ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS – Great Britain started off the 2025 European Baseball Championships on Saturday, 20 September with a 9-3 defeat at the hands of the host nation, the Netherlands.
Nick Wells got the start for GBR, facing former Major Leaguer Didi Gregorius, who deposited the second pitch of the game over the right-centre field wall to give the host side a 1-0 lead. Another hit followed before Wells recovered to strike out the next two batters, but Great Britain found themselves behind before their first at-bat.
The Dutch lead lasted three batters. A one-out walk to co-Captain Nick Ward, followed by a Will Cresswell groundout put Ward at second base, and Charlie Collins singled to left field to bring Ward home and knot the score at 1 all.
Wells recovered from his first-inning blip, and he and Netherlands starter Tom De Blok traded scoreless innings until the bottom of the fourth. Collins singled with one out, followed by a Quinn Allen base hit, and with two runners on and two out, Julian Sanders delivered an RBI single to centre to give GBR a 2-1 advantage. Chris Bear would walk to load the bases, but De Blok managed to stifle the rally, and GBR took their advantage into the fifth inning.
The lead lasted just six pitches. The Netherlands’ Eugene Helder launched a long home run to left on a two strike pitch to lead off the top of the fifth and tie the game at two.
The score remained tied at two until the top of the seventh – despite a close play at the plate that saw Collins thrown out trying to score to end the bottom of the sixth – when Helder walked. Ryan Long entered in relief of Wells but surrendered a double to Gregorius to score the go-ahead run, with Gregorius thrown out at third base.
A two-out double for Nick Ward in the seventh, followed by a Cresswell RBI single brought the score even at three runs apiece after seven, but the Netherlands responded with another leadoff home run, this time from Jonathan Schoop, to retake the lead. Hendrik Clementia then walked before Sharlon Schoop hammered a ball into the now-rainy evening for a two-run shot, giving the Netherlands a 6-3 advantage. Andrew Campbell would take over for Long to end the inning.
The Dutch scored three more in the ninth to take a 9-3 advantage, with Kevin Kelly shutting the door for the Dutch to end the game.
Cresswell, Sanders, and Collins each drove in a run for Great Britain, with Nick Ward’s double the lone extra-base hit for GBR. Eight players made their Great Britain Senior Debut in the game, including Nick Wells, Max Viera, Will Cresswell, Charlie Collins, Quinn Allen, Chris Bear, Andrew Campbell, and Matthew Ward.
Great Britain will have a quick turnaround and face Israel on Sunday, 21 September at 13:00 CET/12:00 BST on Field 2 at the Neptunus Familiestadion complex in Rotterdam. All games can be watched on BaseballEurope.TV.
For the latest news and notes from GB Baseball at the 2025 European Baseball Championship, make sure to follow Great Britain Baseball on Facebook, gb_baseball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, TikTok at @gbbaseball, and on the British Baseball Federation Website, britishbaseball.org.uk.
– #LetsGoGB –