European Champions Cup to Start Tomorrow

Another week full of European Baseball ahead. Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 13th, the European Champions Cup will start in Ostrava, Czech Republic. You may consider this tournament the Champions League of European baseball.

Once again the best teams from all over Europe will gather to decide who will be the next European Baseball champions. The following countries are respresented: Italy (Fortitudo Bologna and Parmaclima Baseball), Germany (Heidenheim Heideköpfe and Bonn Capitals), France (Rouen Huskies), Czech Republic (Arrows Ostrava) and the Netherlands (L&D Amsterdam Pirates and Curaçao Neptunus).

Likely the two main candidates to win the European Championship are Fortitudo Bologna and Curaçao Neptunus. Bologna’s lineup is studded with many Italian stars and foreign players with at least AAA experience. Curaçao Neptunus has a small roster but has the strongest team it had in years with players like Roger Bernadina and Dashenko Ricardo to name a few. L&D Amsterdam Pirates may be a dangerous outsider but so far this season, things are not going smoothly. Only last weekend, after the addition of star players from Curaçao and Aruba, like Sharlon Schoop, Shairon Martis and Sicnarf Loopstok, things looked a lot better. But the pitching is rather thin, so it remains to be seen if they can play a role of any importance.

The two groups contain the following teams:

Group A:
Fortitudo Bologna
Heidenheim Heideköpfe
Curaçao Neptunus Rotterdam
Rouen Huskies

The schedule of group A is as follows:
July 13:
10:30
Rouen Huskies @ Curaçao Neptunus
17:00 (5:00 PM)
Heidenheim Heideköpfe @ Fortitudo Bologna

July 14: 
15:00 (3:00 PM)
Fortitudo Bologna @ Rouen Huskies 
17:00 (5:00 PM)
Curaçao Neptunus @ Heidenheim Heideköpfe

July 15:
10:30
Heidenheim Heideköpfe @ Rouen Huskies
15:00 (3:00 PM)
Curaçao Neptunus @ Fortitudo Bologna

                 

Group B:
L&D Amsterdam Pirates
Bonn Capitals
Arrows Ostrava
Parmaclima Baseball

The schedule of Group B is as follows:
July 13:
15:00 (3:00 PM)
Bonn Capitals @ Parmaclima Baseball
19:30 (7:30 PM)
Arrows Ostrava @ L&D Amsterdam

July 14:
10:30
L&D Amsterdam @ Bonn Capitals
18:30 (6:30 PM)
Parmaclima Baseball @ Arrows Ostrava

July 15:
17:00 (5:00 PM)
Parmaclima Baseball @ L&D Amsterdam Pirates
19:30 (7:30 PM)
Arrows Ostrava @ Bonn Capitals

                                

The top two finishers advance to the semi=finals where the number one of each group will take on the number two of the other. 

The first semi-final will be played on July 16 at 10:30.  The no. 2 of group A will face the winner of group B. The second semi-final will be played later that day at 15:00 (3:00 PM). The no. 2 of group B will face the winner of group A. 

The final will be played on July 17 at 19:30 (7:30 PM)