got to second when 2B Riccardo Babini couldn't handle the throw on a steal attempt. After a wild pitch by Bazardo, 3B Mervin Gario and 2B Roy Seltenrijch both walked. CF Remco Draijer hit a sacrifice fly. In the third, Kinheim tied it as C Ramiro Balentina doubled, Bazardo threw another wild pitch and LF Bryan Engelhardt singled in Balentina.

In the bottom of the third, though, Rimini put it away against reliever Jean-Paul Gulinck. With one out, Romero walked, Gomez singled and LF Jim Buccheri singled to load the bags. 1B Giuseppe Spinelli then singled home Romero. After an out by C Riccardo Bertagnon, Babini hit into a run-scoring error by Gario and CF Leonardo Zileri hit a two-run single for the final 6-2 margin. Carlos Pezzullo and Enorbel Marquez tossed six shutout innings of relief for Rimini, allowing only two hits. Kinheim did get a chance in the 4th, loading the bases for 2010 Hoofdklasse MVP Engelhardt, but he grounded out.

Regensburg

• Unipol Bologna 7, T&A San Marino 6. Bologna had gone 5-0 in the round-robin, San Marino 3-2, but the two teams sure looked closely matched in the finale of the Regensburg pool. San Marino got going quickly against Matteo D'Angelo. 3B Giovanni Pantaleoni singled, then RF Mattia Reginato hit into a force. LF Willie Vasquez walked, after which 1B Jairo Ramos Gizzi cracked a 3-run homer. San Marino padded their lead in the third. Vasquez doubled and DH Joe Mazzuca drew a one-out walk. After a wild pitch by D'Angelo, CF Lorenzo Avagnina was walked intentionally. Raul Rivero relieved and gave up a run-scoring single to 2B Francesco Imperiali, but would wind up working six innings of relief with just two runs (one earned).

Down 4-0, Bologna finally got to Chris Cooper in the 4th. CF Chris Aguila walked, 1B Luca Bischeri grounded him over and both 2B Alessandro Vaglio and DH Francesco Fuzzi singled to close it to 4-1. In the 6th, Cooper walked Bischeri and Vaglio singled. Jim Magrane relieved but walked Fuzzi and C Marco Sabbatani delivered a two-run single to cut the gap to one. Bologna took the lead in the 7th. LF Nick Nosti singled and stole, then moved to third on a ground-out by RF Claudio Liverziani. Aguila hit into a run-scoring fielder's choice. Darwin Cubillan replaced Magrane. After a sacrifice hit by backup 1B Daniele Malengo, Vaglio singled to make it 5-4.

San Marino then staged a comeback of its own. In the 8th, Mazzuca led off with a double off Rivero. Avagnina laid down a bunt then Imperiali was intentionally walked. C Simone Albanese doubled to tie the score. In the 9th, Vasquez hit a one-out double for San Marino and a Nosti error sent him to third. Ramos was walked intentionally, then Nick Pugliese relieved. Mazzuca hit a sacrifice fly for a 6-5 lead. Avagnina popped out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 9th, Nosti singled and stole second. Liverziani drew a walk to put the potential winning run aboard. Aguila singled to score Nosti with the tying run. Malengo was walked intentionally to bring up Vaglio, but the move backfired for Cubillan and San Marino when Vaglio got his 4th hit of the day to end it.

August 1

• Unipol Bologna 10, Telemarket Rimini 0. The finals kicked off in front of 2,200 fans at Stadio Gianni Falchi. They saw a dazzling show by the home team as Raul Rivero fanned 9 in a one-hit, two-walk gem; a double by 2B Riccardo Babini cost him the no-hitter. SS Juan Carlos Infante and C Marco Sabbatani both homered for Bologna. Enorbel Marquez took the loss.

August 2

• Unipol Bologna 2, Telemarket Rimini 1. The action moved to Stadio dei Pirati for game 2 and Bologna won, but in much closer fashion. The game was a stellar pitching duel between Rimini's Yorman Bazardo (1 R in 8 IP) and Bologna's Matteo D'Angelo (1 R in 7 1/3 IP). D'Angelo allowed a run in the bottom of the first but it could have been much worse; CF Leonardo Zileri drew a leadoff walk but SS Jack Santora lined into a 4-3 double play. RF Mario Chiarini walked and LF Alex Romero doubled him in. 3B Adolfo Gomez singled, but Romero was thrown out trying to score on the play, leaving Rimini with one run on four hits or walks out of five batters. Bologna got a chance to tie it in the 5th. Veteran DH Luca Bischeri singled and an error by Gomez on the play sent him to second. C Marco Sabbatani singled but Bischeri was thrown out at home by Romero. In the 8th, Rimini loaded the bases but Gomez grounded out against reliever Junior Oberto. Bazardo and Rimini led 1-0 going into the 9th but then let down the home crowd. SS Juan Carlos Infante hit a home run to tie it. Carlos Pezzullo relieved Bazardo and got two outs, but CF Raúl Reyes and RF Claudio Liverziani both singled. Roberto Corradini replaced Pezzullo but allowed a game-losing hit to Bischeri. In the bottom of the 9th, Nick Pugliese wrapped it up, allowing only a two-out single to 1B Giuseppe Spinelli.

Final Standings

Barcelona Group

• 1. Telemarket Rimini, 5-1
• 2. Corendon Kinheim, 3-3
• 3. Draci Brno, 3-2
• 4. CB Barcelona, 2-3
• 5. Paderborn Untouchables , 2-3
• 6. Rouen Huskies, 1-4

Regensburg Group

• 1. Unipol Bologna, 6-0
• 2. T&A San Marino, 3-3
• 3. L&D Amsterdam Pirates, 3-2
• 4. Eagles Prague, 2-3
• 5. Regensburg Legionäre , 2-3
• 6. Bern Cardinals, 0-5

Championship Series

Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
Game 1	Unipol Bologna	10-0	Telemarket Rimini
Game 2	Unipol Bologna	2-1	Telemarket Rimini	Bologna wins Cup

Awards and Leaders

Barcelona

• MVP: Adolfo Gomez, Bologna 3B
• Average: Zach Samuels, Draci Brno .571
• ERA: David Bergman, Kinheim 0.00
• Hits: Mario Chiarini, Bologna; Jendrick Speer, Paderborn; Samuels, 8
• Runs: Matthew Martin, Paderborn; Bryan Engelhardt, Kinheim, 6
• RBI: Björn Schonlau, Paderborn; Jack Santora, Bologna; Engelhardt, 5
• Doubles: Carlos Hereaud, Rouen, 3
• Triples: 5 tied with 1
• Home Runs: Engelhardt, 1
• Total Bases: Engelhardt, 13
• Stolen Bases: Martin; Speer, 4
• Strikeouts: Bergman; Owen Ozanich, Rouen, 15

Regensburg

• MVP: Alessandro Vaglio, Bologna 2B
• Average: Francesco Fuzzi, Rimini .538
• ERA: Tiago Da Silva, San Marino 0.00
• Hits: Marcos Paulino, Bern 9
• Runs: Bas de Jong, Amsterdam 8
• RBI: Wesley Connor, Amsterdam 8
• Doubles: Simone Albanese, San Marino 3
• Triples: Ryan Byrne, Bern; Matěj Hejma, Prague 1
• Home Runs: Juan Carlos Infante, Rimini 2
• Total Bases: Paulino, 13
• Stolen Bases: Hejma, 5
• Strikeouts: Patrick Lawson, Bern 10

Finals

• MVP: Juan Carlos Infante, Bologna SS