2025 European Championship

The 2025 European Championship was held in Italy (Milan), the Netherlands (Rotterdam) and Belgium (Antwerp), with Rotterdam being the primary host. The tournament was originally scheduled to be hosted for the first time outside of Europe, in Israel, but was moved due the October 7th attacks and subsequent Gaza War. The field consisted of 15 of the same 16 teams as in 2023 as both  Austria and  Hungary defended their spots in the 2024 European Championship Qualifier. The third qualifier was also affected by war as 2023 participant  Ukraine withdrew; taking the war-plagued country's spot was  Lithuania, another Former Soviet Union country. Lithuania had just missed out qualifying four times from 1996-2019 and was playing in their first European Championship.

See also 2025 European Championship (Rosters)

Games

September 20

•  Croatia 11,  Hungary 1. Venezuelans Jose Diaz and SS Jose Herrera star for Croatia, Diaz going the distance to top Sean Fekete and Herrera homering twice and driving in five. SS Bálint Piros takes Diaz deep for Hungary's lone run.
•  Greece 4,  Lithuania 3. Lithuania debuts with a close game, leading 3-2 into the bottom of the 8th before Greece rallies off 41-year-old veteran Eimantas Žičkus. SS Edvardas Matusevičius has 3 hits and 2 RBI for Lithuania. Dimitri Kourtis saves it for TJ Laurisch and 2B Andre Demetral has the winning two-run single.
•  Israel 8,  France 4. RF Robb Paller's grand slam off Quentin Moulin is the big blow and former major leaguer Bubby Rossman saves it for another MLB vet, Jake Fishman. 3B Julien Monks raps four hits for France.
•  Germany 8,  Czech Republic 1. Markus Solbach fires seven shutout innings, DH Yannic Walther scores three and RF Lucas Dunn drives in 3. PH Matěj Menšík drives in DH Milan Prokop in the 9th with the lone Czech run. Tomáš Ondra is the losing hurler.
•  Austria 16,  Belgium 8. Austria stuns host Belgium in a slugfest in Antwerp. LF Ferdinand Obed falls a triple shy of a cycle, scoring four and driving in four, and SS Jonas Kreska also drives in four. Sebastian Holzer gets the win with 1 2/3 IP, the best pitching by any Austrian hurler today. 1B Sam Boermans drives in 3 for Belgium while the loss goes to Drew Janssen, coming off an excellent season in the Dutch Hoofdklasse.
•  Italy 18,  Switzerland 0. No shocker here as Italy only needs five innings to dispatch of Switzerland. Gabriele Quattrini and Matteo Bocchi team up on a two-hitter, while DH Giaconino Lasaracina homers twice (including a grand slam) and drives in eight. Fellow Italian Andrea Girasole is the losing pitcher, while the only Swiss hits belong to CF Devin Fluhmann and 3B Max Jung-Goldberg.
•  Spain 15,  Sweden 0. Spain starts off their title defense with a romp. Cuban Pablo Guillén throws a five-inning mercy rule whitewash to top Per Sjörs. CF Frank Hernández, another Cuban native, goes 4-for-4, to lead a strong offense.
•  Netherlands 9,  United Kingdom 3. 2B Jonathan Schoop has 3 hits and is one of five Dutch players to go deep. Tom de Blok defeats Ryan Long, with Kevin Kelly registering a save. RF Julian Sanders has 3 hits for Great Britain.

September 21

•  Croatia 4,  Austria 2. US native Frank Plesac (for Croatia) and Mo Hackl trade goose eggs for 6 before Croatia pulls away. Former major leaguer Asher Wojciechowski saves it for Anthony Susac while Mathias Albert takes the loss. LF Ferdinand Obed remains hot with a two-run homer in the 8th to tie it, but a two-run double by LF Andrew Jones gives Croatia's import players the win.
•  Switzerland 12,  Greece 5. Switzerland bounces back with a big win to increase their Super Round odds. 3B Max Jung-Goldberg and SS Trevin Long each drive in 4 and Noah Williamson defeats Dimitri Kourtis. CF Hondro Torres drives in all five Greek runs, on a solo homer, a 3-run double and a sac fly.
•  United Kingdom 16,  Israel 1. RF Julian Sanders again leads Britain in hits (4) while 3B Nick Ward drives in 4 and Alex Webb throws 4 1/3 shutout innings. CF Itai Spinoza reaches three times and scores the lone Israeli run. The loss goes to Josh Wolf.
•  Belgium 19,  Hungary 9. Belgium nearly suffers a second straight upset loss; it is a 9-9 tie going into the bottom of the 8th, when they put ten runs on the board for a mercy rule win. RF Drew Janssen falls a triple shy of the cycle, drives in seven and scores three runs. Cédric De Smedt defeats Alex Ogg. CF Vincent Temesvary goes deep twice for Hungary.
•  Netherlands 13,  France 4. Former major leaguer Shairon Martis gets the win, though his less acclaimed relievers Michael Vilchez and Ryan Huntington fare better. RF Delano Selassa produces six runs from the 9th spot in the order. RF José Paula reaches four times for France, with the decision going to Gédéon Coste.
•  Italy 16,  Lithuania 0. Mattia Aldegheri, Mattia Sireus and Alessandro Ciarla team up on a two-hitter in a six-inning mercy rule win. C Miguel Fabrizio drives in 5 and is one of three Italians with 3-hit days. Lukas Morkunas is the losing pitcher.
•  Germany 4,  Sweden 3. DH Vincent Ahrens and CF Darrion Richards each connect for three hits and Cesar Aquino saves Christian Pedrol's win over Leo Bristow. RF Tobias Glimmerud drives in all 3 Swedish runs without getting a hit. Sweden's bullpen turns in 5 1/3 shutout innings.
•  Czech Republic 9,  Spain 1. The defending champs get crushed. C Martin Červenka has four hits and Ondřej Satoria defeats Jorge Balboa. SS Edison Valerio drives in C Gabriel Lino with Spain's run.

September 22

•  Austria 26,  Hungary 2. Austria pulled off their second rout. RF Elias Kreska reaches five times, scores five and drives in five while 1B Julian Faulhaber drives in six. Eoghan McGarry and two relievers strike out 10 in the 5-inning mercy rule game. Ádám Piros is roughed up in the loss; 3B/RF Márkó Morua goes 2-for-2 with a run as a bright spot for Hungary.
•  Switzerland 13,  Lithuania 5. 3B Takanobu Oshima drives in four and 45-year-old James Sanders gets the win over Vilius Paikovas. SS Edvardas Matusevičius remains hot with two runs and two RBI for Lithuania.
•  United Kingdom 9,  France 4. It is 4-4 going into the bottom of the 8th before Britain pulls away against three French hurlers, as France finishes the round-robin winless. 3B Nick Ward and RF Julian Sanders each drive in 3 and Floridian Donovan Benoit gets the win over Thibault Mercadier. 1B Ernesto Martinez Jr. has 3 hits for France.
•  Spain 4,  Germany 2. The defending champions rebound, setting up a potential three-way tie atop Group A, assuming the Czechs top Sweden. Mark Harrison allows two hits in 7 and Germany leads 2-0 before Spain rallies off Rickert Koch. DH Yannic Walther hits a two-run homer for Germany. Fernando Baez saves it for Andrés Pérez, with a two-run shot by 1B Jesús Ustariz the key blow.
•  Croatia 6,  Belgium 3. LF Andrew Jones drills a 3-run shot off Ben Van Nuffel in the 10th to win it, Antonio Horvatić getting the decision for Croatia. LF Xander Verspreet has 3 hits in a losing cause.
•  Italy 9,  Greece 4. Greece jumps to a 4-0 lead after 1 1/2 innings but Italy controls things from there. DH Giaconino Lasaracina has another two-homer game, driving in four, and Juan Carlos Infante Jr. defeats Dean Christidis. 3B Peter Maestrales drives in two for Greece.
•  Czech Republic 10,  Sweden 0. The Czechs make it a 3-way tie atop Pool A, forcing a tiebreaker for the next round's assignments. C Martin Červenka drives in four and Jeff Barto and two relievers team up on the whitewash. Ben Johnson is the losing hurler. RF Alfred Glavå leads Sweden with two hits.
•  Netherlands 9,  Israel 1. Scott Prins and four relievers struck out 11, walked none and allowed just four hits. 2B Jonathan Schoop (3 R) and 1B Juremi Profar (3 RBI) led the offense. Jake Fishman fell to 1-1, while CF/P Itai Spinoza drove in LF Zev Moore with the only Israeli score.

September 23

•  Greece 13,  Lithuania 5. In a relegation game, Noah Zavolas throws six shutout innings, LF Nick Varon draws 4 walks and scores 3 times and C George Anthanasiadis raps 3 hits. 3B/SS Vilius Paikovas drives in a pair for Lithuania, while the loss goes to Eimantas Žičkus.
•  Belgium 8,  Hungary 3. CF Steven De Lannoy shows he still has it at age 42, scoring three runs, while Drew Janssen defeats Martin Morua in the other relegation game. 1B Graeham Luttor hits a two-run homer and a solo shot for all of Hungary's offense today.

September 24

•  Israel 9,  Switzerland 1. To begin the placement round, 1B Chase Engelhard has 4 hits, which is as many as Justin Alintoff gives up for Israel, while Engelhard's 2 runs and 3 RBI are more than the Swiss team combined. Dominic Scheffler takes the defeat. C Rafael Eigenmann drives in LF Hayden Jung-Goldberg in the 8th with the only Swiss run.
•  Croatia 9,  Sweden 3. Jose Diaz allows 3 hits in 7 IP and SS Jose Herrera produces four runs. For Sweden, RF Alfred Glavå drives in two and Oskar Syrén gets the decision.
•  Spain 10,  Austria 0. Royd Hernández flings a five-hitter and RF Omar Hernández, a fellow Cuban, produces five runs with three hits. DH Philipp Eckel paces Austria with two hits. 47-year-old Christian Tomsich is the losing hurler.
•  Italy 6,  France 2. 1B Renzo Martini reaches all five times and Italy rallies from a 2-0 deficit after five, Marco Artitzu defeating Nicolas Antoine. SS Felix Brown scores both French runs.

September 25

•  Sweden 1,  Switzerland 0. Sam Börjes and Linus Ritzen strike out 13 in outdueling Fabio Bundi. SS Daniel Johnson scores the game's lone run on an error.
•  Austria 6,  France 3. Austria defeats France for the first time in a European Championship; down 2-1 in the 8th, they score 4 times to pull ahead. Alexander Kienberger saves Nico Schadler's win against Nathan Laot. Ferdinand Obed's pinch-hit two-run double is the go-ahead hit. 1B Daniel Patrice reaches 3 times for the French squad.
•  Czech Republic 4,  Israel 3. Jan Novák and Ondřej Satoria blank Israel for 8 but they get the tying run to third base in the 9th before Ryan Johnson saves it. CF Marek Krejčiřík scores a pair. Jake Fishman is the losing hurler. C Blake Dickman singles in Israel's first run and scores the last run for them.
•  Italy 1,  Germany 0. Gabriele Quattrini, Marco Artitzu and Alex Bassani team up on a walkless three-hitter, while the only run Markus Solbach surrenders is unearned. 1B Jesus Carrera scores that run in the 2nd.
•  Spain 7,  United Kingdom 0. Spain moved on to the semifinals by toasting former AAA hurler Nick Wells for 5 runs in 2 1/3 IP, seven different players scoring runs for them. Pablo Guillén, Carlos Sierra and Rhiner Cruz strike out 13 in a 4-hitter.
•  Netherlands 3,  Croatia 1. Kevin Kelly saves Lars Huijer's win over Frank Plesac. DH Eugene Helder paces the Dutch with 3 hits. Croatia's only run comes when 3B Jantzen Witte drives in RF Andrija Tomić.

September 26

• 11th/12th place game:  Switzerland 11,  France 3. Switzerland gets its best finish ever, veteran Takanobu Oshima getting the win over Quentin Moulin. 1B Marc Willi goes 5-for-5 with 3 runs. LF Léo Jiminian scores a pair for France.
• 9th/10th place game:  Austria 6,  Sweden 2. Austria also has their best finish to date, up from the 10th they had in 2019. Vitus Gneist gets the decision, while 3B Moritz Scheicher hits a big three-run homer in the 7th. Gustav Oijen takes the defeat; 3B Ben Johnson has 3 hits for the Swedes.
•  Germany 10,  Israel 9. In one of the more exciting games in this year's tournament, the teams traded leads in a close high-scoring contest. LF Zev Moore singled in the tying run in the top of the 9th with his 3rd hit of the day, but 2B Elias Huber drew a walk from Ivri Margolin in the bottom of the 9th, was bunted over and scored on an error by 3B Assaf Lowengart. Duke Von Schamann got the win, while 1B Simon Bäumer drove in 4.
•  Italy 8,  Czech Republic 5. After missing the last two Euros finals, Italy was back in their traditional spot. 1B Renzo Martini singled, doubled twice, tripled, scored 3 and drove in 3 to back a quality start from Mattia Aldegheri. C Martin Červenka homered twice for the Czechs, while the loss went to Ryan Johnson.
•  United Kingdom 3,  Croatia 2. Alex Webb and Andrew Campbell blank Croatia for six then Jack Seppings saves it. 1B Julian Sanders remains red-hot with 3 hits while Kennard Dawson scores twice without starting the game. Carlos García got the loss, while 1B Joey Terdoslavich reaches 3 times for Croatia.
•  Netherlands 6,  Spain 1. Like Italy, the Netherlands were back in their usual spot in the title game after avenging their 2023 semifinal loss to Spain; the defending champs scored in the first off Tom de Blok. Kevin Kelly turned in 8 1/3 shutout innings of relief, striking out 16. 2B Jonathan Schoop, CF Ray-Patrick Didder and LF Jiandido Tromp homered for the Dutch team, with Tromp getting 3 hits. José Gómez took the loss despite a solid outing. 1B Jesús Ustariz drove in 2B Luis Guillorme with Spain's run.

September 27

• 7th/8th place game:  Israel 11,  Croatia 5. After a 4-0 start, Croatia drops its 3rd straight. C Jason Agresti and DH Jake Arnow both drive in 3 and 46-year-old Shlo Lipetz defeats Nino Kruhek. CF/P Kruno Gojković has 3 hits for Croatia.
• 3rd/4th place game:  Czech Republic 9,  Spain 2. Having peaked at 5th (7 times previously!), the Czechs lock up their best finish to date. C Martin Červenka had yet another big day, with two doubles, a homer and 7 RBI while CF/2B Willie Escala had 3 hits. Like Kelly yesterday against Spain, Tomáš Ondra throws 8 1/3 shutout innings of relief for the win, beating Jorge Balboa. C Gabriel Lino drove in both Spanish runs.
• 5th/6th place game:  Germany 2,  United Kingdom 0. Mark Harrison (3 IP), Philipp Kleehaupt (4 IP) and Cesar Aquino (2 IP) combine on a two-hit whitewash, with C Maurice Bendrien scoring both German runs. Only 1B Julian Sanders (finishing at .519 for the tourney) and LF Kennard Dawson get hits for Britain. Chris Messer gets the loss.

• Championship game:  Netherlands 6,  Italy 5. For the 21st time (but first since 2019), the Netherlands and Italy squared off in the title game. SS Didi Gregorius opened the bottom of the 1st with a double off Matteo Bocchi, advanced on a grounder and scored on a hit by C Hendrik Clementina. Clementina stole second and scored on a two-out single by 1B Juremi Profar. DH Giaconino Lasaracina took Shairon Martis deep in the second, his sixth homer of the event; it marked 19 years since Martis's great debut for the Netherlands in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. The next three batters reached but Martis escaped the jam. In the 4th, C Alberto Mineo and CF Jhorjan Guevara singled for Italy; with two away, SS Gabriele Angioi singled in Mineo to tie it.

The Dutch responded with a big bottom of the 4th. 3B Sharlon Schoop took Javier Fandino deep. Profar and DH Eugene Helder both singled and advanced on a grounder. LF Jiandido Tromp then smacked a two-run double off Marco Artitzu to make it 5-2. They got their last run in the 5th; Guevara dropped Clementina's fly for a two-base error, then he took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Schoop. While they now had a 6-2 cushion, Italy charged back in the 6th. Mineo singled and Guevara doubled (part of a 3-for-3 effort). 3B Lorenzo Morresi singled in both runners to cut it to 6-4. Wendell Floranus came in and got a strikeout but Angioi and LF Nathanael Batista singled to make it a one-run game. Floranus escaped further harm that frame.

The Netherlands loaded the bases in the bottom of the 7th but failed to score. Italy also got a good shot in the 8th. Lasaracina singled off Michael Vilchez, who then walked Mineo and Guevara. That was it for him; Eric Mendez became the 4th Dutch pitcher. He struck out Morresi and got both Miguel Fabrizio and Angioi to fly out. Jaydenn Estanista took over in the 8th and struck out the side as well as striking out two more in the 9th for the save, yielding only a Guevara walk to close it out.

Standings

• 1.  Netherlands
• 2.  Italy
• 3.  Czech Republic
• 4.  Spain
• 5.  Germany
• 6.  United Kingdom
• 7.  Israel
• 8.  Croatia
• 9.  Austria
• 10.  Sweden
• 11.  Switzerland
• 12.  France
• 13-t.  Belgium
• 13-t.  Greece
• 15-t.  Lithuania
• 15-t.  Hungary

Awards

• MVP: Didi Gregorius, Netherlands SS
• Outstanding Defensive Player: Gabriele Angioi, Italy SS