Czech Republic players celebrate the team’s victory in the World Baseball Classic Pool B game between Czech Republic and China at Tokyo Dome on March 10, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Kenta Harada/Getty Images)
The Czech Baseball Association announced their roster for the host nation for the 2023 European Championships which will be held from September 24 to October 1.
The relegation and placement rounds will be from September 28-30. The gold medal and bronze medal games will be on October 1.
The 2023 European Championships will have six venues during the international senior event: Eagles Prague in Prague, Arrows Park Ostrava in Ostrava-Poruba, BrnoField in Brno, Třebíč Na Hvězdě in Třebíč, YD Baseball Arena Brno in Brno, and Strawberry Field Blansko in Blansko will be the host sites.
The Czech Republic is ranked No. 15 in the World Rankings and will have 2023 World Baseball Classic manager Pavel Chadim return at the helm for the 2023 European Baseball Championship. The rest of the 2023 European Championship coaching staff will be the same from the 2023 World Baseball Classic except Michael Griffin, former first base coach from the previous international senior event, will not return for the Czech Republic.
Alex Derhak was the hitting coach at the 2023 World Baseball for the Czech Republic, and will split time as the hitting coach and first base coach during the 2023 European Championships. Tomas Duffek will b the bullpen coach, and former bullpen coach of the 2023 World Baseball Classic Dusan Randak will be the pitching coach for the 2023 European Championship team.
The Czech Republic roster will contain players that are born in the country or obtain Czech citizenship and that have played in the Extraliga operated by the Czech Baseball Association along with a majority of the players from the 2023 World Baseball Classic
Czech Republic pitcher Michael Senay and pitcher Tomas Ondra are the only two players that are listed on the active roster for the 2023 European Championships that did not play in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
The Czech Republic qualified for the 2023 World Baseball Classic beating Spain 3-1 in Regensburg, Germany last September. During the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Pool B at the Tokyo Dome, the Czech Republic went 1-3 in their first appearance at the event, beating China in their first game 8-5. The Czech Republic will not have to qualify for the next World Baseball Classic in 2026 because China went 0-4 during the event.
The Czech Republic will face World ranked No. 21 Spain, No. 41 Greece, and No. 26 Austria during the pool round of the 2023 European Championships.
The WBSC Europe website and social media pages will have all the listed information on streaming the European Championships on their YouTube and Facebook page.
2023 Czech Republic Pool Round Schedule European Championships