On the second day of action during the European Championship Croatia and the Ukraine showed fans that the future of Europe’s game may very well lie on the continent’s Eastern borders.
Each of these teams have a while to go yet before they are swimming in the deep end of A-pool but their play is definitely leveling up the tournament.
What we love about this matchup is that it’s just good baseball. Fundamental strategies, like laying down the bunt, running out the third strike and making sure you always tag the base, all make a difference in this game.
Sure, the hitting’s great too, 4 doubles for Croatia - including two for 3B Ronald Krsolovic - plus another off the bat of Ukraine SS Kostiantyn Chukhas but, if you watch this sport for the long ball, then you’re missing all the action. Those extra bases made up a mere 5 of the 18 hits on the day.
With a final score of 9-3, Croatia walked away the clear winners while leaving nearly double the amount of runners on 11-6. That doesn't happen without the ability to take advantage of every opportunity, on both sides of the ball.
Along with line drives and balls hit to the fence line, defense had their heads up, pulling off the pickoff on 1B and creating force out opportunities on the bags.
Line Score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB
Croatia 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 9 11 1 11
Ukraine 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 7 3 6
Box Score: www.wbsceurope.org/en/events/...
Croatia Roster: The Ukraine Roster:
P Jones, Andrew (15) Hvrytishvili, Heorhii (6)
C Smith, Philip (19) Velykyi, Illia (17)
1B Rumora, Petar (21) Boiko, Oleksii (21)
2B Gojkovic, Kruno (20) Boiko, Roman (22)
3B Krsolovic, Ronald (13) Brechko, Denys (1)
SS Herrera, Jose (7) Chukhas, Kostiantyn (13)
LF Manojlov, Mario (14) Boiko, Kostiantyn (8)
CF Gales, Slobodan (6) Kosenko, Vladyslav (5)
RF Karin, Pavao (12) Limarenko, Dmytro (14)
DH Horvatic, Antonio (11) Lukin, Ihor (23)
Thumbnail Photo: Ezr Nadoc
Highlights Produced by: European Baseball & Softball Magazine
Full Game Footage Provided By: 360 Sports Intelligence
Highlight Footage Owned By: European Baseball & Softball Magazine
Music on this video was part of the stadium environment. EBSM holds no copyright and claims fair use.
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22 янв 2022
