Ireland Hold On To Title
December 23rd 1992 - After a slow start, the Irish team picked up steam and proceeded to comfortably defend their European title, becoming the first team to do so in the process.
Code:
W L GB W L GB
Ireland 28 14 - Spain 28 14 -
Denmark 27 15 1 Finland 23 19 5
France 25 17 3 Sweden 23 19 5
Czech Republic 20 22 8 Austria 20 22 8
Germany 18 24 10 Netherlands 20 22 8
Portugal 18 24 10 Russia 20 22 8
Italy 17 25 11 Hungary 19 23 9
Greece 15 27 13 Norway 15 27 13
Code:
W L GB
Poland 24 16 -
Switzerland 22 18 2
Bulgaria 21 19 3
England 21 19 3
Belgium 20 20 4
Scotland 12 28 12
Notes -
France started with 4 straight wins and when they shut out Ireland in three consecutive contests, they had established a 3 game lead in Group A over the Irish and the Czech Republic after 12 games.
Denmark had a mid-season tear, winning 9 of 10 to pull within 1 game of the French and move ahead of the Czechs and Irish.
France's loss in Prague gave them a 20-10 record (and a 16-2 road record) and they still led Group A, but they then lost a series in Denmark and Ireland's 7 wins in a row moved them to the top of the Group with Denmark just behind, which is how it stayed.
In Group B, Spain started 11-1 and were never in danger of missing out.
Finland, Sweden and Austria always seemed to lose at the wrong time and no team was able to pull clear of the others. On the last day both the Finns and Swedes suffered a reverse and they had to have a one-game playoff for the honour of facing Ireland.
Norway were favourites to be relagated in Group B from early on and fulfilled that promise. The race in Group A was much tighter, but Greece lost 7 in a row to finish the touranament and will be in Division B in 1996.
Poland and Switzerland both had a comfortable lead in Division B at the half-way stage and could even afford to take their foot off the pedal as the tournament wound down.
The longest game of the tournament was Norway's 7-6 win over Sweden in 19 innings.
The highest score and biggest inning came in Austria's 21-0 win over the Swedes. They scored 11 times in the 6th inning.
Player Notes -
Raul Marroquin (Spain) had a 4/4 day with 2 home runs in his team's early 5-2 win over Russia. He ended the regular schedule with an astonishing 18 homers in 41 games played.
Denmark's
Klement Thunmark hit for the cycle in his team's 11-2 win over Portugal, but later suffered a major injury (more below).
In the 19 inning game,
Gustaf Bashe (Sweden) went 6/8, but ended up on the losing side even though Norway left 30 men on base.
Pancho Martinez (Spain) had the best pitching performance of the tournament with a one-hitter against Hungary in a 6-0 win. Some other notable performances were a four-hitter by
Raynaud Mori (Italy), 11 strikeouts in a loss by
Anibal Escamilla (Spain), a two-hitter by
Adrik Selifanov (Russia) in a 1-0 win over Finland and 13 Ks by
Collins Gallagher (Ireland) against Italy.
22 year-old C
Panas Ishenin (Russia), who is only in A-level ball, went 4/5, with a double, a homer and 7 RBI in a 13-4 win against Hungary.
Stuart Seaward (Ireland) led Group A in wins (7), ERA (2.32) and strikeouts (66).
All Tournament Team
Code:
SP -- Stuart Seaward (IRL) -- 7-1, 2.32 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 66 K
RP -- Niclas Haegmann (SWE) -- 1-0, 2 SV, 0.00 ERA, 23.2 IP, 0.80 WHIP
C -- Jimmy O'Brien (IRL) -- .370 AVG, 5 HR, 35 RBI, 1.076 OPS
1B -- Stefan Fingerlos (AUT) -- .361 AVG, 4 HR, 19 RBI, .996 OPS
2B -- Thomas Meinert (DEN) -- .346 AVG, 9 HR, 32 RBI, .985 OPS
3B -- Ronald Burns (IRL) -- .352 AVG, 3 HR, 17 RBI, .909 OPS
SS -- Francisco Toledo (ESP) -- .344 AVG, 9 HR, 31 RBI, 1.008 OPS
LF -- Raul Marroquin (ESP) -- .355 AVG, 18 HR, 51 RBI, 1.178 OPS
CF -- Lage Sahlstein (SWE) -- .317 AVG, 3 HR, 22 RBI, .835 OPS
RF -- Orlando Ventura (ESP) -- .389 AVG, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 1.101 OPS
Significant Injuries -
This tournament was a bit more atrittional than other Euro Championships have been.
Nicodemus Theothanou (Greece) missed a couple of weeks early on, but he was back in tow for the Greek's disastrous collapse into Division B.
France lost their closer,
Christian Michel (38 saves for Athens in 1992, 11 in 13 games for France, 1 ER in 10.2 IP), for the tournament just about when they started losing their lead in Group A.
Michel, along with the following, will be missing a portion of time in the 1993 EBL season (EBL team in brackets) -
Klement Thunmark (Dublin),
Filip Yalovoi (Madrid),
Arhippa Karjalainen (Helsinki),
Anibal Escamilla (Hamburg),
Klement Follerup (Vienna).
Follerup will probably not be able to suit up at all next season.
Knockout Stages
Play In:
Sweden 8 Finland 4 - The Swedes broke a 2-2 tie in the 7th when they plated 4 runs on consecutive doubles by Adrian Henge and Alberik Landgre.
Semi-Finals:
Sweden 3
Ireland 11
Sweden 6
Ireland 7 - Jason Dyer singled home Billy Pawlett in the bottom of the 9th for the win.
Ireland 15 Sweden 1 - Jimmy O'Brien had two doubles and a homer for 5 RBI and Malcolm Kennedy pitched a complete game.
Ireland 5 Sweden 1 - Not even really a contest. Ireland earn the chance to defend their title.
Denmark 12 Spain 9 - Hans Eldjarn hit 2 homers and drove in 7 runs. Spain's Julian Archuleja also hit 2 home runs.
Denmark 4 Spain 1 - Vilfred Langvardt allowed only 2 hits over 7 innings.
Spain 1
Denmark 5
Spain 1
Denmark 5 - A repeat score saw Denmark sweep into the final.
Final:
Game 1 starters
Denmark: Orla Junge (11-13, 4.93 ERA, 1.39 WHIP -- 6-0, 4.24 ERA, 1.29 WHIP)
Ireland: Stuart Seaward (18-11, 3.25 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) -- 7-1, 2.32 ERA, 1.14 WHIP)
Code:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Denmark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Ireland 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 X 4 8 0
Stuart Seaward (IRL) - 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Gage McMahan (IRL) - 2/4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Stuart Seaward continues his excellent tournament by outpitching his Dublin
Wolfpack counterpart, Orla Junge.
Game 2 starters
Denmark: Jens Fetterlein (13-16, 4.28 ERA, 1.35 WHIP -- 4-3, 3.86 ERA, 1.40 WHIP)
Ireland: Collins Gallagher (16-8, 3.39 ERA, 1.22 WHIP -- 3-4, 3.22 ERA, 1.37 WHIP)
Code:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Denmark 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 8 13 10 0
Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 5 9 2
Hans Eldjarn (DEN) - 1/4, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, Grand Slam in 10th
Relievers Guy Brady and Dom Templeman can't stop walking people (3) or giving up
homers (2) in the 10th.
Game 3 starters
Ireland: Steve Moynan (15-16, 3.25 ERA, 1.06 WHIP -- 4-3, 4.23 ERA, 1.25 WHIP)
Denmark: Vilfred Langvardt (15-10, 2.89 ERA, 1.13 WHIP at AAA -- 0-1, 2.57 ERA, 1.14 WHIP)
Code:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Ireland 0 2 5 1 5 0 0 0 0 13 13 0
Denmark 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 4 6 4
Jason Dyer (IRL) - 1/3, 3B, 4 RBI, R, 3 BB
Gage McMahan (IRL) - 3/4, 3 R, 2 BB
RF Vilheim Bogedal made three errors, two of which were throwing the ball. Five
of Ireland's runs were unearned.
Game 4 starters
Ireland: Malcolm Kennedy (21-11, 2.16 ERA, 0.98 WHIP -- 6-1, 4.29 ERA, 1.32 WHIP)
Denmark: Dane Meling (13-14, 4.21 ERA, 1.32 WHIP -- 6-2, 3.11 ERA, 1.21 WHIP)
Code:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Ireland 0 0 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 8 13 0
Denmark 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 7 0
Ewan Smith (IRL) - 3/5, HR, RBI, 2 R
Jimmy O'Brien (IRL) - 2/4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R
All seven runs in the 3rd came with two outs, thanks to a bases-loaded walk,
two singles and three doubles.
Game 5 starters
Ireland: Seaward
Denmark: Junge
Code:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Ireland 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 7 0
Denmark 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 10 0
Russell Gilmartin (IRL) - 2/3, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
Stuart Seaward (IRL) - 8.0 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Ireland win the series 4-1
Series MVP -
Gage McMahan (IRL) - 9/21, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 6 R