After having received a cancellation from one team just before the end of the year 2018, finally hosting Baseball Club Stuttgart REDS managed to confirm that all teams are set for the 2019 European Qualifier of PALOMINO 18U age group to be played from May 1st until May 5th.

Besides host Stuttgart REDS (Germany) and last year’s winner Paris University Club (France), participating teams will be National Teams from Poland, Switzerland and Belgium, a select Team Netherlands United Baseball and club teams from Paderborn Untouchables Germany and London Mets from Great Britain.

Earlier this week, during PONY’s annual Board of Directors Meeting, it was announced that the 2019 Palomino World Series in Laredo, Texas would be expanding from an eight-team tournament to a 10-team tournament. The Board decided to award one of the two new automatic qualifying bids to the PONY Palomino European Zone Champion.

 “This is a significant step forward to provide additional opportunities for our members in Europe,” said Abraham Key, PONY Baseball and Softball President & CEO. “European baseball is progressing, as witnessed by their Colt League World Series championship in 2017, and we are excited to take this next step in our commitment to baseball in Europe.”

We are pleased on behalf of PONY and Stuttgart REDS Baseball Club, Stuttgart, Germany to invite European youth baseball teams to the 2019 PALOMINO European Zone Tournament. This tournament, in its second edition develops to an 8 team tournament in 2019 and continues the tradition of existing PONY and COLT and now PALOMINO tournaments held every spring. This 2019 PALOMINO tournament will take place in Stuttgart REDS DB Ballpark, Germany for the age group 18U and teams with players according to the latest PALOMINO age, in 2019: born September 2000 to August 2004 included.

At the first ever international tournament for under-18s hosted by TV Canstatt’s baseballers, the team from Paris prevailed over both the London team and the TV Canstatt host team, the Stuttgart Reds.

Top class baseball was to be seen at the DB Ballpark. The world baseball organization PONY (Protect Our Nation’s Youth) worked with TV Canstatt to organize the U18 tournament, named ‘Palomino’. Future tournaments will serve as an open European championship, to enable teams to qualify for annual world championships to be staged in the US. This coveted opportunity isn’t yet available for the winners of this tournament. Chief organizer Andre Fink of the Stuttgart Reds, however, hopes soon to receive a positive message from Washington that Europe will gain this starting place and that TV Canstatt will be the annual host of this internationally important event.

With three teams in title contention with five games remaining at the Palomino European Zone Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, every out mattered on championship Monday. After it was all said and done, two teams (Paris University Club and the London Mets) finished with 4-1 overall tournament records, but because of Paris’s 10-7 head-to-head victory over London yesterday, the French owned the tournament tiebreaker and won their first-ever Palomino European Zone title.

An eight-run bottom of the second inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by Tomoya Kakita, ignited the host Stuttgart Reds’ offense to 12 runs in the final game of the Palomino European Zone Championships, as they won 12-5 over the Swiss National Team. The victory gave the Reds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Swiss for the tournament’s third place. The loss gave Paris University Club the title, because of its head-to-head victory over the London Mets Sunday.

The Swiss got off to a hot start in the game’s first inning, scoring runs on a Sven Ambhl ground out, a Luka Ivanisevic RBI single and a Jonah Schaller RBI double (3-0). The bottom of the second is when Stuttgart really took control of the game’s momentum.

An eight-run top of the first inning propelled Paris University Club to victory 14-3 over Brabant United Monday afternoon, as the French were able to take advantage of eight Brabant United errors in the game as well.

In the top of the first, Paris used five hits (two for extra bases), three Brabant United errors and two walks to score its eight runs. Erwan Prieur, Kevin Khemache, Jules Diego Rabearivelo, Arthur Dionnet and Phillip Bird all picked up RBIs in the inning. Brabant United got a run back in the bottom of the first, when Ties Olijslagers doubled home Tobias Van Schooneveld to make it 8-1 Paris.