The 2023 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament organized by WBSC Europe. It was held in five cities in the Czech Republic, from September 24 to October 1, 2023. The championship marked the first time in history, excluding three occasions when they did not enter the tournament, that the Netherlands did not feature in the final, having lost 7–6 to Spain in the semi-finals.

Qualification

The top 14 teams of the 2021 European Championship qualified automatically for the tournament. After the expulsion of Russia, who had finished 10th, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the remaining three spots were filled through a qualification tournament, that saw Hungary, France, and Switzerland qualify. Slovakia was the only team from the 2021 championship that did not qualify in 2023.

TeamQualification methodTeamQualification method
Netherlands‹See Tfd› 2021 European Baseball ChampionshipGermany9th, 2021 European Baseball Championship
Israel‹See Tfd› 2021 European Baseball ChampionshipAustria11th, 2021 European Baseball Championship
Italy‹See Tfd› 2021 European Baseball ChampionshipSweden12th, 2021 European Baseball Championship
Spain4th, 2021 European Baseball ChampionshipUkraine13th, 2021 European Baseball Championship
Czech Republic5th, 2021 European Baseball ChampionshipGreece14th, 2021 European Baseball Championship
Great Britain6th, 2021 European Baseball ChampionshipHungaryQualifier tournament winner
Croatia7th, 2021 European Baseball ChampionshipFranceQualifier tournament winner
Belgium8th, 2021 European Baseball ChampionshipSwitzerlandQualifier tournament winner

Venues

The tournament took place in six different stadiums across the Czech Republic.

PragueTřebíčBrnoBrno
Eagles ParkStadion Na HvězděSports area HrochYD Baseball Arena
Matches: 6Matches: 10Matches: 6Matches: 14 (including final)
OstravaPragueOstravaBrnoTřebíčBlansko2023 Baseball European Championship venuesBlansko
Arrows ParkStrawberry Field
Matches: 6Matches: 6

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals. The bottom two teams entered the 9th–16th place play-offs.

All times are local, CEST (UTC+2).

Group A

PosTeamPldWLRFRARDPCTGBQualificationSpain national baseball teamCzech Republic national baseball teamGreece national baseball teamAustria national baseball team
1Spain330362+341.000—Qualified for Quarterfinals—9–014–1—
2Czech Republic (H)321239+14.6671——14–09–0
3Greece3121234−22.3332Qualified for Relegation Round———11–6
4Austria303733−26.00031–13———
24 September 2023(2023-09-24) 11:00Greece1–14 (F/7)SpainArrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 173 Umpires: Mojmír Jankovič (HP), Fabien Carrette-Legrand (1B), Tiska Tiihonen (3B)
LP: Dimitrios Kourtis (0–1)WP: Anderson de León (1–0)
HR: Kasey Caras (1)HR: Omar Hernandez (1), Gabriel Lino (1), Edison Valerio (1)
24 September 2023(2023-09-24) 18:00Austria0–9Czech RepublicArrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 1,980 Umpires: Christopher Feuerecker (HP), Richard Wessel (1B), Fabien Carrette-Legrand (3B)
LP: Christian Tomsich (0–1)WP: Tomáš Ondra (1–0)
HR: Matěj Menšík (1), Martin Červenka (1)
25 September 2023(2023-09-25) 11:00Spain13–1 (F/8)AustriaArrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 312 Umpires: Fabien Carrette-Legrand (HP), Tiska Tiihonen (1B), Mojmír Jankovič(3B)
WP: Jorge Balboa (1–0)LP: Julian Faulhaber (0–1)
HR: Andrés Angulo (1), Edison Valerio (2)
25 September 2023(2023-09-25) 17:40Greece0–14 (F/7)Czech RepublicArrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 1,576 Umpires: Richard Wessel (HP), Christopher Feuerecker (1B), Tiska Tiihonen (3B)
LP: Jonathan Kountis (0–1)WP: Ondřej Satoria (1–0)
HR: Eric Sogard (1), William Escala[ja] (1)
26 September 2023(2023-09-26) 11:00Austria6–11GreeceArrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 286 Umpires: Tiska Tiihonen (HP), Mojmír Jankovič (1B), Richard Wessel (3B)
LP: Ryan Rupp (0–1)WP: Peter Maestrales (1–0) Sv: Dimitri Lettas (1)
HR: Sammy Hackl (1), Felix Zimmerle (1)HR: Kasey Caras (2), Panagiotis Dudunakis (1), Ari Sechopoulos (1)
26 September 2023(2023-09-26) 17:40Czech Republic0–9SpainArrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 2,017 Umpires: Christopher Feuerecker (HP), Richard Wessel (1B), Fabien Carrette-Legrand (3B)
LP: Marek Minařík (0–1)WP: Pablo Guillén (1–0)
HR: Gabriel Lino (2), Wander Encarnación (1), Omar Hernandez (2)

Group B

PosTeamPldWLRFRARDPCTGBQualificationGreat Britain national baseball teamSweden national baseball teamItaly national baseball teamHungary national baseball team
1Great Britain3303713+241.000—Qualified for Quarterfinals—4–0—22–3
2Sweden3212514+11.6671——8–3—
3Italy3122821+7.3332Qualified for Relegation Round10–11——15–2
4Hungary3031254−42.0003—7–17——
24 September 2023(2023-09-24) 11:00Hungary2–15 (F/7)ItalyTřebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 168 Umpires: Edwin Louisa (HP), Sergii Bolilyi (1B), Jason Lillebo (3B)
LP: Sean Fekete (0–1)WP: Mattia Aldegheri (1–0)
24 September 2023(2023-09-24) 17:30Sweden0–4Great BritainTřebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 183 Umpires: Vladimir Richter (HP), Alex Lazaro (1B), Sergii Bolilyi (3B)
LP: Benjamin Johnson (0–1)WP: Austin Hassani (1–0)
25 September 2023(2023-09-25) 11:00Hungary3–22 (F/5)Great BritainTřebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 190 Umpires: Sergii Bolilyi (HP), Jason Lillebo (1B), Edwin Louisa (3B)
LP: Ádám Piros (0–1)WP: Jacob Esch (1–0)
HR: Nick Ward (1)
25 September 2023(2023-09-25) 17:30Italy3–8SwedenTřebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 260 Umpires: Alex Lazaro (HP), Vladimir Richter (1B), Jason Lillebo (3B)
LP: Gabriele Quattrini (0–1)WP: Per Sjörs (1–0)
HR: Joel Johnson (1)
26 September 2023(2023-09-26) 11:00Sweden17–7 (F/8)HungaryTřebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 82 Umpires: Jason Lillebo (HP), Edwin Louisa (1B), Alex Lazaro (3B)
WP: Oskar Syrén (1–0)LP: Robert Ogg
HR: Leonard Bäckström (1)HR: Graeham Luttor (1)
26 September 2023(2023-09-26) 17:30Great Britain11–10ItalyTřebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 360 Umpires: Sergii Bolilyi (HP), Alex Lazaro(1B), Vladimir Richter (3B)
WP: Chris Messer (1–0) Sv: Demoi Hodge (1)LP: Alex Bassani[it] (0–1)
HR: Nick Ward (2), Harry Ford (1, 2)HR: Robel Garcia (1, 2)

Group C

PosTeamPldWLRFRARDPCTGBQualificationNetherlands national baseball teamFrance national baseball teamCroatia national baseball teamUkraine national baseball team
1Netherlands330405+351.000—Qualified for Quarterfinals—9–015–2—
2France3211310+3.6671———10–0
3Croatia3121419−5.3332Qualified for Relegation Round—1–3—11–1
4Ukraine303437−33.00033–16———

Group D

PosTeamPldWLRFRARDPCTGBQualificationGermany national baseball teamIsrael national baseball teamSwitzerland national baseball teamBelgium national baseball team
1Germany330329+231.000—Qualified for Quarterfinals—2–0——
2Israel3212511+14.6671——14–111–8
3Switzerland3121331−18.3332Qualified for Relegation Round5–15———
4Belgium3031433−19.00034–15—2–7—

Play-offs

Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
28 September, 12:00
D1Germany6
29 September, 12:00
C2France5
Germany4
28 September, 18:30
Great Britain8
B1Great Britain12
1 October, 18:30
A2Czech Republic2
Great Britain2
28 September, 18:30
Spain11
C1Netherlands12
29 September, 18:30
D2Israel2
Netherlands6
28 September, 12:00
Spain73rd Place
A1Spain18
1 October, 12:00
B2Sweden3
Germany4
Netherlands5

Placement round 5th–8th place

Classification games5th place
29 September, 18:30
France1
30 September, 18:30
Czech Republic11
Czech Republic5
29 September, 12:00
Israel1
Israel6
Sweden4
7th place
30 September, 12:00
France13
Sweden0

Relegation rounds

Relegation round9–12th places9th place
28 September, 10:00
D3Switzerland9
29 September, 12:00
A4Austria2
Switzerland3
28 September, 12:00
Italy12
B3Italy15
30 September, 18:30
C4Ukraine0
Italy6
28 September, 15:00
Croatia5
A3Greece4
29 September, 18:30
D4Belgium5
Belgium5
28 September, 18:30
Croatia711th place
C3Croatia9
30 September, 12:00
B4Hungary2
Switzerland3
Belgium8

13–16th places classification

13–16th places13th place
29 September, 10:00
Austria0
30 September, 15:00
Ukraine9
Ukraine4
29 September, 15:00
Greece8
Greece19
Hungary14
15th place
30 September, 10:00
Austria15
Hungary5

Final standings

RkTeamWLPct.RRA
Spain601.0007213
Great Britain51.8335930
Netherlands51.8336318
4Germany42.6674623
5Czech Republic42.6674123
6Israel33.5003432
7France33.5003227
8Sweden24.3333251
9Italy42.6676129
10Croatia33.5003532
11Belgium24.3333247
12Switzerland24.3332853
13Greece33.5004357
14Ukraine^15.1671760
15Austria^15.1672456
16Hungary^06.0003397

^ - Relegated to B Pool European Qualifier

Awards and honors

Awards

AwardPlayerRef.
Most Valuable PlayerSpain Wander Encarnación
Leading hitterHungary Graeham Luttor
Outstanding defensive playerNetherlands Didi Gregorius

Statistical leaders

Batting leaders
StatisticNameTotal
Batting leaders Statistic Name Total Batting average Netherlands national baseball team Juremi Profar .609 Hits Netherlands national baseball team Juremi Profar 14 Runs Spain national baseball team Omar Hernández 10 Home runs Spain national baseball team Omar Hernández 4 Great Britain national baseball team Nick Ward Runs batted in Great Britain national baseball team Harry Ford 12 Stolen bases Great Britain national baseball team Harry Ford 5 Bases on balls Netherlands national baseball team Didi Gregorius 9 Germany national baseball team Shawn Larry On base percentage Netherlands national baseball team Juremi Profar .643 Slugging percentage Great Britain national baseball team Nick Ward 1.190Pitching leaders Statistic Name Total Wins 6 tied with 2 Earned run average 3 tied with 0.00 Innings pitched Switzerland national baseball team James Sanders 18+1⁄3 Strikeouts Croatia national baseball team Carlos Garcia 25 Saves Greece national baseball team Dimitri Lettas 2
Batting averageNetherlands national baseball team Juremi Profar.609
HitsNetherlands national baseball team Juremi Profar14
RunsSpain national baseball team Omar Hernández10
Home runsSpain national baseball team Omar Hernández4
Great Britain national baseball team Nick Ward
Runs batted inGreat Britain national baseball team Harry Ford12
Stolen basesGreat Britain national baseball team Harry Ford5
Bases on ballsNetherlands national baseball team Didi Gregorius9
Germany national baseball team Shawn Larry
On base percentageNetherlands national baseball team Juremi Profar.643
Slugging percentageGreat Britain national baseball team Nick Ward1.190
StatisticNameTotal
Wins6 tied with2
Earned run average3 tied with0.00
Innings pitchedSwitzerland national baseball team James Sanders18+1⁄3
StrikeoutsCroatia national baseball team Carlos Garcia25
SavesGreece national baseball team Dimitri Lettas2

Home runs

There were 74 home runs hit in 48 games, for an average of 1.54 home runs per game.

4 home runs

3 home runs

2 home runs

1 home run

Notable participants

Several former and future Major League Baseball players participated in the tournament. Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza managed Italy and Robel García played for the Italian team. The Netherlands team included Didi Gregorius, Roger Bernadina, and Shairon Martis, with Gene Kingsale serving as a coach. Ryan Lavarnaway, Ty Kelly, Josh Zeid, and Jake Fishman played for Israel. Engel Beltré and Rhiner Cruz played for Spain. Eric Sogard played for Czechia. Catching prospect Harry Ford starred for Great Britain, which also included Jake Esch. Erik Pappas was a player and coach for Greece.

External links