The players from Moscow appear to have rebounded from their unexpected loss to Switzerland, and resumed the level of play they were at before their setback. By a score of 1:11, the Russians played well enough to shorten the game to seven innings. The needed just a handful of hits to do the job, as weak pitching on the part of the Oslo Pretenders ultimately lead to their demise. A group of primary school students, who had made a trip to the Weyersberg for the games, recognized quickly that the sympathetic Scandinavians needed support. The students cheered vigorously, but it didn’t make a dent on the scoreboard. Alas, the Pretenders may be leading in popularity.
R H E
NOR 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 1 3 0
RUS 4 1 2 3 0 1 - | 11 7 3
__________________________________
Demony Miejska Gorka and Academica de Coimbra put on a show in the afternoon, although it wasn’t pretty. After more than three hours of play it was 11:15 for the Poles, but a closer look at the bottom line expresses a less than attractive game. Too many errors and lack of consistency from the pitching for both sides ensured that the lead coughed up over and over again. A late pitcher change by the Portuguese was punished with five runs, leading to the defeat.
R H E
POR 1 3 0 1 4 2 0 0 0 | 11 13 3
POL 1 0 4 0 4 5 1 0 - | 15 5 9
__________________________________
A great, close game over the full distance took place in the round of the evening between the Therwil Flyers and the Solingen Alligators. On the mound, Chris Blackbee (SUI) matched up against Josh Rickards, producing a high-quality duel worth seeing. In the second inning, Nils Hartkopf gave the Alligators a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Robin Drachen. The Flyers rebounded to tie the game in the fourth, when JB Tucker ripped a double and brought in Daniel Eichenberger. Only in the fifth inning did Blackbee slip up, giving up the lead on base-on-balls. The Flyers threatened to tie again in the eighth inning, when Rickards was faced with a bases-loaded dilemma, but the strong defense of Solingen came through to get him out of the jam. The Alligators put up and insurance run in the top of the ninth when Paul Rutgers reach on an HBP and was pulled in favor of pinch runner Steffan Kugel, who quickly made his way around the bases on an RBI double by Nils Hartkopf. In the last inning on defense, Jens Cornelsen took the hill to close it out. With two strikes, he watched as Adrian Kaufmann reached on a base hit. However Cornelsen induced the next batter into a ground-out to put an end to the exciting game. Rickards again demonstrated his superiority with eleven strikeouts.
R H E
GER 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 | 1 3 5
SUI 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 | 1 6 1