Sergii Shtapura

Sergii Shtapura
also transliterated as Serhii, Serhiy

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born November 11, 1993

Biographical Information

Sergii Shtapura has pitched regularly for the Ukrainian national team.

He pitched 1/3 of an inning in the 2009 European Junior Championship, allowing one hit and one walk. He had a 7.04 ERA in the 2011 European Junior Championship; his three games pitched tied Roman Boiko for the Ukraine team lead. He had a 2.00 ERA in the 2014 European Championsip U21.

In the 2015 European Cup, he pitched for KNTU Elizavetgrad, losing to Diegomar Markwell and the Curaçao Neptunus and Leonel Cespedes and the Templiers de Sénart. He allowed 12 hits and 12 runs (9 earned) in 2 2/3 IP; only Christopher Morel allowed a higher ERA and Shtapura allowed the most runs while tying Luke Sommer for the most losses. At the 2015 B-Level European Championship, he was rocked for five runs in a third of an inning but got a no-decision against Switzerland and was much sharper but lost to Matko Dabo and Croatian national team, 5-4, allowing 3 earned runs in a complete game. His .219 opponent average was 6th in the event, between Rok Čuček and Jakub Okasa.

For Elizavetgrad in the 2016 CEB Cup, he lost to Nada Split and Andrew Jones, giving up 9 hits and 6 runs (3 earned) in 7 innings while striking out 7. He tied for 8th in the Cup in batters fanned He nearly got revenge against Sénart in the 2017 CEB Cup, outdueling Matthieu Brelle-Andrade with one run in seven but the bullpen failed to hold on. He was among the event leaders in ERA (.82, 2nd, .03 behind Stefan Koller) and IP (11, tied Brelle-Andrade for 2nd, 1/3 behind Koller).

For Ukraine in the 2017 B-Level European Championship, he beat Slovakia and former minor leaguer Jakub Ižold and had a no-decision against Belarus. He was 6th in the event in ERA (3.00, between Yauheni Kurhun and Michal Kechko), 3rd in IP (15, tied with Andrei Lobanov) and tied Kurhun for 1st in Ks (17).

In the 2018 European Cup, he was 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA for Biotechkomanda. He lost to Kenny Vandenbranden and the Borgerhout Squirrels and had a no-decision in the 7th/8th place game versus Olimpija Karlovac. He finished 9th in the Cup in ERA and IP (11 2/3). He excelled for Ukraine in the 2018 C-Level European Championship, allowing one hit and fanning six in three shutout innings versus Estonia then outdueling Eduard Pirvu, 3-2 (one earned run) in six innings in the finale, which was cut short by rain as Ukraine beat Romania.

At age 25, he beat Jonathan Mottay and the Montigny Cougars while with BioTexCom KNTU. He was 10th in the 2019 CEB Cup in opponent average (.217), allowing three runs (two earned) in six innings. In the 2019 B-Level European Championship, he did well in a win over Poland but lost the finale to Eimantas Žičkus and Lithuania to finish at 1-1, 4.38. He was 3rd in IP (12 1/3, behind Ižold and Kurhun) and 7th in strikeouts (10, between Kiryl Kazlouski and Žičkus).

He did not pitch in an international tournament in 2020, the first time since 2013 that he did not do so; this was due to COVID-19 wiping out all international events for the year. Back in a Ukrainian uniform at the 2021 European Championship Qualifier, he allowed three runs in six innings. In the finale of Ukraine's qualifying pool, he allowed one run in three innings to save Andrii Boyko's win over Serbia as Ukraine made their first European Championship in 11 years.

After numerous strong or fair showings for Ukraine over the years, he had his share of woes in the 2021 European Championship. Starting their first game at that level since Konstyatyn Korolev in 2010, he was rocked for eight hits and seven runs (six earned) in one inning in a loss to Spain (he was relieved by Danyil Khodakovskyi). His other start came against last-place finisher Slovakia. He did not get an out, allowing a double to Martin Brunegraf, a RBI single to Martin Lukačka, a walk to Tomáš Biskorovájny and a RBI single to Mário Gottschall. Heorhii Hvrytishvili took over and went the rest of the way, allowing an inherited run to score but Ukraine rallied for a 5-4 win so Shtapura did not go to 0-2. His 81.00 ERA was listed as the highest in those Euros (Omar Dueñas was next at 54.00) but the official site failed to count infinite ERAs, treating them as 0s - ex. Lukáš Žilavy allowed four earned runs and retired no one. He tied for 9th in hits allowed, tied Jonathan Kountis and Jaroslav Kosna for 6th in runs allowed and tied Liam Sabiston for 6th in earned runs allowed.

He was in Ukraine's national guard in their war with Russia.