2017 CEB Cup

The 2017 CEB Cup was held in early June in Brno and Prague in the Czech Republic. The two host cities wound up in the finale, ensuring a Czech spot in the 2018 European Champions Cup. Draci Brno hurler Petr Minařík was named the MVP (7 shutout innings, 6 of them in the finale) while Stefan Koller of the Therwil Flyers (2-0, 0.79) won Best Pitcher and Illia Velykyi (.643) of Biotechkomanda was named Best Hitter.

Games

June 7

• Nada SM Split 11, Therwil Flyers 7. Greg Mosel throws 175 pitches to beat fellow Australian Chris Horne. 1B Marin Tadić drives in four.
• Templiers de Sénart 3, Biotechkomanda 2. Ukraine nearly pulls off an upset as Sergii Shtapura allows only one run in 7 but Vitalli Chukhtii is not as sharp in relief. Matthieu Brelle-Andrade has a complete game win, while SS Felix Brown (3 for 4, 2 R) and 1B/C Pierrick Lemestre (3 for 4, R, 2 RBI) each double twice. DH Roman Boiko goes 3 for 3 in the defeat.
• Draci Brno 12, Minsk 2. Ondřej Furko picks up the opening win for the host Czechs while SS Terrell Joyce goes 4 for 4 with two doubles, a triple, homer, three runs and six RBI. Yauheni Kishiakou is handed the defeat.
• Olimpija Karlovac 11, Eagles Praha 3. Things do not go as well for the other team from the host nation as 17-year-old Šimon Blažek takes the defeat at the hands of Mitch Keim shuts down the Eagles and collects 3 RBI, as does SS Kruno Gojkovic. 3B Antonio Horvatic has three hits then pitches two shutout innings to close it out.

June 8

• Therwil Flyers 6, Minsk 5. Therwil pulls off a win in the 10th when RF Martin Novak scores on a wild pitch by Youheni Kurdun. Stefan Koller gets the win with 2 1/3 shutout innings (1 H, 1 BB).
• Olimpija Karlovac 15, Biotechkomanda 0. Antonio Horvatic allows only three hits and no walks, striking out eight in five innings in a mercy rule win. LF Slobodan Gales doubles, homers, scores twice and drives in three. Dmytro Limarenko takes the loss.
• Draci Brno 8, Nada SM Split 2. The Czech powerhouse remains unbeaten as CF Arnošt Dubový goes 3 for 5 with three runs and three RBI to back strong pitching from Michal Sobotka. Matko Dabo is the losing hurler.
• Eagles Praha 16, Templiers de Sénart 2. The hosts rebound from a rough opener to cruise here, as Tomáš Duffek strikes out nine in six innings, 3B Joe Wittig has four hits and three RBI and DH Daniel Vítek homers twice and drives in five; Prague gets five dingers. Lorian Andro is handed the defeat.

June 9

• Minsk 10, Nada SM Split 7. Minsk gets its first run as Yauheni Kurhun throws 169 pitches and survives ten walks in 8 1/3 IP. RF/P Anton Pryputnevich goes 4 for 6 while SS Siarhei Sokal has three runs and three RBI. Madison Beaird takes the loss. C Andrija Tomić has five walks and three runs in a losing effort.
• Templiers de Sénart 14, Olimpija Karlovac 1. After cruising through two games, Karlovac is crushed by Senart in a 7-inning mercy rule win. Jonathan Mottay allows four hits and a walk while fanning eight in a complete game. SS Felix Brown and LF Nick Ruppert each score three while 3B Matthew Brady has three hits and five RBI. Kruno Gojkovic struggles in the loss.
• Draci Brno 20, Therwil Flyers 2. CF Arnošt Dubový goes 3 for 3 with a walk, hit-by-pitch and five runs, SS Martin Schneider homers twice, scores four and drives in seven and C/1B Petr Čech drives in six in a five-inning mercy rule romp. Jan Vašourek gets the win, Jeremy Schreiber the loss.
• Eagles Praha 7, Biotechkomanda 2. DH Daniel Vítek goes 2 for 3 with a walk and two runs in the win while Rick van Dijck gets the decision over Vitalii Chukhrii.

June 10

• Therwil Flyers 8, Olimpika Karlovac 1. The Flyers improve to 2-2 as Stefan Koller wins again (3-hit complete game, 5 BB, 6 K) and also scores once and drives in two. Patvic Puntar is the losing hurler. Karlovac finishes last in the pool despite their strong upset start win over the hosts.
• Eagles Praha 19, Minsk 0. The hosts rebound from their rough opener to make it to the finals as CF Matěj Hejma goes 3 for 3 with a walk, home run, four runs and six RBI.
• Draci Brno 6, Templiers de Sénart 1. The other hosts cruise into the finals as C Petr Čech reaches in three of four plate appearances and Wes Roemer allows one run in seven. Matthieu Brelle-Andrade takes the loss.
• Biotechkomanda 11, Nada SM Split 9. Ukraine finally gets a win, putting the two Croatian squads into a tie for last, knocking one of them from next year's CEB Cup. It was 5-0 Nada entering the 7th but Ukraine tied it in that inning. Each team scored twice in the 10th. In the top of the 11th, Biotechkomanada scored four then Nada put two on in the bottom of the 11th before finally falling short. DH Roman Boiko drove in three while CF Illia Velykyi went 3 for 4. C Andrija Tomić scored three runs in a losing cause while CF/P Madison Beaird had three RBI, 3 hits and two walks. Greg Mosel took the loss.

June 11

• 1st/2nd place game: Draci Brno 5, Eagles Praha 0. The two Czech co-hosts squared off for bragging rights as they had ensured a Czech spot in next year's European Champions Cup. Petr Minařík (6 IP, 6 H, BB, 5 K) and Martin Schneider (3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K) combine on a shutout of the Eagles Praha. CF Arnošt Dubový scores twice. Tomáš Duffek allows only one run in five but takes the defeat.
• 3rd/4th place game: Templiers de Sénart 17, Minsk 7. In a slugfest, France rolls to third place. Haywood Wise got the win while Anton Pryputnevich allows all four batters he faces to reach before getting yanked in the loss. 1B Luke Duris drives in four, SS Romain Martinez-Scott scores four times and DH/P Ian Townsend gets the save and goes 2 for 3 with three walks, three runs and three RBI.

Championship Game

Draci Brno 5-0 Eagles Praha

Standings

• 1 Draci Brno (Czech Republic)
• 2 Eagles Praha (Czech Republic)
• 3 Templiers de Sénart (France)
• 4 Minsk (Belarus)
• 5-tie Biotechkomanda (Ukraine)
• 5-tie Therwil Flyers (Switzerland)
• 7-tie Nada SM Split (Croatia)
• 7-tie Olmpijia Karlovac (Croatia)