While domestic competitions in European Baseball started in February, European competitions started with a pair of European Cup tournaments last week. 12 club teams from eight different countries fought for four spots at the European Champions Cup Final Four (date and site will be announced soon).
French champion Rouen Huskies – for the first time ever – and Italy’s vice champion Danesi Nettuno took the top spots at the European Cup in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Dutch champion L&D Amsterdam and current Italian Baseball League leader Unipol Bologna at the European Cup in San Marino.
Next Monday the Qualifiers European Cup will start in four different cities (Namur/Belgium, Attnang-Puchheim/Austria, Blagoevgrad/Bulgaria, Trnava/Slovakia) throughout of Europe. 24 teams from 19 different countries will try to land a berth for their federation to move up into the main European Cup event in 2013. The winners of these four tournaments will get this chance in a Playoff in September.
Overall 36 club teams from 24 different countries are playing in European competitions this year.
After the club competitions in June are concluded the spotlight in European Baseball will move on to youth and national team tournaments. European Championships and Qualifiers at U12, U15, U18 and U21 age categories will be played in July. The Senior European Championship in the Netherlands in mid-September highlights the calendar, before the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers at the end of September and in November take over.
