|
|
 |
Edinburgh Baseball in Europe
The Edinburgh Diamond Devils have participated in four CEB European baseball tournaments, the highest level of baseball in Europe. In doing so the club established a number of firsts, including being the first Scottish team to play in a CEB Event and becoming the first British team to play in more than two CEB tournaments.
2003 CEB European Cup - Brasschaat, Belgium
16th June -
After months of hard work fundraising, training and overcoming a few setbacks, the Edinburgh Diamond Devils flew out to Amsterdam, on a very, very early flight, full of excitement and pride in representing Great Britain in the C.E.B. Cup in Brasschaat. Confidence was high that we would make a good account of ourselves as the first Scottish club to play in a CEB-sanctioned tournament.
After causing a major stir walking through Schiphol Airport and the streets of Antwerp in our kilts, we arrived at our hotel and turned our attention to the tournament that began the following day.
17th June -
We took the field for our match versus BK Apollo from Slovakia and kept things tight initially before the power hitting of the Slovaks and some untidy pitching gifted them a 19-1 win. We battled hard but the quality play of the Apollo team was too much for us. Catcher Scott Spurlock provided our lone bright spot with a monster home run to left for our only run.
18th June -
Our next game was versus the national champions of Switzerland, the Bern Cardinals who featured several Dominicans, Australians and Americans. We knew this would be another battle but we played some of the best baseball of the tournament. Our defense was airtight, our offense was patient and steady and the match was tied at 5 going in to the sixth. Our top pitcher Dave Farr was in terrific form, limiting Bern to 9 hits but a key couple of errors in the 8th gave Bern the lead they needed. We were beaten 11-5 but not disheartened.
19th June -
Our next game was under the lights and in front of their home fans versus the favourites, the Brasschaat Braves. Having murdered everyone they had played so far, the professional Braves already looked a league above everyone else. And so it proved in this game. A final score of 32-1 illustrated the quality of the Braves but the biggest cheer of the night was for Gary Crawford’s home run, as many of the fans warmed to our no-quit approach. We lost the match but gained a number of new friends in the process.
21st June -
Our play-off game was for 6th or 7th place versus the Sopron Westwind, national champions of Hungary. This would prove to be the unanimous choice for game of the tournament as both teams put on a show. We jumped out to a 2 run lead in the first, only to let Sopron come back with 3 in the bottom of the 2nd. We pulled ahead with two more in the 3rd before Sopron pushed a run across in the bottom half to tie it. Leads were swapped several times more until the bottom of the 9th saw us holding a one run lead. A lead-off hit, two steals and an error saw the matched tied and headed to extra-innings. A key double by our tournament m.v.p. Rit Zbikowski gave us a 2 run lead going in to the bottom of the 10th but we just couldn’t hold on for a deserved win as Sopron scored three to win an absolute cracker, 12-11. Dave Farr went the distance claiming 15 strikeouts (a tournament high) in his awesome complete game effort that deserved more.
After Brasschaat had easily beaten Moscow for the gold, the tournament’s closing ceremony was a very special moment as we received a huge cheer from the crowd when receiving our 7th place trophy. However, this was capped by the presentation of the ‘team of the tournament’ trophy by CEB Secretary General Gaston Panaye at the end of the proceedings as a reward for our play, sportsmanship and commitment throughout the week-long event.
Overall, the trip was an incredible experience. Our play got better and better as the week went on, despite the physical challenge of playing almost every day. Playing against some of the best ballplayers in Europe will improve our game even more, especially for our younger players and we hope we will be given the chance of representing the country some time again soon. Watch out Europe - the Diamond Devils will be back!
2004 CEB European Cup – B Pool - Rouen, France
This tournament was held in Rouen in France and featured 7 teams. The Diamond Devils were drawn in group 2 with Sundyberg and Dornbirn. The Scots would finish tied for fifth after defeating the Espoo Expos in the playoffs, marking the club's first win in European play.
The Edinburgh Diamond Devils finished tied for 5th place with a 1-3 record in the CEB European Cup B pool tournament held in Rouen in June. Despite finishing the round-robin group stages with an 0-3 record, the Devils had a shot at a playoff win versus the Espoo Expos, national champions from Finland, and duly claimed a deserved win by a score of 6-3 in a match that began at 8am local time. Despite the early start, the Devils got off to a flier and held on for a historic win behind the pitching of Tom Gillespie. This win would secure the club’s highest ever finish in a CEB event and the first ever by a Scottish team in a CEB event.
2005 CEB Cup - Qualifying Pool - Utena, Lithuania.
The participating teams were as follows:
KS Silesia Rybnik - Poland
Smeno Minsk - Belarus
Technical University - Ukraine
Vetra Utena - Lithuania
Edinburgh Diamond Devils - Great Britain
Edinburgh would battle hard but finish winless in the event as the powerful local teams, loaded with national team players, would prove too strong. However, the level of play by the club was high and the improvement amongst the younger players was terrific.
Game 1 – Edinburgh 3 : 24 Silesia Rybnik
Game 2 – Edinburgh 0 : 24 Technical University Kirovograd
Game 3 - Smena Minsk 15 : 5 Edinburgh
Game 4 - Vetra Utena 21 : 3 Edinburgh (7th/8th playoff)
The Edinburgh Diamond Devils returned from the CEB European Cup – Qualifying Pool tournament in Lithuania having failed to secure a win in the 4 pool games but the team benefited immeasurably from the experience. Having travelled 10 times further to attend the tournament than any other participating team, the Devils squad battled gamely against sides that were unquestionably ‘loaded’ with the cream of talent from their respective countries for the event. The Devils’ squad featured a mix of veterans of European play and youngsters making their competitive debuts, many of whom rose to the occasion. Young stars of the tournament for the Devils were Callum Brown and Tom Ziolkowski who came of age against the top–quality opposition whilst Scott Spurlock and Jason Derr were the leading veterans and Sam Calder shone on defense as usual.
2006 European Cup – Qualifying Pool – Antwerp, Belgium
The Edinburgh Diamond Devils made their fourth consecutive trip to the continent to participate in Confederation of European Baseball tournament play in June of 2006. This time the club was participating in the CEB European Cup - Qualifying Pool event in Antwerp, Belgium against some of the finest teams Europe has to offer, a number of whom the Devils have battled during previous sorties east.
The Devils’ squad was a mix of seasoned European veterans and promising youngsters who would gain much from the experience. Club chief umpire Thomas Haywood was also participating as part of the officials.
Opposing the 'Men in Black' would be the host Antwerp Royal Greys (Belgium), Rouen Huskies (France), A.C. Spartakus Glyfada (Greece), Bern Cardinals (Switzerland), Vienna Metrostars (Austria), Trnava Angels (Czech Republic) and the Leksand Lumberjacks (Sweden). Every other participating team was national champion of their respective countries.
With the first day of the event rained out, the Devils faced a daunting schedule of 5 games in 4 days in blazing heat, quite unlike the 2 games once a week schedule of domestic play. The first game would see the Greeks roll past the Devils by a score of 24-10. Second up were the host Royal Greys who blitzed by the Scots 22-2. Despite this daunting start, the club gamely regrouped and lost a final out heartbreaker to Vienna 18-17 in what was seen by many as the game of tournament. Ranking play-off games followed against old nemesis Bern (losing 2-22) and Trnava Angels (2-12).
Despite finishing without a win, the Devils still left with their heads high. Brian Samuelson would be the event's star hitter with 3 home runs and a .666 batting average yet somehow was overlooked for hitter of the tournament and amongst other terrific performances Sam Calder was his usual faultless self at second base. However, it was creditable team play that ensured that everyone enjoyed themselves and learned a great deal from playing against the best in Europe.
| |
|
