2023 National Champions in Europe

It’s that time of the year again. Time for an anthology of national champions in European baseball. A continuation of what has become a tradition.

Austria:
This year, the Diving Ducks Wiener Neustadt clinched their second Austrian title. But the team had to go deep. In a best of five, the Vienna Metro Stars got a lead in the series twice, but the Diving Ducks tied the series as many times, so a fifth and decisive game was necessary. And in that game, the Metro Stars could keep pace quite a while, but a six-run sixth inning did it all for the Diving Ducks as they beat the team from the Austrian capital 2-10.

Belarus:
Also in 2023, BC Minsk was the best team in Belarus. But it wasn’t a clean sweep. The opponent, Brest Zburs (Bisons) won game two 5-1, which made a fourth game in this best-of-five series necessary. The other three games were won by Minsk (16-7; 5-1; 13-3).

Belgium:
After an eventful season, in which the club sacked their coaches, the Deurne Spartans have clinched their fifth Belgian title, their first since 2019.
In a best-of-five series, Hoboken Pioneers never really stood a chance. The club from Hoboken could only win one game but the Spartans won the series 3-1. The championship clincher was a pitching duel in which the winning pitcher, Cédric Desmedt threw 163 pitches.

Bulgaria:
Once again, the Sofia Blues clinched the Bulgarian championship. In a best-of-five series, runner up Blagoevgrad Buffaloes didn’t stand a chance as they lost 3-1.

Croatia:
A threepeat. Olimpija Karlovac won its third consecutive championship by beating Vindija 4-1 in games. The championship was like a cherry on the pie as Olimpija celebrated its fortieth anniversary this year.

Czech Republic:
After Hrosi Brno won last year’s Czech championship, their crosstown rivals, Draci (Dragons) bested Tempo Prague 3-2 in a best-of-five championship series (3-2, 5-7, 4-3, 8-9, and 4-1). Draci clinched its twenty-fourth championship.

Denmark:
A new champion in Denmark. Multiple Danish champion Urban Achievers took on the Odense Wolves in a best-of-three series. The first match was won by the Urban Achievers (7-6), game two and three were won by the Odense Wolves (4-3 and 8-7) in very exciting and close games. This championship is the very first for the Odense Wolves.

Finland:
Just like the previous three seasons, the Tampere Tigers and the Espoo Expos faced each other in the championship series. And just like last year, the Tampere Tigers prevailed 3-1 (9-2, 4-6, 7-3, and 8-3).

France:
For the first time in years, Rouen Huskies didn’t make it to the French playoffs, so we have a new French champion. In the championship series, the Montpellier Barracudas faced Montigny-Le-Bretonneux Cougars. Both teams won two games, so a decisive fifth game was needed. In this fifth game, the Cougars didn’t stand a chance and fell 8-0 to the Barracudas, who clinched their fourth overall French championship.

Germany:
After the Heidenheim Heideköpfe were very active in the off season and acquired a lot of players from other clubs, the 2023 championship didn’t come as a surprise.
The Heideköpfe beat Untouchables Paderborn 3-1 in a best-of-five series, clinching their seventh overall German championship.

Great-Britain:
Another baseball season, another championship for the London Mets. In a best-of-three series, the Mets beat crosstown rival London Capitals 2-1 (3-5, 14-0, 5-0) to clinch their fifth consecutive British title.

Hungary:
Once again, the Budapest Red Wolves won the Hungarian championship. At the end of the season, the club finished with a perfect 8-0 record on top of the standings, leading runner up Erd Aeros by three games. 

Ireland:
In a best-of-three series, the Greystones Mariners beat the Dublin Spartans 2-0 (7-6, 11-1).
The championship was the Mariners’ third overall. 

Italy:
In a championship series with the same club like last year, the result was different. Fortitudo Bologna won the Italian championship by sweeping T&A San Marino in a best-of-seven series (3-2, 7-4, 7-6, and 6-2). It was the fourteenth Italian title for Fortitudo Bologna.

Lithuania:
BK Vilnius threepeated as Lithuanian champions. They had to go deep as Kaunas Green forced them to a fifth game, that was easily won by BK Vilnius 20-9.

Netherlands:
After one year with a different champion (HCAW), the two eternal rivals, Amsterdam Pirates and Curaçao Neptunus, faced each other once again. As Neptunus bought three pitchers away from Amsterdam Pirates in the off season, and one from Oosterhout Twins, their pitching staff was bolstered and the expectation was the club from Rotterdam would win a bought championship. But Amsterdam Pirates did the unexpected and beat Curaçao Neptunus in a best-of-seven series, in the rubber game 9-8.

Norway:
In only one championship game, the Kristiansand Suns clinched the Norwegian championship by beating Vålerenga Baseball 10-3 in the championship game.

Poland:
For the third year in a row, Stal Kutno won the Polish championship. The team beat Gepardy Zory in a best-of-five series 3-0 (11-0, 15-3, 10-3).

Portugal:
For the third year in a row, Portugal got a different champion. After beating the Leones Lagoa 2-0 in the semi finals, Clube Deportivo Feirense beat the Piratas da Ria 2-1 (4-3, 2-6, 13-0) in a best-of-three championship series.

Russia:
For the third year in a row, Russtar from Moscow won the Russian championship as they swept the Moscow Wolves in a best-of-five championship series.

Serbia:
Beograd 96 is the new champion of Serbia. After two years in which Vojvodina from Novi Sad won the championship, Beograd 96 won the one game that was played for the championship. The Serbian federation was forced to limit the number of championship games because of a lot of rainouts earlier in the season. In that championship game, Beograd 96 beat Vojvodina 16-10 and clinched its twenty-first Serbian championship.

Slovakia:
Another year, another championship for Apollo Bratislava. In a best-of-five championship series, Angels Trnava was swept (17-0, 13-1, and 17-7. With this title, Apollo has now won twelve Slovakian championships.

Spain:
For the third year in a row, the Tenerife Marlins won the Spanish championship by finishing on top of the standings. The championship clincher was the second game of July 15, after they lost the first game of the doubleheader against Sant Boi. The second game was won by 14-4 in mercy rule fashion. With this win, Tenerife finished with a three game lead over runner up Valencia Astros. It was the Marlins’ sixteenth overall championship.

Sweden:
The Rattvik Butchers won this year’s Swedish baseball championship by sweeping the Stockholm Monarchs in a best-of-five series (11-0, 8-4, 11-1). It was the Butchers’ fourth Swedish championship.

Switzerland:
For the first time in five years, Switzerland has another champion than the Therwil Flyers. The Flyers took on the Zürich Challengers in the championship series.
The Challengers won the first game 10-6, but the Flyers tied the series in the second game (13-7). In the following two games, the Flyers didn’t really stand a chance as they lost 15-4 and 2-0. It was the Challengers’ tenth overall Swiss championship and their first since 2018.

I’d like to thank Ilya Sladzinski for the much needed info about the Belarus championship. Furthermore I want to thank the Danish Baseball Federation for providing the information about the Danish championship.