The 2023 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament organized by WBSC Europe. It was held in five cities in the Czech Republic, from September 24 to October 1, 2023. The championship marked the first time in history, excluding three occasions when they did not enter the tournament, that the Netherlands did not feature in the final, having lost 7–6 to Spain in the semi-finals.
Qualification
The top 14 teams of the 2021 European Championship qualified automatically for the tournament. After the expulsion of Russia, who had finished 10th, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the remaining three spots were filled through a qualification tournament, that saw Hungary, France, and Switzerland qualify. Slovakia was the only team from the 2021 championship that did not qualify in 2023.
Team Qualification method Team Qualification method
Venues The tournament took place in six different stadiums across the Czech Republic.
PragueTřebíčBrnoBrnoEagles ParkStadion Na HvězděSports area Hroch YD Baseball Arena Matches: 6Matches: 10Matches: 6Matches: 14 (including final) OstravaBlanskoArrows ParkStrawberry FieldMatches: 6Matches: 6
Group stage The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals. The bottom two teams entered the 9th–16th place play-offs.
All times are local, CEST (UTC+2).
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Play-offs
Placement round 5th–8th place
Relegation rounds
13–16th places classification
Final standings Rk Team W L Pct. R RA 6 0 1.000 72 13 5 1 .833 59 30 5 1 .833 63 18 4 4 2 .667 46 23 5 4 2 .667 41 23 6 3 3 .500 34 32 7 3 3 .500 32 27 8 2 4 .333 32 51 9 4 2 .667 61 29 10 3 3 .500 35 32 11 2 4 .333 32 47 12 2 4 .333 28 53 13 3 3 .500 43 57 14 ^ 1 5 .167 17 60 15 ^ 1 5 .167 24 56 16 ^ 0 6 .000 33 97 ^ - Relegated to B Pool European Qualifier
Awards and honors
Awards Award Player Ref. Most Valuable Player Wander Encarnación Leading hitter Graeham LuttorOutstanding defensive player Didi Gregorius
Statistical leaders
+ Batting leadersStatisticNameTotalBatting average Juremi Profar .609Hits Juremi Profar 14Runs Omar Hernández 10Home runs Omar Hernández 4 Nick WardRuns batted in Harry Ford 12Stolen bases Harry Ford 5Bases on balls Didi Gregorius 9 Shawn LarryOn base percentage Juremi Profar .643Slugging percentage Nick Ward 1.190
+Pitching leadersStatisticNameTotalWins 6 tied with 2Earned run average 3 tied with 0.00Innings pitched James Sanders Strikeouts Carlos Garcia 25Saves Dimitri Lettas 2
Home runs There were 74 home runs hit in 48 games, for an average of home runs per game.
4 home runs
Nick Ward Omar Hernandez
3 home runs
Martin Červenka Harry Ford Juremi Profar
2 home runs
Drew Janssen Philip Smith Eric Sogard Vincent Ahrens Shamoy Christopher Kasey Caras Graeham Luttor Robel García Ray-Patrick Didder Sicnarf Loopstok Dashenko Ricardo Engel Beltré Wander Encarnación Gabriel Lino Edgar Rondón Edison Valerio Noah Williamson
1 home run
Sammy Hackl Felix Zimmerle Benjamin Goffaux Antonio Horvatić
Matěj Menšík Ernesto Martinez David Grimes Shawn Larry Yannic Walther Panagiotis Dudanakis Ari Sechopoulos Ryan Lavarnway Robb Paller Benjamin Rosengard Federico Celli Roger Bernadina Ademar Rifaela Andrés Angulo Leonard Bäckström Joel Johnson Tommy Lindell
Notable participants Several former and future Major League Baseball players participated in the tournament. Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza managed Italy and Robel García played for the Italian team. The Netherlands team included Didi Gregorius, Roger Bernadina, and Shairon Martis, with Gene Kingsale serving as a coach. Ryan Lavarnaway, Ty Kelly, Josh Zeid, and Jake Fishman played for Israel. Engel Beltré and Rhiner Cruz played for Spain. Eric Sogard played for Czechia. Catching prospect Harry Ford starred for Great Britain, which also included Jake Esch. Erik Pappas was a player and coach for Greece.
References
External links
WBSC Europe tournament website