On a beautiful day two at the SUMA Pony & Colt European Zone Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, teams jockeyed for positions in their respective pools in order to claim the coveted spots in Saturday's quarterfinals. All but one pool was decided Friday in baseball, as the Future Star Academy (NED), Lithuania (LTU) and the Czech U15 national team (CZE) will be forced to duke it out Saturday on the diamond to determine Pool C. Meanwhile, in softball, all the quarterfinal tickets were punched in the Colt age division. In the Pony age division, Joudrs' Orange and Navy teams claimed two of the final four spots with undefeated records. Impressively, the defending Zone Champions from the Netherlands in Colt and Pony baseball and Colt girls softball continued their dominance by staying undefeated.
Colt 16U Baseball:
After picking up 10-run victories earlier in the day, the two juggernauts of Pool A in Holland U16 A and Catalonia, Spain clashed in the day's final game. The Netherlands' pitching staff of Koen Van't Klooster and Dorian Lippens combined to hold Catalonia to two runs (one earned), on one hit with three strikeouts in four innings of a 7-2 victory. In Pool B, Holland U16 C rolled to a one-sided victory over Slovakia and the Czech Academy heated up, winning its two contests by a combined score of 22-2. In Group C, the Future Star Academy of the Netherlands continued to impress, beginning the day with a 20-1 victory over the Belgium Academy and then a 7-2 win over previously undefeated Lithuania. The squad used 11 walks to its advantage against Lithuania, scoring seven runs on just one hit. The Czech U15 national team kept its quarterfinal hopes alive with two, two-run victories on Friday. Lithuania squares off with the Austrian Academy at 8 a.m., while the Future Star Academy faces the Czech U15 national team at 10 a.m. in order to determine who's moving on to Saturday's quarterfinals. In Pool D, Holland U16 B kept pace with its Dutch counterparts by staying undefeated at 4-0. The Berlin Academy claimed the pool's final spot. Hendrik Diepers's walk off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth inning led Germany to a 4-3 win over the Moscow Cardinals. In the final game of the day, the Berlin Academy pounded out nine hits and took advantage of three Israel errors to win 7-2. Timo Harder paced the Germans at the dish, going 3-for-3 with three RBI, while also pitching the final 2.2 innings of the game without allowing a run.
Pony 14U Baseball:
In Pool A, the two-time defending Zone Champions Holland U14 A continued to roll, defeating the Belgium Academy 15-2 and claiming the pool's top spot. Hrosi Brno of Czech Republic claimed the other, thanks to two, 10-run victories, first over the Belgium Academy and then Poland. In Pool B, the London Archers of Great Britain proved that it is a force to be reckoned with in this tournament. First the Archers dispelled the German Academy 9-2, thanks in part to Nitin Rao, who scored three of the team's runs, while going 3-for-3 at the plate. Motoki Ushijima paced the club with two RBI. London then defeated Lithuania 11-1, completing pool play with a 3-0 record. The Czech Academy A made a statement on day two, especially defensively. In 4.2 innings, Czech Republic's Matyas Pjontek and Matous Bubenik allowed one earned run on just two hits and two walks, while striking out seven in a 4-1 victory over Israel. In the team's second game, the Czech Academy used 16 hits to score 15 runs and Jonas Krejci, Benjamin O'Rourke and Simon Klacl combined to toss a five-inning no-hitter in a 15-2 victory over Netherlands' Future Stars. Thanks to Israel's two victories on Thursday, it claimed the second bid to the quarterfinals in the pool. In Pool D, France's Bordeaux Academy stayed undefeated and knocked out Holland's U14 B team with a 6-3 victory. Baptiste Blancot was the player of the game for the Bordeaux Academy, as he cashed in four runs thanks to his two home runs in the game. The Czech Academy B 10-runned Sweden to finish pool play 2-1 and enter the quarterfinals.
Colt 16U Girls Softball:
The defending Zone Champions from Holland completed pool play as the only undefeated team in the 16-team field, after dropping Sabat Praha 11-2. Meanwhile, the team that gave the Netherlands their best competition, Moskovia of Russia, also punched its ticket to the quarterfinals, after convincingly beating Croatia 17-2. In Pool B, the Players Softball Team (1) of Russia, Beavers Chomutov of Czech Republic and Arrows Ostrava of Czech Republic all finished the day with 2-1 records, after going 1-1 on the day. The Players Softball Team (1) and Beavers Chomutov received the pool's bids to the quarterfinals, thanks to run differential. The Prague Eagles narrowly escaped Storms Repy 7-6; thus, saving their spot in the quarterfinals. First time European Zone Championships participant Sweden also moved on to the quarterfinals, thanks to a 12-3 victory over the Players Softball Team (2). In Pool D, wins by Joudrs and CR U16, both of Czech Republic, gave them the edge to the quarterfinals over Catalonia, Spain. The Spaniards trailed the two teams by just one run in the run deferential tiebreaker.
Pony 14U Girls Softball:
Teams participated in 10 games Friday, as both Joudrs of Czech Republic's Navy and Orange teams proved to be among the best in the tournament's 10-team field. Joudrs Orange beat the Players Softball Team of Russia 4-2 and Red Fox of Ukraine 22-2 to stay undefeated at 3-0. Joudrs Navy won 13-7 over the Indians of Russia in the morning and then 10-6 over the Dutch Lions of Holland. Six more pool play games to begin the day tomorrow will determine who joins Joudrs's programs in the tournament's semifinals Saturday evening.
Quarterfinal action begins at 9 a.m. for Colt Girls Softball and 10 a.m. for Pony Baseball, respectively, Saturday, while Colt Baseball wraps up pool play, beginning at 8 a.m., before moving into the quarterfinals. Pony Girls Softball pool play continues at 8 a.m. All times local in Prague. You can find the full scoreboards and game schedules with links to the game stats and live web streams here. Follow the tournament's official Facebook page for live updates and other content from Prague.