The European Cup starts today for Bologna, Rimini and San Marino

On the 50th anniversary of the European Baseball Champions Cup the tournament returns to the field of the first team to hoist the cup, Picadero, Barcelona (other venue Regensburg, Germany), back in 1963.  There are a couple of new twists in the formula this year, as the first round of the tourney will take place at two venues, one in Regensburg, Germany (Unipol Bolonga and T&A San Marino) and the other in Barcelona, Spain (Rimini), with only one team from each site making it to the best of 5 finals (in years past there has been a final 4). The other small tweak in this event is the comes with the tie break rule in the 10th inning, as for the first year the coaches will not be able to decide the batting order (the leadoff hitter in the 10th will be the batter that was due up in the 9th).

In Regensburg, Germany the host team (Legionaere) will try to contend with the likes of Unipol Bologna, T&A San Marino and L&D Amsterdam. Bologna heads into this week with a loaded pitching staff which should give them the advantage over the rest of the group throughout the 5 possible games in 6 days. Look for Rivero to put together a nice tournament for Bologna. The righty should be the first out of the pen and is more then capable of shutting down the best of offensives. Nanni hopes that he’s club will be able to defend their 2012 cup, but know its not going to be an easy feat. Unipol will match up with Amsterdam in game one on Tuesday then against San Marion ingame two. As for T&A San Marino, they will be playing their games without one of their outfielder, Duran. Bindi had to make a choice in which 3 foreigners he was going to put on his roster and he chose to go with Magrane (p), Cubilan (p) and Vasquez (utility). Look for Avagnina to move from left to center in the tournament, filling in for Duran. Da Silva, Magrane, Cooper and Meschini have been named the four starters by Bindi, however no order has been established as of yet. The host team Legionaere (currently undefeated in the Bundes League) comes into the event with Hoffschild, Bokaj and Bulsenbroek as their three strongest arms on their roster, which are capable of hanging with the best of the bunch. On the infield, look out for Glaser and Matt Vance. Amsterdam, who is coached by Sidney De Jong, once again has the veteran, Cordemans (1974), on the mound as their number one along with Duursma and Bas De Jong, two national team members. The Berna Cardinals, the unknown team of the tournament, are presenting three veteran foreigners on their tournament roster. The Cuban first baseman, Mejas (1971), Venezualian, Rodriguez (1978) and the Dominican shortstop, De Los Santos (1980).

Emotions where high in Barcelona at the presentation of this weeks venue. All those in charge of the event spoke about the difficult economic times that the sport and club owners are experiencing, and hope to see fan support in the stadiums throughout the week. The host team is not the favorite of bunch, however, they do have a couple of well know ex IBL ballplayers on the roster: Ricardo Hernandez (ex Nettuno) and Balboa (ex Rimini). The American, Malone and Japanese, Sagita are the two heaviest bats that Barcelona has. Rimini’s first opponent in the tournament on Tuesday is the dangerous Corendon Kinheim (currently 3rd in the Hoofdsklase League, Holland with a 16 and 5 record). On Corendon Kinheim’s roster there are some big name National team member that the Italian’s are very familiar with. Names like Van’T Klooster, Tom Stujfbergen, David Bergman, De Cuba and the powerful bat of Engelhardt. Just like San Marino, Rimini had to leave one of their big names off the roster, Castro. The foreigners that Catanoso will be able to count on will be the pitchers, Marquez and Bazardo, and the hard hitting, Romero. Bazardo and Corradini have been named the starters in games one and two (Kinheim and Barcelona), with Marquez the first out of the pen. Patrone and Cherubini will be ready for the start in games three and four. The German team, Paderborn Untouchables, is currently third in the North Bundes League. If the Untouchables are to advance, they’re going to have to get a huge performance out of their American pitcher, Taylor Swift. Rounding out the rest of the bunch you’ll find a Draci Brno squad that is not to be taken lightly and the French club, Rouen Huskies, who will be counting on the names of Alex Roy and Matt Smith.