The Tenerife Marlins Santa Cruz took golf at the 2023 European Champions Cup. (Photo by Berislav Bencetić/WBSC)
The 2023 European Confederation Cup’s final day was Sunday at 4 Rijeke Baseball Field Karlovac in Karlovac, Croatia.
At the end of the European Confederation Cup, all the club teams in Europe will have new rankings. The World Club Rankings were last updated November 16, 2022 from the euroTopteam.com website.
Gold Medal Game: Tenerife Marlins Puerto Cruz (ESP) 9, Les Lions de Savigny sur Orge (FRA) 1
Tenerife Marlins Puerto Cruz wins the gold at the 2023 European Confederation Cup beating Les Lions de Savigny sur Orge 9-1 for their first time being medaling at the event in club history.
Puerto Cruz starting pitcher Jose Diaz went eight innings allowing four hits, one earned run, three walks, and striking out seven during his performance.
The Marlins’ Luis Rodriguez, Richard Montiel, and Jesus Ustariz each had solo home runs during Sunday’s gold medal win. Marlins center fielder Lesther Galvan hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to score Ustariz to go up 4-1.
Lions starting pitcher Joss Neyraud threw five innings and allowed eight hits, six earned runs, walked three batters, and struck out one receiving the loss on Sunday.
Marlins relief pitcher Vincente Colasante came into the ninth inning to close out the game as he got Julie Perez to pop out to third baseman Wander Encarnacion to win the gold medal at the 2023 European Confederation Cup.
The Lions at 9-3 in Group B of the Division 1 circuit run by the Federation Francaise de Baseball will start back up this Sunday, June 18 when they go up against last place Nice Cavigal at 0-14 in the first game of their doubleheader at 5 a.m. EDT.
Bronze Medal Game: Hoboken Pioneers (BEL) 6, Astros Cub Beisbol 7 (SPA) F/10
Astros Club Beisbol earned their fourth medal at the European Confederation Cup, beating the Hoboken Pioneers 7-6 in the bronze medal game as Edgar Rodriguez lofted a walk-off sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Luis Galicia for the winning run.
Rodriguez tied the game with his two-run RBI double that scored Jorge Franco and Roibert Decena in the bottom of the ninth. The Pioneers led the game 6-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Astros scored seven unanswered runs en route to win the bronze on Sunday.
Pioneers starting pitcher Brayden Bebee threw five hitless innings, no earned runs, walking three, and struck out five. The Pioneers bullpen gave up nine hits, six earned runs, walked six batters, and struck out two during Sunday’s loss.
Astros starting pitcher Jorge Balboa threw six innings, allowed six hits, five earned runs, walked two, and struck out nine. The Astros bullpen allowed one hit, no earned runs, one walk, and no strikeouts.
Pioneers first baseman Dennis De Quint had a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning, scoring Drew Janssen for the final two runs of the game.
Janssen also unleashed a three run home run in the top of the third inning for the Pioneers first three runs of the game as Benjamin Goffaux and Lieven Buerms scored.
The Astros (16-2) will play the 2023 European Confederation Champions and first place Tenerlife Marlins Puerto Cruz (17-1) this Saturday at 1 p.m. EDT when they restart the Division de Honor circuit from Real Federacion Espanola Beisbol and Softball.
Relegation Round: Flyers Baseball and Softball Team (SUI) 3, BK Olimpija (CRO) 17 – F/7
BK Olimpija beat Flyers Baseball and Softball Team on the final day of the 2023 European Confederation Cup 17-3 in seven innings.
Olimpija starting pitcher Carlos Garcia threw six innings allowing five hits, one earned run, walking four batters, and striking out six in his performance.
Olimpija catcher Philip Smith recorded two hits in his three at-bats with six RBI and one walk in Sunday’s win. Olimpija designated hitter Kevin Volaric had one hit, scored three runs and walked twice. First baseman Petar Rumorawent 2-for-3 with one RBI, scored three runs, and walked once.
Flyers starting pitcher Jonah Schaller went four innings allowing three hits, five earned runs, walked seven batters, and struck out five.
Flyers relief pitcher Devin Fluhmann didn’t have any of his mechanics working for him as he pitched two innings allowing eight hits, eight earned runs, walking two batters, and striking out one during the mercy rule loss.
Both club teams will go back to play in their current European League seasons after the 2023 European Confederation Cup. The Flyers (7-1) will play their first game back in the Championnat de Suisse de baseball NLA circuit in a doubleheader against the (3-7) Wil Pirates starting at 5 a.m. EDT on Sunday June 18. BK Olimpija is 12-5 of the Croatian Open championship season and will play a two game series against (8-8) Zagreb starting on Tuesday starting at 5 a.m. EDT.