Kostiantyn Boiko

Kostiantyn Boiko also transliterated as Boyko

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born November 10, 1996

Biographical Information

Kostiantyn Boiko has played for the Ukrainian national team.

At age 19, he starred for KNTU Elizavetgrad in the 2015 European Cup; manning first base, he was 4 for 4 with 3 runs against Draci Brno and 4 for 4 with two runs and a RBI versus Heidenheim Heideköpfe. He finished at .556/.526/.667 with five runs in five games. He led the Rotterdam pool in average (.023 ahead of Edgar Mundarain), tied Luke Sommer for 2nd in slugging (.013 behind Dwayne Kemp), was 4th in OBP, tied Jamie McOwen and Stefano De Simoni for 6th in runs, tied Riccardo Bertagnon for third in hits, tied for 4th with two doubles and tied Gianison Boekhoudt and Christian Diaz for 3rd with 12 total bases. He also starred in the 2016 European Championship U21 (a small event, with four teams at that point, none of them major European powers); he was 7 for 15 with two doubles, a walk, four runs and three RBI to finish second in average, was second in slugging, tied for 7th in OBP and tied Tal Erel, Robertas Vilimas and Yevhen Zhantalai for the most total bases.

Boiko hit .200/.393/.250 with five walks and eight runs in six games in the 2017 European Championship U23. He tied for 9th in runs (Heorhii Hvrytishvili had more for Ukraine) and led the event in putouts (65, 13 ahead of Dominick Golubiewski; interestingly, a teammate with the same first name, Kostiantyn Chukhas, led in assists). His 7 double plays were second, one behind Philipp Eckel. In the first Ukraine-Russia game since Russia invaded the eastern Ukraine, he saved the Ukraine from being no-hit, getting the lone safety off former Twins farmhand Andrei Lobanov, at the 2017 B-Level European Championship. Overall for the qualifier, he batted .400/.500/.600 with two steals in two tries. He had 37 chances error-free. He was 9th in the tourney in average, tied for 6th in OBP, tied for second in steals and had the second-most chances of anyone without an error (behind Przemyslaw Paluch).

With Biotechkomando in the 2018 CEB Cup, he hit .278/.316/.611 with five RBI in five games and four steals in four tries, with a 3-run homer off Felix Hoffmann. He had 40 chances without a miscue, 5th-best in the event. He was also among the leaders in doubles (3, tied for 1st) and steals (tied Steven De Lannoy for first). In the 2019 B-Level European Championship, he had three hits and three RBI against Slovakia; for the tournament, he was at .316/.381/.421 with six runs in five games, two steals in two tries and 37 error-free chances. He was second in fielding (Vadzim Harun had more chances, also with no errors). He kept it up in the 2019 European Championship U23, with a batting line of .357/.471/.429 with three steals in four tries and four runs in five games. He had 28 chances without an error. He was 7th in chances for someone without an error (between Nolan Soliveres and Maurice Bendrien) and tied Julian Rip and Martin Červinka for 2nd in steals.

At age 24, he hit .188/.235/.313 in the 2021 European Championship Qualifier but drove in four runs in four games as the Ukraine won its first European Championship trip in 11 years. In the 2021 European Championship, he was bumped from first base, playing 2B and LF instead. In the opener, he was retired by Spanish national team hurler Carlos Sierra then replaced by Serhii Tykhonets. His first hit was a double off Germany's Lennard Stöcklin to score Denys Brechko and give Ukraine a 5-0 lead, but their upset bid fell short. His only other hit was a triple off Slovakia's Markus Racík to score Roman Boiko in a comeback win. He was 2 for 18 for the Euros, though with six runs produced, five total bases and three walks while handling 19 chances without an error at tougher positions than usual. He tied Chukhuas for the team lead with three RBI and only Brechko scored more runs. He was related to at least two teammates, Roman Boiko and Andrii Boiko (there was also an Oleksii Boiko, possibly related).