As the only media organisation that regularly covers baseball5, we have spent a lot of time creating an archive of baseball5 events, information, and even the sport’s only record book. The recently completed Baseball5 European Championship is one of six baseball5 tournaments that have included mixed national teams, but the results of several have been scattered across a variety of websites. This week, we will profile the sport’s five previous tournaments to ensure these records from the early days of baseball5’s history are not lost.
On Sept. 16, 2018, the first-ever baseball5 tournaments featuring mixed national teams were played. The Balkan Open was one of two in European capitals that day, with another tournament taking place in Rome. In Sofia, Bulgaria and Romania showed why their performance in the sport has superceeded their results in other WBSC disciplines with strong performances, while Czech Republic, a baseball and softball European superpower, finished third of fourth, ahead of Serbia. Full results are below.
The tournament also set a record that will never be surpassed and has yet to be equalled. The championship game was a thrilling 1-0 victory for Bulgaria over Romania, to this day the fewest runs scored in a victory. It is, therefore, also the lowest-scoring game in terms of total runs in baseball5 history as well. A third record was also set and it has since been equalled, but not superceeded: longest game (by innings). Czech Republic and Serbia ensured that the third-place game was just as exciting as the gold, going to eight innings before the only non-Balkan nation claimed victory, 8-5.
Make sure to read our big latest update on baseball5, which includes the only world rankings, the first-ever team statistics, an expanded record book, and updated head-to-head results [link].
If the topic interests you, the following articles are worth checking out.
2020 Baseball5 Calendar [Link]
History of Baseball5 [Link]
Baseball5 Record Book [Link]
The full list of international tournaments:
2018 Rome Baseball5 Open [Link]
2018 Havana Baseball5 Tournament [Link]
2019 Americas Baseball5 Open [Link]
2020 Balkan Baseball5 Open [Link]
2020 Baseball5 Euros [Link]
Baseball5 All-Time Head-to-Head Results [Link]
I Baseball5 Balkan Open
Sofia, Bulgaria
16 September 2018
Group Play
Bulgaria 5 – 7 Czech Republic
Romania 13 – 0 Serbia
Serbia 0 – 8 Bulgaria
Czech Republic 4 – 5 Romania
Bulgaria 3 – 4 Romania
Serbia 9 – 6 Czech Republic
Bronze: Czech Republic 6 – Serbia 5 (8)
Gold: Bulgaria 1 – Romania 0
Final Standings
Team W-L RF RA
Bulgaria 2-2 17 11
Romania 3-1 22 8
Czech Republic 2-2 23 24
Serbia 1-3 14 33
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