Format and schedule revealed for 2010 European Baseball Championship

GB's Chris Falls with the silver medal trophy at the 2007 EC

The Mister Baseball website has revealed the format and the schedule for next summer’s European Championship in Germany, in which the Great Britain baseball team will defend its 2007 silver medal.

Britain will be matched up with Spain and Italy in its first-round group. Spain won the bronze medal in the most recent European Championship in 2007 while Italy – despite finishing seventh in the most recent Euros – has traditionally dominated European baseball along with the Netherlands. Sweden (6th in 2007), Croatia (8th) and Greece (did not participate) make up the rest of Britain’s group. GB defeated Croatia 4-1 on the way to qualifying for the second round of this summer’s Baseball World Cup. Later, it was beaten 10-3 by the Spaniards.

The event, organised by the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB), will be played out in Stuttgart, Heidenheim and Neuenburg, Germany from July 23 to August 1. According to mister-baseball.com twelve teams will be split into two groups and play round robin in the first round. The top three teams of each group will qualify for the second round. These six teams will form a new group and will play another round-robin. The two results from round one against the accompanying advancing teams will be count for the second round standings. The top two teams of this phase will play the championship game on August 1. The format is similar to the 2009 Baseball World Cup, which was held in Europe this September.

Group 1

Netherlands (reigning European Champion)
Germany
France
Ukraine
Czech Republic
Belgium

Group 2

Great Britain
Spain
Sweden
Italy
Croatia
Greece

Schedule 2010 European Championship

July 23:

Czech Republic – Netherlands
Ukraine – Germany
France – Belgium
Croatia – Great Britain
Italy – Spain
Sweden – Greece

July 24:

Netherlands – France
Germany – Czech Republic
Belgium – Ukraine
Great Britain – Sweden
Spain – Croatia
Greece – Italy

July 25:

Netherlands – Ukraine
Germany – Belgium
France – Czech Republic
Great Britain – Italy
Spain – Greece
Sweden – Croatia

July 26:

Netherlands – Germany
France – Ukraine
Czech Republic – Belgium
Great Britain – Spain
Sweden – Italy
Croatia – Greece

July 27:

Germany – France
Belgium – Netherlands
Ukraine – Czech Republic
Spain – Sweden
Greece – Great Britain
Italy – Croatia

July 28:

Classification Games (4th-4th, 5th-5th,6th-6th)

July 29:

Final Round

July 30:

Final Round

July 31:

Final Round

August 1:

Championship Game

We’ll post more information as it becomes available.

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