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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/1/2018

PG European Classic Expansion

Bryan Cooney     
Photo: (Perfect Game)

For the first time in its history, Perfect Game conducted a tournament oversea. The 2018 12u and 15u PG European Classic took place from May 31 through to June 3, hosted by the Draci Brno Baseball Club in Brno, Czech Republic.

Players from the Czech Republic took part in the Freshman PG Series last summer, sparking up interest for PGBA Director of Europe’s David Winkler to organize an event for neighboring countries to be able to participate in. With the complex of Draci Brno being one that could stand up to all of the action from the teams in both age groups, the excitement level around the event was evident upon the start of the festivities.

In the 12u division, teams from the Czech Republic were joined by teams from Austria and Germany. In the 15u division, teams were made of players from Lithuania, Belarus, Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic. In each age group it was the Czech Baseball Academy that took the championship.

In the 12u final, it was a 3-1 victory over Czech National Team U12 and in the 15u final, the Czech Republic team defeated KMC Ambassadors 6-0. With competition among the teams always being a focal point within the event, all participants got to take part in the PG Series Challenge testing metrics.

Skill tests, similar to those that participants who take part in the PG Series get to partake in, allowed all of the individuals on every team to get a taste of what the Perfect Game experience is like for those who get to participate in events on a consistent basis. Tests of speed, agility and reaction along with recording exit velocities will give most of these players the first chance at getting data for their own benefit to continue to work on as they develop their skills.

Of the top performers in the 12u event, for the winning Czech Baseball Academy, Filip Votava and Jiri Grossman topped the list as they took MV-Player and MV-Pitcher, respectively. Votava (Ostrava, MO Czech Republic) was fantastic both at the plate and on the mound, as he totaled eight hits in 11 at-bats, including two triples and a home run, seven stolen bases and seven RBI. He also racked up 10 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings over two appearances while going 2-0 with a 1.60 ERA.

Grossman (Blankso, JM Czech Republic) finished with six strikeouts in six innings of work over two appearances while giving up just one hit.

Other top performers for the Czech Baseball Academy included Matous Bubenik (Praha, PR Czech Republic), who led the tournament with two home runs and finished with a .417 average (5-for-12).

Top hitters who were included on the all-tournament team included Jan Kozel (Frydek-Mistek, MO Czech Republic) from the runner-up Czech National Team U12, who went 4-for-11 with two triples, a home run and eight RBI. Pavel Josek (Valec U Hrotovic, VY Czech Republic) from the third-place finishers from South Maravia Little League led the tournament with 10 RBI in large part due to his four triples, which co-led the tournament with teammate Adam Vesely (Trebic, VY Czech Republic). Vesely had an impressive 10 hits in 15 at-bats for the event and finished with nine RBI.

The 15u event featured several standout performances and saw the MV-Player emerge from the runner-up for the tournament in Ronin Sherman (Apo, AE USA) from CKE Ambassadors. Sherman had three multi-hit games and batted .526 (10-for-19) with four doubles and six RBI.

From the all-tournament team, Lukas Smejkal (Trebic, VY Czech Republic) was the only player to hit a home run and drove in five runs for the winning Czech Baseball Academy 15u club. Other standouts included Christopher Guzaldo (Apo, NE USA) from KMC Ambassadors, who batted .563 (9-for-16), and Nicolas ORourke (Praha, PR Czech Republic) from the third-place Czech National Team 15u, who displayed his skills offensively by going 6-for-9 at the plate and striking out eight over eight scoreless innings of work on the mound.

On the mound, Boris Vecerka (Brno, PR Czech Republic) was a big reason why Czech Baseball Academy 15u brought home the title. His efforts on the mound earned him MV-Pitcher honors after working 5 2/3 innings without allowing a run while giving up only four hits and collecting eight strikeouts. Another arm that shined throughout the tournament was Europe All-Star’s Sebastian Prikryl (Brno, JM Czech Republic), as the righthander allowed one hit over two appearances that saw him strike out eight batters in six innings of work.

Efforts to continue to grow the game in Europe is a commitment that Perfect Game will look to expand upon in the search to highlight players across the world. Incorporating them within the wide variety of events that Perfect Game conducts in the United States is something that PG hopes to be able to do more often as the talent level sees a trend upward in the years to come.

Plans for next year’s event will be discussed and hopefully will be announced in the near future as Perfect Game aims to continue supporting their partners in Europe, all of which helps the development of aspiring baseball players of all ages across the globe.
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