Tough Start for London Mets in Europe
The London Mets are hoping to bounce back in their 2024 European campaign after two defeats in Switzerland.
The WBSC Baseball European Federation Cup acts as a qualifying tournament for the WBSC Baseball European Cup- the most prestigious tournament in European club baseball.
The tournament is split into two groups; Group Switzerland, at the Baseball Stadium Heerenschürli, Zürich; and Group Croatia, at Baseball Club Vindija.
The Mets were supposed to take part in the tournament's opening fixture against Belgian club Hoboken Pioneers on Monday, but the fixture was delayed due to weather conditions, meaning that the British side were forced to play twice on Tuesday.
Game One v Hoboken Pioneers (Belgium)
Centre fielder Luis Unda gave the Belgians an early lead at the end of the first inning after being driven home by a Xander Verspreet single to right field.
Right fielder Geremias Dominguez squared the game up for the Mets at the top of the fourth inning with the first home run of the competition deep into left field.
He was joined on home plate by two more runners after catcher Sean Gondobintoro batted in Thomas Flaherty and Jordan Edmonds with a single.
The Londoners lead the game 3-2 until the bottom of the sixth inning where the floodgates were opened after Wesley Janssens was allowed to score on a wild pitch from pitcher Pietro Sollecito.
The Pioneers scored four more runs in the sixth inning and one more in the seventh to seal an 8-3 victory.
Game Two v Mariners (Ireland)
Second baseman Brendan Power’s seventh-inning run proved to be only a consolation for the London Mets as they were defeated for a second consecutive time in the European Confederation Cup.
The British champions’ offense could not breach Mariners pitcher James Kelly on the mound. The pitcher gave up no runs in six innings of work where he struck out ten batters in the process. He is currently the tournament leader in strikeouts.
Kelly proved to be a two-way threat for the Mariners as his run in the third inning capped off a rapid start for the Irish team who eventually ran out 6-1 victors.
London Mets pitcher Ryan McLaughlin commented on the result. He said “Game two was in some ways a repeat of game one.
“Pitching was very strong in both games for the Mets, but the defence again gave away some runs.
“We will look to clean things up on defence and get the bats going against Sweden [Rättviks BSK] tomorrow and Switzerland [Zürich Barracudas] on Friday.
Next up
London Mets play Rättviks BSK on Wednesday and will almost certainly need to defeat the Swedish team if they have any hopes of finishing in the top two of the group stage to qualify for the final.
This will be a tough ask as Rättviks are currently top of the group after defeating the Mariners and Zürich Barracudas.
Report by Michael Thomas
