Netherlands take gold at European Championship; Italy silver, Spain bronze
Netherlands, Italy and Spain are the top three ranked baseball countries in Europe.
BRNO, Czech Republic – The Netherlands claimed their twenty-first European baseball title on Sunday with a 6-3 victory over archrival Italy in the finale of the XXXIII European Baseball Championship, which was played before a capacity crowd at MBS Stadium and broadcast nationally via NOS in the Netherlands and Fox2 in Italy.
It was the second loss that the Netherlands (11-0) delivered to Italy (9-2) in the final weekend. On Saturday, the Dutch squad defeated Italy, 5-0. Italy were coming into the event as the two-time defending champions of Europe.
Also on Saturday, Spain, No. 3 in Europe, beat No. 9 France by a score of 10-5 to earn the bronze. Spain have risen to their highest-ever world ranking, currently at No. 16.
The European title for Netherlands – currently ranked No. 5 in the world – confirms their position as Europe’s top-ranked nation, where they have resided since the IBAF World Rankings were introduced in 2009. The silver-medal finish will keep No. 2 Italy with a healthy lead over third-ranked Spain.
Dutch National Team player Curt Smith was named tournament MVP for his contributions of a .448 batting average, 4 home runs — two in the gold medal finale — 14 RBI and 1.034 slugging percentage. (See all statistics)
Smith was also named MVP of the 2011 Baseball World Cup, when the Dutch defeated Cuba 2-1 in the finale to be crowned world champions.
In the finale in Brno between Europe’s top two heavyweights, the potent Netherlands attack put together 7 total hits, with 5 of them being deposited over the outfield fence for solo home runs, which helped the Dutch to maintain command of the contest from start to finish. (See Vine clip of HRs)
In the top of the 7th, Italy picked up three runs on two hits and wild pitching to cut Netherlands’ lead to 5-3.
Dutch closer Tom Stuifbergen was brought in to put out the small-alarm fire in the 7th and worked a flawless final 2 2/3 innings to earn the championship victory.
The Dutch launched their final homer in the bottom of the 8th, which would be the final run of the event.
The European title for the Netherlands follows their title at the first-ever France International Yoshida Challenge at the new facility in Senart, France.
The Netherlands are seemingly guaranteed to qualify for the 2015 Premier 12 — the new flagship international tournament that will feature professional players and distribute a US$ multi-million purse of prize money to the participating National Teams/National Federations. The top 12 ranked-nations in the world will earn a spot to compete in the event in Taiwan in November 2015. An announcement will be made in late November to officially name the “Premier 12” nations.
FINAL STANDINGS
| 1 |  Netherlands |
| 2 |  Italy |
| 3 |  Spain |
| 4 |  Czech Republic |
| 5 |  Germany |
| 6 |  France |
| 7 |  Belgium |
| 8 |  Russia |
| 9 |  Great Britain |
| 10 |  Greece |
| 11 |  Sweden |
| 12 |  Croatia |
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