2023 European Baseball Championship

2023 European Baseball Championship
Tournament details
Country	Czech Republic
Dates	24 September – 1 October
Teams	16
Defending champions	Netherlands
Final positions
Champions	Spain (2nd title)
Runners-up	Great Britain
Third place	Netherlands
Fourth place	Germany
Tournament statistics
Games played	48
Attendance	23,438 (488 per game)
Awards
MVP	Wander Encarnación
	← 2021 2025 →

The 2023 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament organized by WBSC Europe. It was held in five cities in the Czech Republic, from September 24 to October 1, 2023. The championship marked the first time in history, excluding three occasions when they did not enter the tournament, that the Netherlands did not feature in the final, having lost 7–6 to Spain in the semi-finals.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Qualification

The top 14 teams of the 2021 European Championship qualified automatically for the tournament. After the expulsion of Russia, who had finished 10th, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the remaining three spots were filled through a qualification tournament, that saw Hungary, France, and Switzerland qualify.^[4] Slovakia was the only team from the 2021 championship that did not qualify in 2023.

Team	Qualification method	Team	Qualification method
Netherlands	‹See Tfd› 2021 European Baseball Championship	Germany	9th, 2021 European Baseball Championship
Israel	‹See Tfd› 2021 European Baseball Championship	Austria	11th, 2021 European Baseball Championship
Italy	‹See Tfd› 2021 European Baseball Championship	Sweden	12th, 2021 European Baseball Championship
Spain	4th, 2021 European Baseball Championship	Ukraine	13th, 2021 European Baseball Championship
Czech Republic	5th, 2021 European Baseball Championship	Greece	14th, 2021 European Baseball Championship
Great Britain	6th, 2021 European Baseball Championship	Hungary	Qualifier tournament winner^[4]
Croatia	7th, 2021 European Baseball Championship	France	Qualifier tournament winner^[4]
Belgium	8th, 2021 European Baseball Championship	Switzerland	Qualifier tournament winner^[4]

Venues

The tournament took place in six different stadiums across the Czech Republic.^[5]

Prague	Třebíč	Brno	Brno
Eagles Park	Stadion Na Hvězdě	Sports area Hroch	YD Baseball Arena
Matches: 6	Matches: 10	Matches: 6	Matches: 14 (including final)

Ostrava	Prague Ostrava Brno Třebíč Blansko 2023 Baseball European Championship venues		Blansko
Arrows Park			Strawberry Field
Matches: 6			Matches: 6

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals. The bottom two teams entered the 9th–16th place play-offs.^[6]^[7]

All times are local, CEST (UTC+2).^[7]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Spain	3	3	0	36	2	+34	1.000	—	Qualified for Quarterfinals	—	9–0	14–1	—
2	Czech Republic (H)	3	2	1	23	9	+14	.667	1	Qualified for Quarterfinals	—	—	14–0	9–0
3	Greece	3	1	2	12	34	−22	.333	2	Qualified for Relegation Round	—	—	—	11–6
4	Austria	3	0	3	7	33	−26	.000	3	Qualified for Relegation Round	1–13	—	—	—

Source: ^[8]
(H) Hosts

24 September 2023 (2023-09-24) 11:00	Greece	1–14 (F/7)	Spain	Arrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 173 Umpires: Mojmír Jankovič (HP), Fabien Carrette-Legrand (1B), Tiska Tiihonen (3B)
	LP: Dimitrios Kourtis (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: Anderson de León (1–0)
	HR: Kasey Caras (1)		HR: Omar Hernandez (1), Gabriel Lino (1), Edison Valerio (1)

24 September 2023 (2023-09-24) 18:00	Austria	0–9	Czech Republic	Arrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 1,980 Umpires: Christopher Feuerecker (HP), Richard Wessel (1B), Fabien Carrette-Legrand (3B)
	LP: Christian Tomsich (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: Tomáš Ondra (1–0)
			HR: Matěj Menšík (1), Martin Červenka (1)

25 September 2023 (2023-09-25) 11:00	Spain	13–1 (F/8)	Austria	Arrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 312 Umpires: Fabien Carrette-Legrand (HP), Tiska Tiihonen (1B), Mojmír Jankovič(3B)
	WP: Jorge Balboa (1–0)	Boxscore	LP: Julian Faulhaber (0–1)
	HR: Andrés Angulo (1), Edison Valerio (2)

25 September 2023 (2023-09-25) 17:40	Greece	0–14 (F/7)	Czech Republic	Arrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 1,576 Umpires: Richard Wessel (HP), Christopher Feuerecker (1B), Tiska Tiihonen (3B)
	LP: Jonathan Kountis (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: Ondřej Satoria (1–0)
			HR: Eric Sogard (1), William Escala [ja] (1)

26 September 2023 (2023-09-26) 11:00	Austria	6–11	Greece	Arrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 286 Umpires: Tiska Tiihonen (HP), Mojmír Jankovič (1B), Richard Wessel (3B)
	LP: Ryan Rupp (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: Peter Maestrales (1–0) Sv: Dimitri Lettas (1)
	HR: Sammy Hackl (1), Felix Zimmerle (1)		HR: Kasey Caras (2), Panagiotis Dudunakis (1), Ari Sechopoulos (1)

26 September 2023 (2023-09-26) 17:40	Czech Republic	0–9	Spain	Arrows Park, Ostrava Attendance: 2,017 Umpires: Christopher Feuerecker (HP), Richard Wessel (1B), Fabien Carrette-Legrand (3B)
	LP: Marek Minařík (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: Pablo Guillén (1–0)
			HR: Gabriel Lino (2), Wander Encarnación (1), Omar Hernandez (2)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Great Britain	3	3	0	37	13	+24	1.000	—	Qualified for Quarterfinals	—	4–0	—	22–3
2	Sweden	3	2	1	25	14	+11	.667	1	Qualified for Quarterfinals	—	—	8–3	—
3	Italy	3	1	2	28	21	+7	.333	2	Qualified for Relegation Round	10–11	—	—	15–2
4	Hungary	3	0	3	12	54	−42	.000	3	Qualified for Relegation Round	—	7–17	—	—

Source: ^[8]

24 September 2023 (2023-09-24) 11:00	Hungary	2–15 (F/7)	Italy	Třebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 168 Umpires: Edwin Louisa (HP), Sergii Bolilyi (1B), Jason Lillebo (3B)
	LP: Sean Fekete (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: Mattia Aldegheri (1–0)

24 September 2023 (2023-09-24) 17:30	Sweden	0–4	Great Britain	Třebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 183 Umpires: Vladimir Richter (HP), Alex Lazaro (1B), Sergii Bolilyi (3B)
	LP: Benjamin Johnson (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: Austin Hassani (1–0)

25 September 2023 (2023-09-25) 11:00	Hungary	3–22 (F/5)	Great Britain	Třebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 190 Umpires: Sergii Bolilyi (HP), Jason Lillebo (1B), Edwin Louisa (3B)
	LP: Ádám Piros (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: Jacob Esch (1–0)
			HR: Nick Ward (1)

25 September 2023 (2023-09-25) 17:30	Italy	3–8	Sweden	Třebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 260 Umpires: Alex Lazaro (HP), Vladimir Richter (1B), Jason Lillebo (3B)
	LP: Gabriele Quattrini (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: Per Sjörs (1–0)
			HR: Joel Johnson (1)

26 September 2023 (2023-09-26) 11:00	Sweden	17–7 (F/8)	Hungary	Třebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 82 Umpires: Jason Lillebo (HP), Edwin Louisa (1B), Alex Lazaro (3B)
	WP: Oskar Syrén (1–0)	Boxscore	LP: Robert Ogg
	HR: Leonard Bäckström (1)		HR: Graeham Luttor (1)

26 September 2023 (2023-09-26) 17:30	Great Britain	11–10	Italy	Třebíč Na Hvězdě, Třebíč Attendance: 360 Umpires: Sergii Bolilyi (HP), Alex Lazaro(1B), Vladimir Richter (3B)
	WP: Chris Messer (1–0) Sv: Demoi Hodge (1)	Boxscore	LP: Alex Bassani [it] (0–1)
	HR: Nick Ward (2), Harry Ford (1, 2)		HR: Robel Garcia (1, 2)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Netherlands	3	3	0	40	5	+35	1.000	—	Qualified for Quarterfinals	—	9–0	15–2	—
2	France	3	2	1	13	10	+3	.667	1	Qualified for Quarterfinals	—	—	—	10–0
3	Croatia	3	1	2	14	19	−5	.333	2	Qualified for Relegation Round	—	1–3	—	11–1
4	Ukraine	3	0	3	4	37	−33	.000	3	Qualified for Relegation Round	3–16	—	—	—

Source: ^[8]

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Germany	3	3	0	32	9	+23	1.000	—	Qualified for Quarterfinals	—	2–0	—	—
2	Israel	3	2	1	25	11	+14	.667	1	Qualified for Quarterfinals	—	—	14–1	11–8
3	Switzerland	3	1	2	13	31	−18	.333	2	Qualified for Relegation Round	5–15	—	—	—
4	Belgium	3	0	3	14	33	−19	.000	3	Qualified for Relegation Round	4–15	—	2–7	—

Source: ^[8]

Play-offs

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

28 September, 12:00

D1 Germany	6
		29 September, 12:00
C2 France	5
		Germany	4
28 September, 18:30
		Great Britain	8
B1 Great Britain	12
				1 October, 18:30
A2 Czech Republic	2
				Great Britain	2
28 September, 18:30
				Spain	11
C1 Netherlands	12
		29 September, 18:30
D2 Israel	2
		Netherlands	6
28 September, 12:00
		Spain	7	3rd Place
A1 Spain	18
				1 October, 12:00
B2 Sweden	3
				Germany	4

				Netherlands	5

Placement round 5th–8th place

Classification games		5th place

29 September, 18:30

France	1
		30 September, 18:30
Czech Republic	11
		Czech Republic	5
29 September, 12:00
		Israel	1
Israel	6

Sweden	4
		7th place

		30 September, 12:00

		France	13

		Sweden	0

Relegation rounds

Relegation round		9–12th places		9th place

28 September, 10:00

D3 Switzerland	9
		29 September, 12:00
A4 Austria	2
		Switzerland	3
28 September, 12:00
		Italy	12
B3 Italy	15
				30 September, 18:30
C4 Ukraine	0
				Italy	6
28 September, 15:00
				Croatia	5
A3 Greece	4
		29 September, 18:30
D4 Belgium	5
		Belgium	5
28 September, 18:30
		Croatia	7	11th place
C3 Croatia	9
				30 September, 12:00
B4 Hungary	2
				Switzerland	3

				Belgium	8

13–16th places classification

13–16th places		13th place

29 September, 10:00

Austria	0
		30 September, 15:00
Ukraine	9
		Ukraine	4
29 September, 15:00
		Greece	8
Greece	19

Hungary	14
		15th place

		30 September, 10:00

		Austria	15

		Hungary	5

Final standings

Rk	Team	W	L	Pct.	R	RA
	Spain	6	0	1.000	72	13
	Great Britain	5	1	.833	59	30
	Netherlands	5	1	.833	63	18
4	Germany	4	2	.667	46	23
5	Czech Republic	4	2	.667	41	23
6	Israel	3	3	.500	34	32
7	France	3	3	.500	32	27
8	Sweden	2	4	.333	32	51
9	Italy	4	2	.667	61	29
10	Croatia	3	3	.500	35	32
11	Belgium	2	4	.333	32	47
12	Switzerland	2	4	.333	28	53
13	Greece	3	3	.500	43	57
14	Ukraine^	1	5	.167	17	60
15	Austria^	1	5	.167	24	56
16	Hungary^	0	6	.000	33	97

^ - Relegated to B Pool European Qualifier

Awards and honors

Awards

Award	Player	Ref.
Most Valuable Player	Wander Encarnación	^[9]
Leading hitter	Graeham Luttor	^[10]
Outstanding defensive player	Didi Gregorius	^[10]

Statistical leaders

Batting leaders^[11]
Statistic	Name	Total
Batting average	Juremi Profar	.609
Hits	Juremi Profar	14
Runs	Omar Hernández	10
Home runs	Omar Hernández	4
Home runs	Nick Ward	4
Runs batted in	Harry Ford	12
Stolen bases	Harry Ford	5
Bases on balls	Didi Gregorius	9
Bases on balls	Shawn Larry	9
On base percentage	Juremi Profar	.643
Slugging percentage	Nick Ward	1.190

Pitching leaders^[11]
Statistic	Name	Total
Wins	6 tied with^[a]	2
Earned run average	3 tied with^[b]	0.00
Innings pitched	James Sanders	18+1⁄3
Strikeouts	Carlos Garcia	25
Saves	Dimitri Lettas	2

↑ Chris Messer (GBR), Carlos Garcia (CRO), Tomáš Ondra (CZE), James Sanders (SUI), Ondřej Satoria (CZE), Pablo Guillen (ESP)
↑ Ben Couvreur (FRA), Tomáš Ondra (CZE), Joseph King (GBR)

Home runs

There were 74 home runs hit in 48 games, for an average of 1.54 home runs per game.^[12]

4 home runs

3 home runs

2 home runs

1 home run

Notable participants

Several former and future Major League Baseball players participated in the tournament. Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza managed Italy and Robel García played for the Italian team. The Netherlands team included Didi Gregorius, Roger Bernadina, and Shairon Martis, with Gene Kingsale serving as a coach. Ryan Lavarnaway, Ty Kelly, Josh Zeid, and Jake Fishman played for Israel. Engel Beltré and Rhiner Cruz played for Spain. Eric Sogard played for Czechia. Catching prospect Harry Ford starred for Great Britain, which also included Jake Esch. Erik Pappas was a player and coach for Greece.^[13]^[14]^[10]

References

↑ "Spain@Netherlands - Baseball European Championship 2023". WBSC Europe. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
↑ "Spain defeats Netherlands 7-6 in semifinals | 09/30/2023". MLB.com. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
↑ "Honkballers weinig enthousiast over bronzen EK-medaille: 'We hebben gefaald'". NOS (in Dutch). 2023-10-02. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
1 2 3 4 "Men's European Baseball Qualifiers by the view of WBSC Europe Baseball Commission". WBSC Europe. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
↑ "European Baseball Championship Fields". eurobaseball2023.com. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
↑ "Tickets now on sale for the Baseball European Championship 2023 in Czech Republic". WBSC Europe. 2 March 2023.
1 2 "Eurobaseball 2023" (PDF). WBSC Europe. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
1 2 3 4 "2023 European Baseball Championship – Standings". Retrieved 23 September 2023.
↑ "Spain beat Great Britain to win first Baseball European Championship in 68 years". WBSC. 1 October 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
1 2 "Baseball European Championship 2023 Daily Report #07" (PDF). WBSC. October 1, 2023.
1 2 "Leaderboard". WBSC Europe. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
↑ "Stats". WBSC. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
↑ Clair, Michael (September 25, 2023). "Former MLBer Erik Pappas is back and playing for Greece ... at 57 years old". MLB.com. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
↑ Clair, Michael (September 21, 2023). "Previewing the 2023 European Baseball Championship". MLB.com. Retrieved 2026-01-27.

External links

[12] Chris Messer (GBR), Carlos Garcia (CRO), Tomáš Ondra (CZE), James Sanders (SUI), Ondřej Satoria (CZE), Pablo Guillen (ESP)

[13] Ben Couvreur (FRA), Tomáš Ondra (CZE), Joseph King (GBR)

[1] "Spain@Netherlands - Baseball European Championship 2023". WBSC Europe. Retrieved 2025-12-09.

[2] "Spain defeats Netherlands 7-6 in semifinals | 09/30/2023". MLB.com. Retrieved 2025-12-09.

[3] "Honkballers weinig enthousiast over bronzen EK-medaille: 'We hebben gefaald'". NOS (in Dutch). 2023-10-02. Retrieved 2025-12-09.

[qualifiers-4] 1 2 3 4 "Men's European Baseball Qualifiers by the view of WBSC Europe Baseball Commission". WBSC Europe. Retrieved 23 September 2023.

[5] "European Baseball Championship Fields". eurobaseball2023.com. Retrieved 23 September 2023.

[6] "Tickets now on sale for the Baseball European Championship 2023 in Czech Republic". WBSC Europe. 2 March 2023.

[Fixtures-7] 1 2 "Eurobaseball 2023" (PDF). WBSC Europe. Retrieved 7 October 2023.

[standings-8] 1 2 3 4 "2023 European Baseball Championship – Standings". Retrieved 23 September 2023.

[9] "Spain beat Great Britain to win first Baseball European Championship in 68 years". WBSC. 1 October 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2025.

[:0-10] 1 2 "Baseball European Championship 2023 Daily Report #07" (PDF). WBSC. October 1, 2023.

[stats-11] 1 2 "Leaderboard". WBSC Europe. Retrieved 17 March 2025.

[14] "Stats". WBSC. Retrieved 14 January 2024.

[15] Clair, Michael (September 25, 2023). "Former MLBer Erik Pappas is back and playing for Greece ... at 57 years old". MLB.com. Retrieved 2024-05-17.

[16] Clair, Michael (September 21, 2023). "Previewing the 2023 European Baseball Championship". MLB.com. Retrieved 2026-01-27.

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