2019 B-Level European Championship

The 2019 B-Level European Championship was held in July in Blagoevgrad, Trnava and Bratislava. Competing were  Greece,  Republic of Ireland,  Israel,  Bulgaria,  Serbia,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Finland,  Poland,  Ukraine,  Belarus,  Lithuania,  Romania and  Slovakia. Finland, Romania and Ireland joined the teams from the 2017 B-Level European Championship (excluding Austria, which had won the event to move up). Teams battled for the 2019 European Championship Playoff which led to one spot in the 2019 European Championship; as the 2019 Euros were a qualifier for the 2020 Olympics, teams brought in more foreign ringers who got citizenship than in other B-Level Euros.

Games

Blagoevgrad

July 1

•  Israel 14,  Greece 7. Two teams noted for their use of ringers squared off with native Israeli Shlomo Lipetz getting the win over Greek-American indy league vet Jonathan Kountis (6 R, 5 BB in 2 IP). CF Blake Gailen (3 BB, 4 R, 3 RBI), 2B Mitch Glasser (3 R, a triple shy of a cycle), LF Rob Paller (3 R), 1B Simon Rosenbaum (3 H) and 3B Noam Calisar (3 RBI) all shine for Israel, while 3B Dimitri Kourtis goes 5 for 5 for Greece with 2 homers, a double and 7 RBI.
•  Serbia 17,  Republic of Ireland 5. Serbia also relies on American ringers as Adam Panayotovich gets the win and SS Conner Tomasic has four runs and four RBI. Slater O'Brien takes the loss.
•  Russia 21,  Bulgaria 0. Russia, trying to retain a spot from the 2016 Euros, started off with a romp over the hosts in a five-inning mercy rule win. Former Twins farmhand Andrei Lobanov fanned 9 and allowed 3 hits and one walk in the shutout, while Stefan Beshkov took the loss. C Nikita Monakhov and LF Viacheslav Vasiliev each scored four times, 3B Kiril Chermoshentsev had 3 runs and 3 RBI and CF Maxim Monakhov and 2B Frank Bulte each drove in four.

July 2

•  Israel 11,  Serbia 1. Gabe Cramer throws five hitless innings (walking one) and Joey Wagman finished it up for the save. Christian Bokich took the loss for Serbia. 2B Mitch Glasser drove in five, aided by a 7th-inning grand slam.
•  Russia 14,  Greece 8. Russia relies on Cuban P Rody Castelló, who is the winning hurler while SS David Castillo raps four hits, homers twice and drives in six. 2B Frank Bulte adds three hits and C Nikita Monakhov scores three runs. LF Nick Spiliotis scores 3 for Greece while 1B Ari Sechopoulos has two runs and two RBI.
•  Republic of Ireland 5,  Bulgaria 0. Devin Hayes and two relievers blank the hosts, who have not yet scored. Evgenii Chernozemsky takes the loss, while 2B Dimitar Nassapov is a bright spot for Bulgaria with a single and a double.

July 3

•  Greece 9,  Serbia 5. Greece got their first win with CF Max Warren having 3 runs, 3 hits and 2 RBI. Andy Orfanakos got the victory over Stefan Živić. LF Stefan Miladinovich had 3 hits and 2 RBI for Serbia.
•  Russia 13,  Republic of Ireland 3. Denis Leonov fans 12 in a three-hitter (7 innings due to the mercy rule) as Russia remains unbeaten. SS David Castillo stars again with four RBI while fellow Cuban RF Geidys Soler has 3 hits for Russia. New Yorker Mitchell Hillert takes the loss for Ireland.
•  Israel 8,  Bulgaria 0. The hosts get shut out for the third straight day as a Israel-Russia finale looks likely. Matt Soren, Dean Pelman and Dan Rothem combine on a two-hitter while CF Blake Gailen has 3 hits and RF Jake Rosenberg's 7th-inning grand slam opens up a game that had been close; Petyo Petkov shut down Israel for the first six (allowing only one run) before flagging.

July 4

•  Greece 3,  Republic of Ireland 0. Dean Christidis and Alex Gounaris combined on a four-hit whitewash. Greece only had three hits but squeezed out three runs.
•  Israel 13,  Russia 12. Israel locked up a spot in the finals with a 10-inning win over their likely opponent in the finals, Russia. Jonathan de Marte got the win and Maksim Makarkin the loss. CF Blake Gailen had 3 hits and 3 RBI for Israel while SS Zach Penprase drove in three. 2B Frank Bulte had 3 hits and 3 runs for Russia while SS David Castillo was a triple shy of a cycle.
•  Serbia 7,  Bulgaria 2. The hosts score their first runs but fall to Adam Panayotovich and Serbia. Panayot Zhaltov took the loss.

July 5

•  Israel 10,  Republic of Ireland 3. SS Zach Penprase drove in four and CF Rob Paller had three hits as Israel cruised. Eric Brodkowitz was the winning hurler, Brendan Scott the losing one.
•  Russia 12,  Serbia 3. Russia advanced to the finals when SS David Castillo falls a triple shy of a cycle for the second straight day. Fellow Cuban Adrian Rodríguez Téllez gets the win over Christian Bokich. SS Nikola Vasic scores twice.
•  Greece 9,  Bulgaria 6. The home team played their best game in their last game but still fell short. Jonathan Kountis got the win, Paul Midili the loss. SS Thomas Roulis had 3 hits and 3 runs for Greece, while SS Alexander Nassapov drove in four for Bulgaria.

July 6

• Finals:  Israel 5,  Russia 3. SS David Castillo began the game with a homer off Joey Wagman, but Wagman would shut out Russia for the next three innings despite five more hits. In the bottom of the first, LF Rob Paller tied it with a homer off Andrei Lobanov. In the 3rd, 2B Mitch Glasser singled, CF Blake Gailen doubled and 1B Simon Rosenbaum grounded in Glasser. Gabe Cramer shut out Russia in the 4th and Dean Pelman did so in the 5th and 6th. In the 7th, Russia scored twice off Pelman and Jonathan de Marte (both runs charged to Pelman) to take the lead. Rody Castelló entered in the 5th to relieve Lobanov and blanked Israel in the 5th, 6th and 7th. In the 8th, though, Israel struck back. Rosenbaum hit a one-out homer to tie it. With two away, RF Jeremy Wolf drew a full-count walk. After DH Jake Rosenberg singled, Vadim Balan relieved. The first Moldovan minor leaguer walked 3B Assaf Lowengart to load the bags. Balan then uncorked a wild pitch to score Wolf with the winning run and Rosenberg with the insurance run. De Marte went 1-2-3 in the 9th, retiring RF Geidys Soler on a grounder then fanning both DH Denis Leonov and Viacheslav Vasiliev to end it.

Trnava/Bratislava

July 2

•  Switzerland 16,  Finland 9. Switzerland used a balanced offense to take the opener in the Slovakian pool. SS Takanobu Oshima drove in three, while Stefan Haltmeier took the win over Timo Liiri. C José Mesa drove in four for the Fins.
•  Lithuania 8,  Romania 6. Having just missed out in 2017, Lithuania tried again to qualify for the Euros, starting off with a run. Eimantas Žičkus got the victory over Iulian Serban. For Lithuania, 3B Audrius Beliauskas scores three times. Romanian RF Klaus Nicolici has three hits and two runs.
•  Ukraine 11,  Poland 1. All nine Ukrainian starters score, and DH Heorhii Hvrytishvili has 3 hits. Serhii Shtapura went the distance in a 7-inning mercy rule win. Paweł Sztejka was the losing pitcher.
•  Slovakia 10,  Belarus 1. Jakub Ižold, the lone Slovakian with US pro experience, allowed one run in eight in an opening win over Yauheni Kurhun and Belarus. CF Tomáš Biskorovajny had two runs and two RBI for the hosts.

July 3

•  Belarus 4,  Lithuania 3. Belarus pulled off an upset win. Ilya Sladzinski got the win and Kyril Kazlouski the save. Marius Balandis fanned 18 in 7 innings and Edvardas Matusevičius took the loss in relief with two unearned runs in the 8th. 1B Vytas Valincius had four hits in a losing cause.
•  Poland 21,  Finland 6. The Finnish staff was lit up again. 1B Dominick Golubiewski (4 R, 4 H), 3B Paweł Jasiakiewicz (4 R) and 2B Marek Podgórski (4 RBI) all provide strong offensive games, while Radoslaw Zajda got the win. Jesse Bové took the loss.
•  Slovakia 19,  Romania 1. The hosts had another blowout win, scoring 19 in 6 innings of a mercy rule victory. Marek Červený got the win with three hitless, scoreless innings, CF Tomáš Biskorovajny scored four times, 1B Martin Brunegraf had three runs and LF Jakub Horáček drove in three. Bogdan Pirvu was the losing pitcher.
•  Switzerland 2,  Ukraine 1. After Ukraine's great opener, they fall in their second game. Kostiantyn Chukhas blanked the Swiss for six but allowed a tying run in the 7th and the losing run in the 9th when 2B Thierry Burkhardt singled in 1B Hideori Oshima. Takanobu Oshima got the win in relief while Tobias Siegrist got the save. CF Vladyslav Kosenko went 3 for 3 for the Ukraine.

July 4

•  Ukraine 14,  Finland 0. Yevhenii Tkachenko allowed three hits and one walk in six shutout innings, fanning eight, as Finland finished 0-3 in the first round. 3B Denis Brechko had 3 runs and 3 RBI, CF Vladyslav Kosenko 4 runs and C Illia Velikii 3 RBI for Ukraine. Andreas Fopp took the defeat.
•  Belarus 1,  Romania 0. Romania was also 3-hit in finishing round one winless, though two of their games had been very close. Mikhail Kechko (2 H in 4 IP) and Kyril Kazlouski (1 H in 5 IP, W) shut down Romania today but were nearly matched by Eduard Pirvu (3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 18 K in 8 IP). The game's lone run came in the 6th when 2B Yauheni Karalevich walked, stole and scored on a hit by 3B Yauheni Kurhun.
•  Lithuania 19,  Slovakia 15. In a major slugfest, Lithuania hands Slovakia its first loss as both teams advance to the semifinals. CF/P Edvardas Matusevičius has 5 hits, 3 runs and 3 RBI for the victors while Audrius Beliauskas gets the win over Adam Zacko. 1B Martin Brunegraf scores four times for Slovakia.
•  Switzerland 11,  Poland 10. Poland leads 8-3 after 3 1/2 but Switzerland rallies to win. RF Noah Williamson and C Rafael Eigenmann (3 R) each drive in four while Takanobu Oshima pitches five shutout innings of relief for the win. SS Matthew Kozlak has 3 hits and 4 RBI for Poland while Raymond Wojtala gets the loss.

July 5

•  Belarus 14,  Finland 4. Artsiom Rudzinski was the winning hurler as Finland remained winless, Ville-Herman Saarman taking the defeat. RF Ilya Dziamchu drove in 3 for Belarus while DH Ilya Sladzinski had three extra-base hits.
•  Lithuania 12,  Switzerland 7. Switzerland took their first loss at an inopportune time, denying them a shot in the title game. It was 6-6 after 5 but Lithuania scored six in the 10th to win it. CF/P Edvardas Matusevičius pitched scoreless ball from the 6th to the 9th and got the win; he also had 3 hits and 3 runs while 1B Vytas Valincius had a grand slam in the 10th and another dinger earlier. Tobias Siegrist took the loss.
•  Poland 10,  Romania 1. Mateusz Szustek turned in a gem, allowing only three hits and one unearned run in a complete game. Marius Badiu was the losing pitcher. SS Matthew Kozlak had 3 hits and 3 runs and LF Marek Podgórski also had 3 hits.
•  Ukraine 18,  Slovakia 1. Ukraine moved into the title game with a rout of the hosts. 2B Kostiantyn Chukhas (3 R, 4 H, 4 RBI), 1B Kostiantyn Boiko (3 R, 3 H) and DH Yevhen Zhantalai (3 R, 3 H, 3 RBI) led the offense while Maksym Lisnytskyi threw a six-inning complete game (shortened by the mercy rule). Marek Bošanský took the loss.

July 6

•  Finland 20,  Romania 14. Finland won their first game with an explosive performance. C/2B Jesse Bové and P/C José Mesa each scored four runs, SS Andres Mena drove in six and 3B/2B Mejia Reyes drove in four. Mesa got the win despite walking 12. Iulian Serban took the loss for Romania. SS Cristian Secareanu and P/3B Adrian Preda each drove in 3 for Romania.
•  Slovakia 11,  Switzerland 9. Jakub Ižold got the victory in the 3rd/4th place game, striking out 10 and allowing one earned run in seven innings, while CF Tomáš Biskorovajny drove in 3 and 1B Martin Brunegraf had 3 hits. For Switzerland, RF/LF Noah Williamson had 4 hits and 3 runs. Andrea Girasole took the loss.
•  Belarus 12,  Poland 2. Yauheni Kurhun fanned 12 in a complete game win over Marcin Musiałek and Poland. C Vadim Harun had 3 runs, 3 hits and 3 RBI for Belarus.
•  Lithuania 7,  Ukraine 5. For the second straight B-Level European Championship, Lithuania advanced to a playoff by winning their pool. CF/P Edvardas Matusevičius drove in 3 and retired all 7 batters he faced to close out a win by Eimantas Žičkus. Serhii Shtapura took the loss, while LF Ievgenii Poliakov scored twice for the Ukraine.