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 10, to Saturday, June 15, are the Akademics Sofia (Bulgaria), Eagles Cluj (Romania), Kranjski Lisjaki (Slovenia), Valerenga Baseball (Norway), and the Angels Trnava (Slovakia). 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 5 Results
On Friday, day five of the tournament, the Akademics Sofia faced the Eagles Cluj, and the Kranjski Lisjaki faced Valerenga Baseball.
Akademics Sofia improved to 2-2 in the tournament with a 10-6 win over the Eagles Cluj, who fell to 0-4.
Starting pitcher Petyo Petkov and reliever Leanardo Molino combined to allow one earned run for the Akademics Sofia. Molino, the winning pitcher in the game, struck out eight in four innings out of the bullpen.
With the score tied 6-6 in the top of the ninth, the Akademics Sofia scored four runs on five hits, including a two-run go-ahead single by shortstop Keyberth Mejias. The Eagles Cluj led 6-4 after the fourth inning but could not push across additional runs for the remainder of the game.
The Eagles Cluj finished the tournament winless and will not play in Saturday’s championship game. The Akademics Sofia finish 2-2 in the tournament, with wins against the Angels Trnava on Tuesday and the Eagles Cluj.
Also on Friday, the Kranjski Lisjaki defeated Valerenga Baseball 22-6 in eight innings to remain undefeated, and the Valerenga Baseball fell to 3-1.
The game was an offensive onslaught for the Kranjski Lisjaki, who scored nine runs in the top of the eighth. They have scored 74 runs in their four games of the tournament, compared to just seven for their opponents.
Kranjski Lisjaki’s top hitter of the afternoon was first baseman Jan Pucnik, who went an incredible 4-for-5 with seven RBI and a walk. He launched a grand slam in the top of the eighth inning to contribute four of the nine runs scored in the frame.
Up Next
Kranjski Lisjaki and Valerenga Baseball will meet again in Saturday’s championship game at 8 a.m. EDT, with a chance to represent their respective federation in the 2025 Baseball European Federation Cup.
All games of the Baseball European Federation Qualifier 2024 in Slovenia will occur at BSK Jezica Tesovnikova in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
