The first Baseball5 European Championship has started in Vilnius, Lithuania. After group play, Italy and Russia are the only undefeated National Teams and finished first in the respective groups.
Russia, France, Lithuania and Israel out of group A; Italy, the Netherlands, Belarus and Romania out of group B qualified for the quarterfinals.
The three-day tournament featured group play on Friday, 28 February. Quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled on Saturday, 29 February. The first Baseball5 European Champions will be proclaimed on Sunday, 1 March. The championship game is scheduled at noon.
All games of the Baseball5 European Championship are streamed live on Baseballsoftball TV.
The Baseball5 European Championship was originally a 16-team tournament with a four-group preliminary round. After Sweden and Switzerland withdrew, the organizers changed the format into a two seven-team groups tournament.
Group A: Moldova, Belgium, the Netherlands, Belarus, Romania, Lithuania, Italy
Group B: Israel, Estonia, Bulgaria, Russia, Lithuania, France, the Czech Republic.
The European Championship is the first qualifying event to the inaugural Baseball5 World Cup, to be held in Mexico in December. Europe will qualify two National Teams.
The 12-team Baseball5 World Cup will also feature two National Teams from Africa, three each from the Americas and Asia, and one each from Oceania and the hosts Mexico.
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