1949 Parma Baseball Club Wins Inaugural BCL Europe Championship

In action on the final day of the Baseball Champions League Europe, Draci Brno met the Tenerife Marlins for third place in Brno, Czechia.

The Marlins jumped in front in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly by Wander Encarnación. It remained 1-0 until the top of the fourth, when Brno broke through for three runs. Former Chiba Lotte Marines outfielder Takashi Ogino drove in the first run with a single, and another run scored on a throwing error. Two batters later, Šimon Klacl’s opposite-field single drove in Ogino to make it 3-1.

Brno had another big inning in the sixth. After a walk and an error, Ogino delivered his second RBI single of the day to make it 4-1. A groundout and another error made it 6-1, and Jakub Winkler’s single made it 7-1.

From there, Draci Brno’s bullpen slammed the door. Reliever Cristian Galindo retired 12 of the 13 hitters he faced, striking out five, to close out a 7-1 win for Draci Brno and a third-place finish in the Baseball Champions League Europe.

In the Baseball Champions League Europe final, it was a classic matchup between two of the most successful clubs in European baseball: 1949 Parma Baseball Club and Curaçao Neptunus.

Coming into the final, the two clubs had combined for 25 championships in Europe’s top club competition. After not competing in the European Championship Cup in 2024 or 2025, clubs from Italy and the Netherlands joined the inaugural Baseball Champions League Europe this year and went undefeated in group play in May to reach the Final Four.

On Saturday, Parma rallied against the Spanish champions, Tenerife Marlins. Trailing 3-2 in the sixth, Noel González hit a game-tying solo home run. Ericson Leonora’s two-run single in the seventh proved to be the difference as Parma held on for a 5-4 victory.

Curaçao Neptunus faced no such difficulty against Draci Brno. Dwayne Kemp and former Royals minor leaguer Darryl Collins combined for four hits and five RBIs, while ace Koen Postelmans allowed just one hit over six innings as Neptunus beat Draci Brno 10-0 in seven innings.

Parma jumped on Neptunus starter Kevin Kelly immediately in the first. Noel González delivered a two-out RBI single to give Parma an early 1-0 lead.

Neptunus struck right back in the bottom half of the inning as right fielder Christian Diaz tied the game with an RBI single. Neptunus then took the lead when Darryl Collins hit a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the second.

In the top of the third, Parma took control of the game with a huge inning. After a game-tying sacrifice fly by Anthony Concepcion, Robel García and Noel González followed with RBI singles to make it 4-2.

After a bases-loaded walk made it 5-2, Manuel Geraldo singled in another run to make it 6-2. Gabriele Angioi was hit by a pitch to make it 7-2.

The inning concluded with six runs across and 12 men coming to the plate for Parma. The barrage knocked Kelly out of the game after just 2 1/3 innings, with six runs charged to him.

After Curaçao Neptunus scratched across a run in the bottom of the third on a groundout, Parma responded again in the fifth. Manuel Geraldo doubled for his second RBI of the night, and Tommaso Battioni drove him in with a single to give Parma its largest lead at 9-3.

Royals prospect Tyriq Kemp homered to dead center with one out in the fifth to cut the deficit to five runs, but that was as close as Neptunus would get the rest of the night.

Parma added two more runs in the seventh on a single by Anthony Concepcion and a double from Robel García. The 11-4 lead carried Parma into the bottom of the ninth. After an RBI groundout made it 11-5, Yomel Rivera struck out Drew Jansen for the final out to secure an 11-5 victory for 1949 Parma Baseball Club and the inaugural Baseball Champions League Europe championship.

It was Parma’s 16th European championship. The club handed Neptunus a rare loss in 2026. Neptunus had been 44-4 in domestic and Champions League play and had lost just two games since June 1 heading into the final.

Left fielder Anthony Concepcion was named MVP of the Baseball Champions League Final Four. He went 3-for-7 with a home run and four RBIs and delivered the best defensive play of the weekend to help lift Parma to its 16th European championship.