Day two at the Palomino European Zone Championships in Stuttgart, Germany was highlighted by the Polish National Team’s walk off victory, trailing by four runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Additionally, heavy rainfall in the early evening caused Game #8 to be postponed until tomorrow, when five games will be played. The Paderborn Untouchables took an early lead in the tournament standings at 2-0 thanks to their decisive win over the Swiss National Team.
GM #5: North State Warriors 11 Netherlands United 5
An eight-run top of the fourth inning propelled the North State Warriors to victory over Netherlands United in the first game of day two. With the game tied 2-2, the Warriors went on a rally, collecting six hits and taking advantage of two Netherlands United errors and wild pitches and a walk. Myron van Atten and Bas Houtkamp both connected on RBI doubles in the inning. Netherlands later scored a run in the bottom of the fifth and started a bit of a rally in the bottom of the seventh, when Aidan Brodsjo recorded an RBI single and Mitchel Colina hit an RBI triple, but the deficit was too much for the Netherlands to overcome (11-5). Jarod Reijngoud paced North State with three RBI, while going 2-for-4 at the plate and a run scored. Colina led Netherlands by going 3-for-4 with three RBI. Dylan Braak notched the win on the mound, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks, while striking out two in five complete innings. Both teams’ records dropped to 1-1 for the tournament. North State will take on the Swiss National Team tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., while Netherlands United battles the Paderborn Untouchables at 8:30 a.m. local time Stuttgart.
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GM #6: Poland National Team 11 Paris University Club 10
Nothing is more savoring for a team than a two-out rally. For the Polish National Team, it was staring an 0-2 record in the face with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, when it went on a five-run rally to comeback and defeat the Paris University Club 11-10 in Game #6. On a 3-2 count, Patryk Zajac singled to give Poland its first base runner. Tobiasz Swiatlowski walked and was pinch ran for by Konrad Wisniewski. A wild pitch advanced each base runner 90-feet, before Lukasz Krzemienowski tripled, scoring both (10-8). Paris then turned to Phillip Bird on the mound and made two other defensive changes, hoping to collect a final out that it would never find. Hubert Marcinowski singled, scoring Krzemienowski (10-9). Marcinowski stole second and then moved to third on a wild pitch. Pawel Hutny walked, putting runners on the corners for Nicolas Manus. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Manus hit a shallow pop fly in right centerfield. Unfortunately for Paris, the center fielder and right fielder collided and the ball hit the ground, giving plenty of time forMarcinowski to score. Hutny sprinted at full-speed around second and third, as an errant relay throw gave him enough time to score from first and Poland walked away victorious 11-10. It was a solid day at the plate for Paris’s Ahmed Guesmia. He went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two stolen bases to lead his team in a loss. Krzemienowski led Poland with two RBI, while going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Poland will have a whole day to celebrate its walk off victory, before taking the field against the Stuttgart Reds tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. Meanwhile, at 0-2, the Paris University Club will look for its first tournament win tomorrow evening at 5:30 p.m. local time Stuttgart.
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GM #7: Paderborn Untouchables 12 Swiss National Team 2 (F/6)
The Paderborn Untouchables couldn’t be stopped offensively by the Swiss National Team in the third game of day two, as they put up at least one run every time they came to bat in a 12-2 victory. Switzerland struck first in the top of the first, when Livio Bundi began the game with a double and later came around to score on Michael Diaz’s ground out. In the bottom of the first with the bases loaded, Landislaus Landwehr squeeze bunted in Merlin Bendlin and then Max Eckerman hit an RBI single (2-1). The Swiss tied the game back up at two thanks to Dominic Scheffler scoring on a German error. From there, the game was all Paderborn, and a five-run bottom of the sixth inning completed a victory by 10-run rule. Despite allowing the two runs early (one of which was earned), Paderborn’s Patrick Harrison controlled the Swiss offense from the mound. He went four complete, allowing two hits and a walk, while striking out eight for the win. Offensively, Luca Rammelmann and Florian Herwig paced the team with two RBIs each. Bendlin scored a game-high four runs, while going 2-for-3 and Eckerman was a perfect 3-for-3. On the other side, Bundi’s double represented the Swiss’s only extra-base hit in the game, while Diaz recorded the team’s only RBI. Paderborn leads off the day tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. against Netherlands United with the hopes of taking a commanding lead in the tournament at 3-0. Switzerland will vie for its first win of the tournament against the North State Warriors at 11:30 a.m. local time Stuttgart.
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Because of violent thunder storms that brought down heavy rains in Stuttgart, tournament officials postponed Game #8 between the host Stuttgart Reds and the Belgium National Team. The game will be made up tomorrow evening at 8:30 p.m. local time Stuttgart. You can watch the live webstreams from Stuttgart here and follow the tournament scores and stats here.