On Monday, the Baseball European Federation Cup Qualifier 2024 began in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Five teams will compete to earn a spot in the Baseball European Federation Cup in 2025.
The five teams competing in Group Slovenia from Monday, June 6, to Saturday, June 15, are the Akademics Sofia, Eagles Cluj, Kranjski Lisjaki, Valerenga Baseball, and the Angels Trnava. The event is a round-robin tournament until Friday, and the two teams with the best records will advance to the final on Saturday.
The official WBSC Europe website has play-by-play and box scores for all the games, and streaming is available on baseballeurope.tv.
Day 1 Results
The tournament’s first two games were between the Angels Trnava and Eagles Cluj and the Kranjski Lisjaki and Akademics Sofia.
On Monday, the Angels Trnava (1-0) defeated the Eagles Cluj (0-1) 14-4 in eight innings. Starting pitcher Samuel Holeksi threw six great innings for the Angels Trnava, striking out 10 and allowing only three hits. Despite his spectacular performance, the offense led the way for the Angels Trnava.
The Angels Trnava offense scored 14 runs on 15 hits, scoring four runs in the first, five in the fourth, four in the seventh, and one in the eighth. Their top hitter of the day was first baseman Andrej Jankovic, who went 4-for-5 with three runs scored. The Eagles Cluj struck out 14 times in the loss and will need to cut that number in half or less to win their next game.
On Monday, the Kranjski Lisjaki (1-0) defeated the Akademics Sofia (0-1) 19-0 in six innings. Third baseman Tosja Lesjak and right fielder Ryan Kazim Mirza collected three hits each, and Mirza, Ricardo D. Melendez Rodriguez, and Matic Lesnjak all went deep in the contest.
Johan Castellano, the Akademics Sofia starting pitcher, lasted only 3.1 innings and allowed 10 five earned runs on nine hits. The Akademics Sofia defense shot themselves in the foot the whole game, committing four errors.
The game was a slaughter from beginning to end, and the Kranjski Lisjaki made a significant statement with the win.
Up Next
On Tuesday, the Akademics Sofia will take on the Angels Trnava at 5 a.m. EDT, and the Eagles Cluj will play the Valerenga Baseball at 11 a.m. EDT.
All games of the Baseball European Federation Cup Qualifier 2024 in Slovenia will occur at BSK Jezica Tesovnikova in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
