France wins historic European Championship, first to qualify for Women’s Baseball World Cup 2020

France wins historic European Championship, first to qualify for Women’s Baseball World Cup 2020
05/08/2019

As the top team in Europe, the French squad will advance to the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup for the first time ever next year.

ROUEN, France — The recently launched and unranked French National Women’s Baseball Team went undefeated in the historic first-ever Women’s European Baseball Championship, defeating world No. 11 Netherlands, 5-2, in the Final on 3 August.

As the top team in Europe, the French squad will advance to the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup — baseball’s biggest event for women — for the first time ever. France is the first of 12 nations to qualify for the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2020.

“Bravo to the French Women’s Baseball Team, the first-ever European Champions in history and  qualifying for the Women’s Baseball World Cup 2020,” French Federation of Baseball Softball (FFBS) President Didier Seminet tweeted.

The Netherlands, the first nation in Europe to launch a women’s baseball programme, represented the continent in the last five editions of the World Cup.

France finished the European Championship a perfect record of 5-0, defeating Netherlands three times and the newly established Czech National Women’s Baseball Team two times.

French baseballer Marjorie Brunel was named the Most Valuable Player.

The next teams to qualify for the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2020 will come from the first-ever COPABE Americas Women’s Baseball Qualifier, which will be staged in Aguascalientes, Mexico, from 18-25 August.

The launching of continental qualifiers is a sign of  the steady increase and rise in popularity of females participating in baseball.