Great Britain Starts Off 2023 European Baseball Championship With 4-0 Win Over Sweden

Game highlights courtesy of WBSC Europe

TREBIC, CZECHIA – Great Britain started on the 2023 European Baseball Championship on Sunday, 24 September with a dominant 4-0 victory over Sweden. GB’s Austin Hassani (1-0) picked up the win, with Harry Ford’s two-run single highlighting the offense.

Hassani got the start for GB, his first for the Senior side, and battled a Swedish side determined to be patient. Working around two-out baserunners in the first, second, third, and fifth innings, Hassani struck out 4 through five scoreless innings of work. Sweden was kept off the board in part by stellar defensive work in the second inning from right fielder Ben Leid in his Senior debut. Sweden’s Daniel Johnson doubled to lead off the second and tried to score on a single by Victor Wahlberg with two outs. Leid’s one-hop strike to Harry Ford cut down Johnson at the plate to keep the game scoreless.

Great Britain was kept off the board by Swedish starter Ben Johnson (0-1) through the first four frames, with Nick Ward’s single the only hit. The back-and-forth battle continued until the bottom of the fourth, when Ward led off the inning with a walk. Leid lofted a sacrifice fly to right to score Ward with two away, and Great Britain was on the board.

Harry Ford connects on a two-run single in the fifth inning against Sweden 

Photo: Paul Stodart

In the fifth, Michael Flaherty walked to start off the inning, with Kennard Dawson replacing him on the basepaths after fielder’s choice. A single by Ray Mercer put runners at first and second for Ford, who shot a single into the outfield to score both runners, with Ford tying up the infielders in a rundown to ensure Mercer crossed the plate.

Alex Webb relieved Hassani in the sixth, striking out a pair in two frames of work, and Great Britain would add an insurance run in the seventh, with Julian Sanders scoring on Dawson’s RBI single after working a walk. Joseph King worked the final two frames for GB, striking out five across two perfect innings to give Great Britain the win.

Nick Ward runs toward third base in the fourth inning

Photo: Paul Stodart

Pool B of the European Baseball Championships will continue tomorrow, 25 September in Trebic, with Great Britain playing in the morning game against Hungary. First pitch is set for 11:00 CEST / 10:00 BST. The 2023 European Baseball Championships can be watched on Staylive, WBSC Europe’s newly announced streaming partner for the contest, at BaseballEurope.TV. GB fans can get a 10% discount on the tournament streaming package by using the code GREATBRITAIN10 at checkout.

For the latest news and notes from GB Baseball at the 2023 European Baseball Championships and more, make sure to follow Great Britain Baseball on Facebook, and gb_baseball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

- #LetsGoGB –