2025 Belgian Division One: Brasschaat Wins Championship

For the first time in twelve years, the Brasschaat Braves have won the Belgian Championship. In what appeared to be a walk in the park for the Braves, ended in a nail-biter.

Borgerhout Squirrels 3 – 4 Brasschaat Braves

In the first inning, Brasschaat Braves took an early lead. Steven de Lannoy tried to bunt over Harry Deliyannis, but the latter was tagged out at second. De Lannoy advanced to second on a passed ball and moved to third on a wild pitch. Thomas de Wolf delivered with a line drive single toward the second baseman and drove in De Lanoy for the opening run. Robin Roevens followed with a double that put runners in scoring position. Hunter Cooper then singled to left field to drive in Thomas de Wolf for the second run of the inning.

Two innings later, the Braves extended their score by two runs. Back-to-back singles by Thomas de Wolf en Robin Roevens and a double by Lino Ballardini led to the first run of the inning. With the bases loaded thanks to an HBP, Robin Roevens scored on a wild pitch.

In the first three innings, Harry Deliyannis kept the lineup of Borgerhout on a leash but in the fourth inning he did not get the support of his defense as the first baseman wasn’t able to field a bad throw, which lead to the first run for the Squirrels, scored by Nick Vanthillo.

In the fifth, sixth, and seventh inning, Deliyannis retired the side. The Braves had several good opportunities to blow the game wide open. For example in the fifth, with runners on the corners and one out, but a double play ended the offensive aspirations of the Braves. Also in the eighth, despite two outs, the Braves had a good opportunity as they loaded the bases, but a strikeout ended the inning before the Braves could score.

In the top of that eighth inning, Deliyannis struggled with his control, which resulted in an HBP that loaded the bases. Then, Tim Veraghtert singled to left center field to drive in Steff Roymans. A fielding error by the third baseman, who bobbled a hit, led to another run for the Squirrels.

So in the final inning it was a game again.

Despite his struggling in the eighth inning, manager Kevin Peeters kept his faith in Harry Deliyannis. The latter did not disappoint as he retired the side and struck out the final batter.

So, Harry Deliyannis earned the win after a complete game performance in which he allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks, as he fanned fifteen(!). Donald Goodes took the loss. In 7.2 innings, he gave up four runs on ten hits and five walks as he struck out six.

Thomas de Wolf was the best hitter for the Brasschaat Braves, as he went 3 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

This blog post is brought to you by