2017 European Champions Cup

The 2017 European Champions Cup was held from June 7 to June 11, 2017 in Regensburg, Germany at Armin-Wolf Arena. Curaçao Neptunus won their 9th title; it was the third straight Cup won by a Dutch team; only the 2000-2004 run by Neptunus had been better for the Netherlands.

Former major leaguers included José Ascanio (San Marino) and Rudy Owens (Bologna).

Competing Teams / Manager

• CNF UnipolSai Bologna (Italy) (Daniele Frignani)
• Curacao Neptunus (Netherlands) (Ronald Jaarsma)
• T&A San Marino (San Marino) (Marco Nanni)
• ASD Rimini (Italy) (Paolo Ceccaroli)
• L&D Amsterdam Pirates (Netherlands) (Charlie Urbanus Jr.)
• Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg (Germany) (Kai Gronauer)
• Mainz Athletics (Germany) (Max Boldt)
• Rouen Huskies (France) (Keino Perez)

Results

June 7

• L&D Amsterdam Pirates 5, T&A San Marino 1. Kevin Heijstek turns in a gem, allowing only four hits, two walks and one run in eight, fanning seven, before Daan Hendrix closes it out. A balanced Amsterdam attack is led by CF Remco Draijer (1 H, 2 BB, 2 R) as the defending champs start off strong. Carlos Quevedo allows five unearned runs in five innings for the loss.
• Curacao Neptunus 12, Unipol Bologna 6. C Gianison Boekhoudt homers and droves in five, 3B Stijn van der Meer goes 4 for 5 with four runs and RF Christian Diaz has 3 hits and 3 RBI as Neptunus cruises past Bologna. 43-year-old Elton Koeiman gets the win over former major leaguer Rudy Owens. 1B Alex Sambucci (3 R) and CF Nick Nosti (3 H) lead Bologna.
• Rouen Huskies 17, Mainz Athletics 7. Rouen cruises to an easy win as DH Gabriel Fromental has four hits, three runs and three RBI, finishing a triple shy of the cycle while C Dylan Gleeson scores four, finishing a homer short of a cycle. Jean Granado gets the win despite 13 hits and 7 runs (5 earned) in 7 1/3 IP, throwing 144 pitches. Tim Stahlmann takes the loss with 6 R in 5 IP though his bullpen fares much worse. 3B/2B Jeff Hunt (4 for 5, 3 RBI) and C/P/Mgr Max Boldt (3 for 4, 3 R, 2 RBI) lead the Mainz offense.
• ASD Rimini 5, Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg 2. Mike Bolsenbroek (Regensburg) and Jose Rosario (Rimini) trade goose eggs for 7 before 1B Nico Garbella's two-run, two-out dinger off Bolsenbroek in the 8th opens the scoring; Rimini picks up 3 more runs off the bullpen in the 9th. Rosario finishes with 10 K and only two hits in 7 innings. SS Juan Carlos Infante goes 3 for 5 with two doubles, a steal, a run and a RBI.

June 8

• Unipol Bologna 14, Rouen Huskies 0. Bologna rebounds from their opening loss with a gem by Matteo Bocchi, who throws a mercy rule 7-inning no-hitter, striking out eight and walking only one (SS Larry Infante). 3B/RF Francesco Fuzzi (5 RBI), CF Nick Nosti (3 R), SS Juan Carlos Infante (3 RBI), DH Paolino Ambrosino and 1B Alex Sambucci each rap three hits, Sambucci and Fuzzi going deep. Marc-André Habeck is rocked in the loss (11 H, 9 R, 8 ER in 3 IP)
• Mainz Athletics 7, Curacao Neptunus 6. After a ten-run defeat in their opener, Mainz stuns Curacao. Former Dodgers farmhand Misja Harcksen is smacked for five hits, four walks and seven runs (five earned) and leaves with none out in the second after player-manager C Max Boldt drills a grand slam. Jan Tomek, Mike van den Berg and Berry van Driel combine for seven shutout innings of relief on three hits, but the hole was too deep for Neptunus. Riley Barr goes the distance (6 H, 3 BB, 6 K, 6 R, 4 ER, 126 pitches) for the win. DH Ruar Verkerk (2 H, 2 RBI) leads the Neptunus offense.
• L&D Amsterdam Pirates 9, ASD Rimini 2. A rematch of last year's finale is one-sided as four-time Olympian Rob Cordemans shows he still can shine, allowing one run in six. DH Linoy Croes scores three while 3B Rashid Gerard has 3 hits, two doubles, two runs and a RBI. Luca Di Raffaele allows 7 walks, 5 hits and 6 runs (5 earned) in 4 innings for the loss, while SS Freddy Noguera goes 3 for 3 for Rimini.
• T&A San Marino 13, Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg 1. The hosts get hammered again as Frailyn Florian and Tommaso Cherubini strike out ten and allow only four hits in seven innings in a mercy rule win. SS Erick Epifano goes 3 for 5 with three runs and two RBI while CF Sebastiano Poma scores three runs.

June 9

• Unipol Bologna 22, Mainz Athletics 2. Coming off their stunning upset yesterday, Mainz falls flat today. 11 players score for Bologna, led by 3 apiece from 3B/RF Francesco Fuzzi and SS Robel Garcia. DH Paolino Ambrosino has three hits and four RBI. Andrea Pizziconi picks up the win while Yannic Wildenhain (10 R in 2 2/3 IP) takes the loss.
• Curacao Neptunus 9, Rouen Huskies 3. Curacao rebounds as Kevin Kelly strikes out 11 in 7 2/3 IP and leaves with a 5-3 lead; Misja Harcksen, yesterday's goat, retires all four batters for a save. He is helped by four 8th-inning runs charged to Esteban Prioul. SS Dwayne Kemp has three hits while LF Daniel Fernandes has two runs and two RBI. Owen Ozanich (9 H, 3 BB, 5 R, 4 ER in 5 2/3 IP) takes the loss.
• T&A San Marino 6, ASD Rimini 3. With a spot in the second round at stake, the two Italian Baseball League clubs fought a close battle. San Marino's Yoimer Camacho left early after 6 hits, two walks and three runs in three innings, but relievers Junior Oberto (4 IP, 3 H, 0 BB) and José Ascanio (3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K) tossed seven shutout innings of relief while SS Erick Epifano led the offense (R, 2 RBI). Rimini's Ricardo Hernandez allowed three runs in 6 2/3 IP then Carlos Teran pitched shutout ball in the 8th and 9th. In the bottom of the 9th, Rimini nearly won it. A double by Maikel Cáceres nearly scored Juan Carlos Infante, who was out at home in a collision with Nicholas Morreale that led to a bench-clearing brawl and a long delay. In the 10th, San Marino scored three times off Teran while Rimini couldn't solve Ascanio.
• L&D Amsterdam Pirates 9, Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg 6. Amsterdam had already won a spot in the next round before their win here. CF Remco Draijer (3 R, 3 RBI) fell a triple shy of the cycle from the leadoff spot and SS Nick Urbanus (2 RBI), the #2 batter, added three more hits. Hidde Bokken survived five walks and six hits in seven innings, allowing two runs, both on a Maik Ehmcke homer in the first. Pim Walsma struggled in relief with four walks, two wild pitches, a hit batsmen and four runs in 1 1/3 IP before Norbert Jongerius closed it out. Kevin Vance, who had reached AAA, took the loss.

June 10

• ASD Rimini 13, Mainz Athletics 8. In a game that featured 18 walks and 8 wild pitches, winning pitcher José Escalona walks 8 in 3 2/3 IP (2 H, 3 WP, HB, 6 K, 2 R), needing 100 pitches for that short time. The loser, Jeff Hunt, walks 8 and gives up 8 runs and 6 hits in 3 innings. For the victors, C/LF Antonio Giovanni goes 3 for 4 with two runs and a RBI, 3B Lorenzo Di Fabio is 3 for 4 with a run and two RBI and LF Federico Celli hits a two-run homer. CF Kevin Kotowski scores three runs in a losing effort.
• Rouen Huskies 18, Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg 2. The hosts again get crushed. Leonel Cespedes continues the day's trend of poor control, surviving 7 walks in 5 (3 H, 2 R). 3B Maxime Lefevre (5 RBI), SS Larry Infante, DH Rene Leveret and LF Kenji Hagiwara each score three runs, while 1B Gabriel Fromental drives in six. Eric Faint is roughed up in the loss (5 H, 4 BB, 10 R in 1 1/3 IP).
• Curacao Neptunus 7, T&A San Marino 1. Diegomar Markwell goes the distance to put Neptunus in the finals. RF Christian Diaz (2 for 4, R, 2 RBI), 1B Gregory Muller (2 RBI) and 2B Benjamin Dille (2 R) lead a balanced offense. Josh Kimborowicz takes the defeat.
• Unipol Bologna 9, L&D Amsterdam Pirates 8. Bologna jumps to a 7-0 lead after 4 1/2 then Amsterdam rallies to make it a one-run game before falling. Raul Rivero gets the win in a wild one as befits the day's theme (6 BB, 8 K, 6 H, 5 R in 6 IP) and Nick Pugliese gives up 3 in 1 2/3 IP before Filippo Crepaldi closes it out with a four-out save. Robin Schel (4 R in 3 IP) takes the loss but his bullpen struggled as well. Going deep for Bologna are C Osman Marval (3 H), SS Robel Garcia (4 RBI), RF Eladio Russo and DH Paolino Ambrosino. C Max Clarijs homers for Amsterdam.

June 11

• 7th/8th place game: Mainz Athletics 4, Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg 3. Either way, Germany would lose a spot in the 2018 Cup so this relegation game didn't matter quite as much. CF Kevin Kotowski hit a two-run homer off Mike Bolsenbroek in the 3rd and 3B/2B Max Boldt added another two-run blast off him in the 6th for all the offense Mainz needed. Tim Stahlmann (3 H, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 ER in 5 2/3 IP) got the win and Lennard Stöcklin got the save with 3 1/3 innings of relief (2 H, 2 BB, 1 UER). Regensburg got C Elias Von Garssen to third in the 9th but he was retired at home. With two outs and a man on second in the bottom of the 9th, CF Matt Vance lined out.

• 3rd/4th place game: T&A San Marino 7, L&D Amsterdam Pirates 3. The defending champs lose this one. 2B Riccardo Babini (3 H) and SS Erick Epifano (2 R, 2 H) lead the San Marino offense. Yoimer Camacho (2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K) gets the win in relief of Carlos Quevedo and Frailyn Florian while Andres Perez throws a scoreless 8th and Junior Oberto does the same in the 9th. Kevin Heijstek (7 H, 5 R, 3 ER in 4 2/3 IP) takes the defeat while 2B Nick Urbanus gets all three RBI for Amsterdam.

• Championship game: Curacao Neptunus 7, Unipol Bologna 3. Neptunus wins their second title in three years by beating the Italians in front of 1,248 fans. RF Christian Diaz (3 for 5, 2B, 2 R, RBI) has a strong game at the plate while CF Shaldimar Daantji hits a homer. Old-timer Elton Koeiman turns in a solid start (5 2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 R, 1 ER) then Czech reliever Jan Tomek gets the win (2/3 IP) and Berry van Driel closes it out (2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 UER, 4 K) for the save. A two-run error by 2B Alessandro Vaglio gets the scoring going and former big leaguer Rudy Owens struggles (9 H, 6 R, 4 ER in 6 1/3 IP). C Osman Marval is a bright spot in a losing cause (2 for 3, SF).

Final Standings

• 1. Curacao Neptunus
• 2. CNF UnipolSai Bologna
• 3. T&A San Marino
• 4. L&D Amsterdam Pirates
• 5. ASD Rimini
• 6. Rouen Huskies
• 7. Mainz Athletics
• 8. Regensburg Legionäre

Championship Game

Curacao Neptunus 7-3 CNF UnipolSai Bologna

Leaders and Awards

• MVP: Gianison Boekhoudt, Neptunus C

(Official statistical leaders do not count the placement games of June 11)

• Average: Paolino Ambrosino, Bologna .615
• ERA: Matteo Bocchi, Bologna 0.00 (7 IP)
• Hits: Robel Garcia, Bologna & Ambrosino, 8
• Runs: Francesco Fuzzi, Bologna 8
• RBI: Garcia, 10
• Doubles: Nicola Garbella, Rimini; Larry Infante, Rimini; Carlos Duran, Rimini 3
• Triples: Six tied with 1
• Home Runs: Max Boldt, Mainz; Gianison Boekhoudt, Neptunus; Gabriel Fromental, Rouen 2
• Total Bases: Garcia, 14
• Steals: Fuzzi; Alessandro Vaglio, Bologna; Giovanni Garbella, Rimini 2
• Strikeouts: Kevin Kelly, Neptunus 13
• Wins: Sixteen tied with 1
• Saves: Norbert Jongerius, Amsterdam; Misja Harcksen, Neptunus; Filippo Crepaldi, Bologna 1