Staying undefeated in the round robin doesn’t mean a thing. That is the lesson that has to be learned from this championship. The Dutch won all their games in the first round, while Germany lost the one vs Spain. Still, Germany beat the Dutch 4-2 in the final.
Germany proved to be too strong for the Netherlands in the final of the U15 European Championship. Pitcher Julius Reusse was the thorn in the side of the Dutch squad. He kept them limited to two runs and cruised through six innings and guided his team to a 4-2 victory.
The Dutch took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Luca Pastor scored from second base on Emile Haswell’s single up the middle.
But Germany would bounce back in the fifth inning. With one out, Luca Rammellmann jacked the pitch, offered by Nick Boxelaar, to center field for a solo home run. At that moment the Dutch defense collapsed as Benedikt Schaffer reached base on a fielding error, advanced to second on a wild pitch, Christoph Erich reached first base on another fielding error, that allowed to reach third base. A balk allowed both runners to advance a base so Germany took a 2-1 lead.
But the Dutch would tie the game in the bottom of that fifth inning. Luca Pastor drew a walk, advanced to second on a groundout hit by Raydley Legito and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. After Tyriq Kemp grounded out, Pastor scored on another wild pitch.
Germany’s starting pitcher Julius Reusse kept the Dutch on a leash throughout the game. The Duch managed to get only three hits with Reusse on the mound.
In the sixth inning, the Dutch defense collapsed a bit more as a single, a double and two errors led to two more runs for the Germans.
Despite having a runner in scoring position, the Dutch did not score in the final inning.
The Germans played flawless ball, while the Netherlands committed four errors.
Julius Reusse earned the win, while Kyshon Giterson took the loss as he gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in the sixth inning. Simon Baeumer earned the save as he pitched 0.2 innings in which he gave up a single and struck out one.
Best hitter for Germany was Luca Rammellmann, who went 2 for 4 with a home run, a RBI and a run scored.
By winning this championship, Germany will participate in the U15 World Championship next year.
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