The Czech Republic hosts the European Baseball Championship. Who will be there?

European baseball’s top players will descend on the Czech Republic at the end of September for the European Championship. Games will be held in Ostrava, Prague, Brno, Blansko and Trebic, with the Czechs looking to grab any medal they can from the event.

The European Championships in the Czech Republic will feature 16 national selections, which are divided into four groups. Each group is then played in a different city in the Czech Republic.

The progression key is quite simple. The top two teams from the four-team group will advance to the playoffs. The last two teams will then face off for 9th – 16th place.

The Czech Republic will face Spain, Greece and Austria in Group A. Unfortunately, the Slovak national team did not qualify for the final tournament, losing to Hungary 1:8 in the decisive qualifying match.

The Czech team will play their group matches in Ostrava’s Arrows Park on Průběžná Street. The organizers are expecting a high attendance, so come and cheer the Czech players on!

The Czech team has high ambitions before the tournament. The main goal is to bring back any medal from the big event. The fact that this is not a utopia was also suggested by the successful performance of the national team at the prestigious World Baseball Classic in Japan.

“My ambition for the national team is definitely a gold medal. We can’t go into the tournament with anything other than wanting to aim for the top spot,” said Martin Červenka on Czech Radio.

Eric Sogard could also help the Czech team in its quest for the dream. He is an American professional with Czech roots, who was acquired by the federation’s management just before the European championship. Sogard has played 10 seasons in MLB and his experience could help the team a lot.

The European Championship will be held from September 24 to October 1, 2023. If you can’t head to one of the stadiums, you can watch the game on CT Sport.

Source: iRozhlas, iDnes