Over 100 players from six European nations will take part in the tournament.  The players, all between the ages of 15 – 19, will be selected from their national player academy systems, where they receive year-round training.  This year’s MLB Academies Tournament will consist of six teams from nations which run MLB-supported academies: Holland, Italy, Germany, Sweden, France and the Czech Republic.

While the games will offer players some valuable pre-season competition, the focus of the tournament will remain largely on player development.  Rules will be modified to prevent extended innings and there will be strict pitching restrictions to reduce the risk of injuries.

Last year’s academies tournament was hosted by the French Baseball Softball Federation at the Stade Toulousain Baseball Club in Toulouse, France.  The inaugural 2008 tournament was hosted by the Italian Baseball Softball Federation at the CONI Olympic Training Center in Tirrenia, Italy.

The MLB Academies Tournament is one part of Major League Baseball’s strategy to support player development in Europe.  The centerpiece of this strategy is the MLB European Academy, held for three weeks every August under the direction of top MLB coaches and instructors.  MLB also provides support to a network of locally run player academies which provide top young players with the best possible training throughout the off-season.  At present, MLB supports 15 player academies in seven European nations, reaching hundreds of young players each year.

Schedule:
Sunday, March 28:
15.00 Sweden – Netherlands
18.00 Italy – Czech Republic

Monday, March 29:
10.00 Germany – Sweden
13.00 Netherlands – Italy
16.00 Germany – Italy
19.00 France – Czech Republic

Tuesday, March 30:
11.00 Italy – France
14.00 Czech Republic – Sweden
17.00 Netherlands – Germany

Wednesday,  March 31:
10.00 France – Netherlands
13.00 Czech Republic – Germany
13.00 Sweden – France (Field 2)
16.00 Italy – Sweden
19.00 Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg – Italy

Thursday, April 1:
10.00 France – Italy
13.00 Combo Sweden/Czech Republic/France – Germany
16.00 Sweden – France

Source: Mister-Baseball.com

The try-outs will be open to cadet and junior players who have been selected by their national baseball federations.  Players who are interested in attending one of the try-out sessions should contact their federation to obtain more information.

2010 MLB Academy Try-out Schedule

The MLB European Academy, the centerpiece of Major League Baseball’s player development programs in Europe, will take place from August 4 – 27 at the CONI Olympic Training Center in Tirrenia, Italy.  Since its inception in 2005, the MLB Academy has brought together 193 players from 26 nations to work with some of the best Major League coaches and instructors.  Of these players, 36 have gone on to sign professional contracts with Major League clubs.

Source: MLB International

Legionaere Website

Photo by Walter Keller, www.catchthefever.de

The Congress of the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) has filled the missing spots in the Executive.

The Congress, that took place in Stuttgart (Germany) on Saturday March 6th, elected as the First Vice President Petr Ditrich (Czech Republic), as the Third Vice President Nick Manning (Ireland) and as the third Member at large Reiner Husty (Austria).

CEB delegates had been received Friday night by the Local Authorities of Bad Cannstatt, one of the 23 districts of Stuttgart and the home of the main field of the 2010 European Championship.

The Congress was opened by the President of the International Federation (IBAF) Riccardo Fraccari (former CEB Vice President), who attended the Congress together with Executive Director Roberto Fabbricini.

Fraccari began his speech saying that he felt “Strange being introduced as a guest, since I still feel one of the group”.

Then he presented is vision of the new IBAF: “Our first goal is still the reinstatement in the program of the Olympic Games. With all due respect to female baseball, I believe the only chance we have is a joint strategy with the International Softball Federation“.

In Fraccari’s view the future won’t see Continental Confederations but Continental offices of IBAF: “One of the problems of baseball is fragmentation. We need to have one strategy and we need to present ourselves as a single entity”.

CEB President Martin Miller commented: “It is important for Europe to have an European sitting on the presidential chair of the International Federation”.

Other guests to the Congress were Jason Holowaty and Pat Doyle (Major League Baseball), Beata Katsuba and Tom Mallets (Little League International) and Don Fehr (Major League Baseball Player Association).

The Congress approved unanimously the 2010 budget.

It was more difficult (3 votes against, 10 countries abstained) to approve the fee each of the member countries will have to pay starting 2011. Each country will be charged € 350.

“Still we expect some volunteer contribution from the larger Federations” said Treasurer René Laforce (Belgium).

The Congress also awarded Sweden as the Federation of the Year.

Individuals will be awarded during the 2010 European Championship. The Awards will go to:
Linda Steiger (The Netherlands) as the Scorer of the Year.
Dana Beszynsky (Austria) as the Umpire of the Year.
Mauro Mazzotti (Italy) as the Manager of the Year.

The 2011 Congress will be hosted by the Federation of Belgium (that will be celebrating the 75th anniversary) in the City of Brussels.

www.ticketmaster.de

Group A:
Netherlands
Germany
France
Ukraine
Czech Republic
Belgium

Group B:
Great Britain
Spain
Sweden
Italy
Croatia
Greece

Schedule on CEB Competition Website

Official Website

The regular season will be interrupted between July 12th and August 6th for the European Championships in Stuttgart, Heidenheim and Neuenburg (July 23-August 1). The quarterfinals for the best four teams in each division are scheduled to start on August 21st. The semi-finals and finals are supposed to begin on September 4th, respective September 18th.

Matchups First Game Day:
North:
April 3:
Dortmund – Hamburg (DH)
Dohren – Bonn (DH)
April 5:
Cologne – Paderborn (DH)
Pulheim – Solingen (DH)

South:
April 4:
Heidenheim – Saarlouis
April 5:
Heidenheim - Saarlouis
Neuenburg – Mainz (DH)
Mannheim – Regensburg (DH)
Haar – Gauting (DH)

(DH)… Doubleheader

Complete Schedule Northern Division
Complete Schedule Southern Division

Dohren finished in second place in the 2nd Baseball-Bundesliga with a 16-8 record behind the farm team of the Paderborn Untouchables last season. They are going to play in the northern division, where they will face the Solingen Alligators, the first team of the Untouchables, Dortmund Wanderers, HSV Stealers, Cologne Cardinals, Bonn Capitals and Pulheim Gophers.

Neuenburg returns into the German elite league after being relegated following the 2008 season. They had a 17-15 record in the 2nd Baseball-Bundesliga, which was good for third behind the Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg II and the Darmstadt Whippets. However the eligible Whippets withdrew their right for promotion to pave the way for the Atomics. The club with head coach Rob Piscatelli is going to take on the Heidenheim Heidekoepfe, Regensburg, Mainz Athletics, Mannheim Tornados, Saarlouis Hornets, Haar Disciples and Gauting Indians in the southern division.

Playing at the Baseball World Cup venue Armin Wolf Arena, where 38,000 people saw the six games of Pool E two weeks ago, Mainz beat the Bonn 6-0 in the semi-finals to advance to the championship game. Berlin celebrated a 7-0 shutout against the HSV Stealers to clinch the finals berth. Mainz, Berlin and Bonn had won their respective preliminary round groups. The Stealers clinched the playoffs through the consolation round.

Two individual awards also went to Mainz. Daniel Klein received the honors as best pitcher, who impressed against the Capitals in the semi-finals and also already played for the senior team in the Bundesliga. Tim Stahlmann was named MVP of the tournament. The best batter trophy went to Musa Jawara of the HSV Stealers.

Final Standings:

1. Mainz Athletics
2. Berlin Challengers
3. Bonn Capitals
4. HSV Stealers
5. Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg
6. Heidenheim Heidekoepfe
7. Dohren Wild Farmers
8. Darmstadt Whippets
9. Munich Caribes

More information on the official website of the German Junior Championship

Photo: Gregor Eisenhuth, www.eisenhuth-photographie.de

Photo by Werner Weiland

Photo: © Werner Weiland, Pulheim Gophers