U-18 European Championship 2018: Ireland beats Germany in surprising win
In an 11-3 clubbing, Ireland beat Germany to pull a surprising win in the U-18 tournament. Normally, one should consider Germany as one of the top teams in championships like this but since the Germans are now 0-3, it is safe to say that is not the case this year.
Ireland, where baseball is not exactly a big sport, apparently has brought together quite a talented bunch of players. Even though their first game vs Spain was lost 2-13, they fought their way back vs Lithuania. After the first inning in that game, the Irish trailed 5-3 but then the offense started to get warm as they eventually beat the Baltic state 26-5 in six innings as they scored sixteen (!) runs in the sixth inning.
After a day of rest, the Irish took the initiative against the Germans in the third inning as they scored two runs on a fielding error by the German third baseman after a “hit” by Liam O’Connor and an unassisted groundout hit by Jack Scanlon. After two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, and two in the seventh, the Irish had a big inning in the ninth when they scored four more runs. Germany could only score two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth.
Jack Scanlon pitched a gem of a complete game. He gave up three runs on nine hits, walked just one and struck out ten(!).
Best hitter for Ireland was Sean Scanlon who went 2 for 3 with two doubles and two runs scored.
Thanks to this victory, Ireland is now