The Paris University Club won a slugfest Sunday morning 11-5 over the host Stuttgart Reds to start day three of the Palomino European Zone Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. Paris used 11 hits (eight for extra bases) and took advantage of three Reds errors that resulted in six runs to improve its tournament record to 2-1.

Paris got off to a solid start thanks to a few Stuttgart miscues, when, in the bottom of the first, Pierre Monbeig sharply hit a line drive to right field and the ball was misplayed on the bounce by the Reds right fielder, allowing Paul Stukas to score from first. On the play, Monbeig advanced all the way to third. On the next at-bat, Jules Diego Rabearivelo reached on an error and advanced to second, scoring Monbeig (2-0). After a walk to Kevin Khemache, Paul Bird crushed a two-RBI double to center field, completing the scoring for the inning.

On behalf of PONY League Europe it is my great pleasure to be present here at Opening ceremony of the first time ever PONY League Palomino tournament here at Stuttgart.
I am pleased that MLB, represented by Martin Bunner, joined us for ceremony.

This ceremony reminds me year 2003, when we started in Prague, Czech Republic with PONY category  U16 with only 4 teams. And this year in Prague we welcomed 55 teams (39 baseball U16 and U 14 and 16 girls softball U16 teams).

A four-run bottom of the sixth inning when it was just a 3-2 game changed the game for the Swiss National Team, earning the team its second win of the tournament 7-2 over Brabant United. Livio Bundi shined on the mound for the Swiss, as he tossed a complete game, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk, while striking out 10 on the afternoon.

Bundi retired the first nine-consecutive batters he faced, before, in the bottom of the third inning, he broke open the scoring with an RBI single to center field. The lead would be short-lived when Brabant United finally struck back with two runs of its own in the top of the fourth. With two runners in scoring position and one out, Ties Olijslagers and Tjeerd Hessels recorded back-to-back RBI singles to center field, before Bundi struck out the final two batters he faced.

The Paris University Club quickly put its loss to the Swiss National Team behind it and burst onto the scene with a seven-run bottom of the first inning, propelling them to a sizable lead that they were able to hold on to after five innings to win 10-7.

Ben Jones’ RBI double in the top of the first gave the London Mets an early lead that proved to be short lived.In the bottom of the first, a single and two walks loaded the bases for the Paris University Club. After a strikeout, Jules Diego Rabearivelo grounded into a fielder’s choice at second base that scored a run. Then another walk loaded the bases once more, before Erwan Prieur, Matho Launay and Lucas Khemache hit back-to-back-to-back doubles, giving Paris a 6-1 lead, but the French weren’t done there.

Two errors that led to runs two runs and 12 runners left on base by East Europe proved to be the difference in the Stuttgart Reds’ 5-3 victory in Saturday’s second game.

The Reds got on the board first in the top of the first, when East Europe’s Vilius Paikovas walked in a run with the bases loaded and Yannick Witt scored on a wild pitch during the next at-bat, as the Reds took an early 2-0 lead. East Europe manufactured a run in the bottom of the first, when Norvydas Zukauskas led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on a fly out and Aliaksandr Lukashevich brought him home on a single through the right side.

Everything went well for the Swiss National Team Saturday morning in Stuttgart, Germany during the first game of day two at the Palomino European Zone Championships. The Swiss pounded out 14 hits offensively and held the Paris University Club offense to two hits to win decisively 19-0 in three innings.

Four players recorded multi-hit games for the Swiss. Nicholas Fischer was 4-for-4 with a grand slam, a double, six RBI and three runs scored, and Luka Ivanisevic went 3-for-3 with a double, five RBI and two runs scored. On the mound, Yannic Sutter and Benjamin Loeliger split the duties, combining for two hits allowed and a walk, while striking out five.

The London Mets converted on its chances with runners on base in Friday night’s second game, which proved to be the game’s deciding factor, in a 5-2 win over the host Stuttgart Reds.

Stuttgart opened the game’s scoring in the bottom of the first, when Jonas Van Bergen reached on an error and later moved around to third on a botched London Mets pickoff play. Greg Kettle hit a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 1-0 Reds.

A bit of rust showed on both the East Europe All-Stars and Brabant United in the opening game of the Palomino European Zone Championships, considering there were 13 walks and 11 errors combined in the game, but their match-up didn’t lack in excitement in East Europe’s 9-3 win.

East Europe struck first in the bottom of the first inning, when Aliaksandr Lukashevich reached on an error, scoring Ugnius Cepelonis from third. But Brabant United countered in the top of the second, when Phoenix Vermeulen was walked and then scored from first on Brandell Batista Hernandez's double to left field to even the game at 1-1.

Home Run! – wird man in den kommenden Tagen wohl öfter hören, wenn Europas ta-lentierteste Nachwuchsspieler sich in der Stuttgarter Hochburg des Baseball-Sports auf dem Schnarrenberg miteinander messen. Zum erstmals in Stuttgart stattfindenden PALOMINO 18U European Tournament begrüße ich daher alle angereisten Mann-schaften, Fans und Helfer.

Vom 27. bis 30. April gilt es für Teams aus sechs verschiedenen Ländern ihre beste Leistung abzuliefern, um schließlich den Titel des U18 Europameisters verliehen zu bekommen. Eine offene Europameisterschaft in dieser Altersklasse ist ein Novum und zeigt einmal mehr, dass der TV Cannstatt ein Pionier in Sachen Baseball-Sport ist. Ab 2019 soll dieses hochklassige Sportereignis jedes Jahr als Qualifikationsturnier für die ebenfalls jährliche Weltmeisterschaft in den USA dienen. Das PALOMINO 18U Tour-nament ist ein weiterer konsequenter Schritt, um der steigenden Nachfrage nach Baseball in Stuttgart gerecht zu werden und die stetig wachsenden Zahlen an Nach-wuchsspielern angemessen zu fördern.