By Confederation of European Baseball
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — Russia has won the 2014 Under-12 European Baseball Championship, defeating France 14-4 in the final game in Ljubljana, Slovenia this past Saturday.
Taking the gold and silver medals, Russia and France have qualified for the 2015 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup.
Russia broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run fifth and blew the score wide open with eight runs in the seventh. Nikolay Parshin struck out 11 in seven innings for the win. He allowed six hits, four runs (2 ER) and four walks in a complete game. Daniil Chernov set the offensive highlight with a home run and three RBI.
Russia is currently the No. 34 ranked country in the World Rankings and competed in the II U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tapei City in 2013, finishing with a record of 2-4 (9th place of of 14) in the world championship.
The Czech Republic, which had won in 2013, claimed the bronze medal with a 15-5 rout over Lithuania. The Czech squad scored four runs in the first and in the second, as well as five in the fifth to cruise to an easy victory. Center fielder Ondrej Chlubna led a balanced attack by going 3-for-4 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBI.
In the second classification game Slovenia had edged out Belarus 16-6 in six innings. Carlos Tovar Brcic led the way, going 4-for-5 with four doubles, four runs scored and five RBI.
Final Standings:
1) Russia
2) France
3) Czech Republic
4) Lithuania
5) Slovenia
6) Belarus
7) Austria
Complete Results and Stats at www.baseballstats.eu
