Three national teams confirmed to represent Europe at the 2019 Worlds
The Czech Republic, Denmark, and the Netherlands took the three qualifying spots for the WBSC World Championship in 2019. Men’s Softball European Championship in Havličkův Brod, the Czech Republic has come to its climax. The top three teams were confirmed today.
None of the top four teams had their spot guaranteed in the morning. The Czechs were the only undefeated team of the tournament so far. When Great Britain defeated Denmark 5:2, the Czechs knew that the first of the three treasured spot is theirs.
The Netherlands and the already qualified Czech Republic met in the following game. The Dutch fought hard for their chance to assure their participation to the Worlds, while the Czechs decided to rest their top pitcher. With the result 11:6, the Dutch took the second qualifying spot.
Denmark and Great Britain played the third deciding game; whoever wins gets to play at the first-ever WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship in Europe. Loser of this game would only take the 4th place in the Europeans.
The British defense experienced some tough times in the 5th inning and the Danish took a 5:0 lead. Team GB couldn’t fight back and they found themselves left out of the top three.
The WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship will take place in the Czech Republic, June 13 – 23, 2019. The two cities who accepted the challenge of organizing this world-level event are Prague and Havlickuv Brod. Men’s Worlds have never been held on the European continent before.