Dmytro Limarenko

Dmytro Limarenko

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born January 15, 1991

Biographical Information

Dmytro Limarenko tossed one scoreless inning against the Romanian national team in the 2008 European Championship Qualifiers in Trnava; his Ukrainian national team won the event. In the 2009 European Junior Championship, he was 3 for 13 with three walks at the plate and 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA on the hill. He had the lone Ukrainian win, beating Belgium. He was on Ukraine's roster for the 2010 European Championship. He was 0 for 6 with a RBI and allowed 15 hits and 8 runs (7 earned) in 8 innings. Only Ihor Litvinchuk had a better ERA for Ukraine.

In the 2011 European Championship Qualifier, he lost to Russia and Andrey Lobanov, allowing four runs in five. He was 0 for 8 with a walk and a run and handled 20 chances error-free as Ukraine's main first baseman. Only Artem Lopata had a better ERA among Ukrainian qualifiers. He beat Elis Iliesku and Bulgaria in the 2013 B-Level European Championship, his 3.38 ERA leading Ukrainian qualifiers (Kostiantyn Korolov was next at 5.00). He finished 7th in the tourney in ERA (between Alex Mravlje and Eugenii Chernozemsky).

He dazzled for KNTU Elizavetgrad in the 2014 European Cup. In an upset win over the Templiers de Sénart, he allowed one unearned run in 7 2/3 IP to outduel Pierrick Lemestre but the bullpen allowed the French team to tie it before Ukraine won in extra innings, their lone win of the Cup. He nearly got another upset, losing a 5-4 game to ASD Rimini and José Escalona. His 1.50 ERA led his team, .58 ahead of Vitalyi Chukhriy. He was 4th in the Cup in innings (between Mike Bolsenbroek and Roberto Corradini) and 5th in K (10, between Raudelin Legra and former major leaguer Mike Ekstrom).

The right-hander once again had a strong performance in the 2015 B-Level European Championship. He outdueled Marek Bošanský of Slovakia, allowing only one run in eight innings, throwing 143 pitches and striking out eight. The bullpen didn't hold on, though. In their last game, he beat Chernozemsky and Bulgaria to give Ukraine third place in the pool; he struck out nine in a four-hitter. He led the pool in ERA (0.53, 1.11 ahead of Jaka Smolnikar), was 3rd in opponent average (.175, behind Chernozemsky and Andrea Girasole), was third in innings (one behind Bošanský and Slobodan Gales) and ranked second in whiffs (4 behind Chernozemsky). He was 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA in the 2015 European Cup, losing to Radim Chroust and Draci Brno; only Chroust and Luke Sommer allowed more hits in the Cup.

Pitching for Biotechkomanda in the 2017 CEB Cup, he allowed four runs in five innings in a loss to Olimpija Karlovac and Antonio Horvatić. In the 2017 B-Level European Championship, he faced one batter. Relieving Sergii Shtapura in the bottom of the 9th with two on and no outs, he allowed a game-losing hit to Siarhei Sokal. He allowed five runs (four earned) in two innings in the 2018 CEB Cup; batting for the first tournament in a while, he was 1 for 3 with a home run, their only run off the Borgerhout Squirrels' Kenny Vandenbranden. In the 2019 CEB Cup, he had a three-inning save for Shtapura in beating the Montigny Cougars. For the Cup, he had five shutout innings (3 H, 2 K) and was 0 for 6.

Limarenko hit .429/.467/.500 and had seven putouts error-free as the starting right fielder for Ukraine in the 2021 European Championship Qualifier. He led Ukraine in hits and tied for second in RBI, one behind Illia Velykyi. Ukraine won a spot in the 2021 European Championship, their first European Championship in 11 years. He and Roman Boyko were the only remaining players from 2010. His single off Spain's Carlos Sierra was one of Ukraine's two hits in their opening loss in the 2021 Euros. He finished the event at .313/.476/.375 with five walks in six games, his long hit being a double off Russia's Vladislav Ilin. He had 13 putouts, one assist and no errors. He tied Oleksii Boiko for third on Ukraine in hits (5), was second to Denys Brechko in walks and was third on the team in OBP behind Brechko and Kostiantyn Chukhas.

Sources

• WBSC (formerly CEB) websites