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IRISH TAKE SILVER MEDAL AT EUROPEAN OLYMPIC QUALIFIER (Aug 5, 2006)
Ireland lost to Croatia 12 -2 in the European Championship Final on Saturday, August 5th. At the end of the day, Croatia are deserved Champions. They only gave up eight runs for the entire tournament and down the stretch, they allowed just three runs in three games.
Ireland go away from this tournament as well deserved Silver Medalists having only lost to Croatia and beaten the heavily favoured Belgians in one of the games of the tournament. Once again, Ireland show improvement and achieve their greatest ever accomplishment in European Championship competition.
IRELAND TO PLAY FOR OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION IMMORTALITY (Aug 4)
Ireland lost to Croatia in the final Group game Friday morning 2-1 behind the brilliant pitching of David Callaghan. Despite the great performance by Callaghan, the Irish couldn't mister run support for his gem but showed once again this squad could play with the best that the B-Pool could offer.
Then, against the tournament favourites Belgium, Ireland took it one step further. Behind one of the gutsiest pitching performances by an Ireland hurler, Brendan Bergerson showed what Irish 'Brod agus Onor' is all about. Bergerson stymied the potent Belgian offense for a complete game victory 4-1 to launch Ireland into its first ever gold medal game. Excuse me as I am completely locked while writing this but this is absolutely awesome and I couldn't give a hoot! Joe Kielthy's two run homer in the first paced the squad initially and combined with Ireland's solid defense and Bergerson's masterpiece, Ireland face Croatia in the B-Pool European Championship Final on Saturday night.
RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY - IRELAND TO PLAY DOUBLEHEADER FRIDAY (Aug 3)
In a Tournament dogged by inclement weather, Ireland's final group game against Croatia was called off Thursday evening due to rain. The Irish will resume the competition on Friday morning at 10:00 against Croatia and then play either Belgium or Switzerland in the Semi-Final at 18:00.
IRISH ROLL ON WITH 7-1 VICTORY OVER NORWAY (Aug 2)
The Irish National Baseball Team won its second straight game in the European Championships against Norway 7-1 and have qualified for the semi-finals of the Antwerp Euro Qualifier. This rain shortened affair only went 5 innings before umpires decided that conditions were too bad to continue. Starter Nat Anglin, and relievers Brendan Bergeson and Sean Finn were once again backed by solid defense and timely hitting. The final game of the preliminary round on Thursday sees Ireland face juggernaut Croatia for the division top spot.
IRELAND WIN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP OPENER 6-2 (Aug 1)
The Irish National Baseball Team won its European Championship opener against a determined Slovakian side on Tuesday by a score of 6-2. Led by flame thrower Chris 'Gunnin' Gannon, who dominated the Slovakian lineup, the Irish got some timely hits and played great defense and led all the way. |
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IRISH NATIONAL TEAM - SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
DATE / TIME
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LOCATION
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EVENT
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Sun 7th May, 11am
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Corkagh Park, Clondalkin |
Open Trials for selection to the 2006 squad |
| Fri 12th May, 6:30pm |
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Irish National Team vs GB Junior National Team |
Sat 13th May, 2pm
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Irish National Team vs GB Junior National Team |
End of May
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Irish National Team Announced |
Sat 3rd June
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Cork - Location TBD
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Exhibition Game featuring Irish National Team vs President's Nine |
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Dublin Tournament |
Thu 27th July
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Travel day to London
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Travel day to London |
Fri 28th July
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Brighton, England
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Irish National Team vs Great Britain Senior National Team |
Sat 29th July
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Brighton, England
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Irish National Team vs Great Britain Senior National Team |
Sun 30th July
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Travel to Belgium
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Travel to Belgium |
Mon 31st July
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European Championships - Belgium
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European Championships Technical Meeting |
Tues 1st Aug
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European Championships - Belgium
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Ireland v Slovakia |
Wed 2nd Aug
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European Championships - Belgium
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Ireland v Norway |
Thu 3rd Aug
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European Championships - Belgium
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Ireland v Croatia |
| Fri 4th Aug |
European Championships - Belgium
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Playoffs & Semi-finals |
| Sat 5th Aug |
European Championships - Belgium |
Playoffs & Final |
| Sun 6th Aug |
Travel to Ireland |
Travel to Ireland |
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IRISH NATIONAL TEAM NEWS - 2004
IRELAND BOUNCE BACK AND WIN BRONZE MEDAL (2004)
IRELAND 12 - SERBIA-MONTENEGRO 8
(August 8, 2004) Following the disappointment of losing in the semi-final to Slovenia, Ireland bounced back strongly and made amends by defeating a determined Serbia-Montenegro team 12-8 and in so doing claimed a Bronze medal at the European B-Pool Baseball Championships. |
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Although
the Irish started well in this game and led
4-1 early on, a few defensive mishaps cost them
the lead and allowed Serbia-Montenegro to build
a 6-4 lead going into the bottom of the sixth
inning.
It
was at this point that the Irish offense exploded
and after scoring six times in the sixth inning,
led by the clutch hitting of Ruaidhri Murphy
and Chris Foy, Ireland held a 10-6 lead.
Kevin
Corrigan's second homerun of these Championships
in the eighth inning brought home two more and
put the icing on the cake as Ireland won their
first-ever piece of European Championship silverware.
(Click
here for the official statistics for the IRELAND
vs Serbia-Montenegro Bronze Medal Game)
Joe
Kealty hit his fourth homerun of the Championships
in the first inning and was later crowned the
Homerun Champion of the tournament at the closing
ceremonies.
Germany
were crowned B-Pool Champions after defeating
Slovenia in the final 9-3.
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Tom
Kelley laces a single to centre-field in
the crucial six-run sixth inning
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CORRIGAN'S
HEROICS DELIVER IRELAND A PLACE IN SEMI-FINAL (AUG
5)
IRELAND 5 - SERBIA-MONTENEGRO 3
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Kevin
Corrigan delivered a dramatic two-run homerun
in the bottom of the eighth as Ireland backed
up another great Irish pitching display, this
time by David Callaghan, and went on to defeat
Serbia-Montenegro 5-3.
The
Irish and Serbia-Montenegrins battled all game
in this tight see-saw affair but K-Co's eighth
inning blast with Tom Kelley aboard nailed down
the victory and gave Ireland the honour of winning
their group. Joe Kealty continued his hot hitting
in the tournament with a single and his second
bomb in these Championships.
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Kevin
Corrigan's two-run bomb in the eighth was the
difference againt the Serbia-Montenegrins
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But
it was the tremendous pitching effort of David
Callaghan that kept the Irish in the game
and in a position to win. Callaghan threw
a complete game six hitter and struck out
eight for his second complete game victory
in Irish International competitions.
(Click
here for the official statistics for the IRELAND
vs Serbia-Montenegro game)
In
the Semi-Finals on Saturday (16:00 GMT), Ireland
will face the runners-up of Group A, Slovenia.
Germany will face Serbia-Montenegro in the
other Semi-final.
David
Callaghan (at right) threw a complete game
six hitter to lead the Irish to their third
straight win in the Championship.
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IRELAND
COMEBACK TO BEAT AUSTRIA IN THRILLER!!! (AUG 3)
Ireland continued their march towards
the European Baseball Championships semi-finals with
a come from behind victory over favoured Austria winning
8-2 in 11 innings.
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Ireland
fell behind the favoured Austrians in the first
inning but behind the gutsy pitching of Chris
Gannon and Cormac Eklof, in relief, the Irish
held the Austrian offence in check and tied
the game in the fifth inning to make it 2-2.
It
stayed that way until the top of the 11th inning
when John Dillon tripled to right field and
was followed by another triple by Joe Kealty
to put the Irish ahead for good. (Click
here for the official statistics for the IRELAND
vs Austria game) Ireland continued the offensive
pressure in the inning and scored another five
runs. Brian Morris came in to pitch the last
half of the 11th inning and closed out the game
for an 8-2 Ireland victory.
The
win means Ireland are almost assured of a semi-final
spot barring a series of unlikely coincidences
and results involving the other teams in the
group.
Ireland
finish the preliminary stage against Serbia-Montenegro
on Thursday (11:00 GMT).
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After
giving up two in the first inning, Chris Gunnin'
Gannon pitched brilliantly and kept the Irish
side close before they went on to win in 11
innings |
IRELAND
DEFEAT FINLAND IN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP OPENER (AUG
2)
Ireland got off to a dream start to their
2004 European B-Pool Baseball Championship campaign
by defeating Finland 25-5.
Ireland
scored six times in their half of the first inning
and never looked back in what was the biggest offensive
display in Irish National Team history. After the
first three Irish batters reached base, left-handed
hitting Joe Kealty smashed a grand slam homerun deep
over the rightfield fence to put the Irish on their
way. Ireland continued their scoring rampage by collecting
three runs in the second inning, one in the third,
six in the fourth inning and eight in the fifth to
put the game well out of reach of the Finns.
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Other
offensive standouts for the Irish were John
Dillon who had three hits and drove in four
runs, Kevin Foy who collected three hits and
scored five times and Patrick Nolan who had
two hits and drove home three runs. (Click
here for the official statistics for the IRELAND
vs Finland game)
Led
by lefthanded pitcher, Brendan Bergerson, the
Irish defense completely shutdown the Finnish
offense until the fifth inning when the Irish
had already rolled out to a 16-0 lead. Bergerson
pitched five impressive innings, allowing just
two hits, one unearned run while striking out
nine.
Ireland
play Austria on Tuesday (18:00 GMT) in their
second game of the round-robin group stage and
finish the preliminary stage against Serbia-Montenegro
on Thursday (11:00 GMT).
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Winning
Pitcher Brendan Bergerson delivers an 85mph
fastball during Ireland's 25-5 defeat of
Finland on
August 2nd |
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NASN
- Proud Supporters of the Irish National Baseball
Team
2004
NATIONAL TEAM 'DATES FOR THE DIARY'
June
5 - 7: Dublin Tournament
Juyl 31 - August 6: European
'B-Pool' Championships (Regensburg, Germany)
2004
IRISH TEAMS FINALISED
The
final roster for the 2004 Irish National Baseball
Team has been announced.
| Irish
National Baseball Team - 2004 |
| Player |
Player |
Player |
| John
Dillon (Captain) |
Gareth
Donnelly |
Chris
Gannon |
| Brendan
Bergerson |
Joe
Kealty |
Kevin
Foy |
| Will
Beglane |
Brian
Morris |
Tom
Kelley |
| Kevin
Corrigan |
David
Callaghan |
Russ
Manning |
| Cormac
Eklof |
Chris
Foy |
Pat
Nolan |
| Darran
O'Connor |
Gareth
Kelly |
Niall
Rowen |
| Eoin
O'Connor |
Ruaidhri
Murphy |
Jimmy
Pita |
| Management
Team |
| Sean
Mitchell |
Mick
Manning |
Ed
Cooney |
| Jason
Nebenzahl |
Jon
Houston |
Noel
Mitchell |
| PJ
Fox |
Paul
Peake |
Fran
McCrossan |
SSK Europe
- The European Baseball Centre
Supporters of Baseball Ireland and the Irish
National Baseball Team
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IRELAND
READY AND PREPARED FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (AUG
1)
Ireland compete in the European
B-Pool Baseball Championships (Official Championship
Website) in Regensburg Germany, which takes place
from August 1st to 8th.
The
Irish play three preliminary games in their group,
which also includes Finland, Austria & Serbia-Montenegro,
with the top two teams advancing to the Semi-Finals
which take place on Saturday, August 7th.
The
winner of the B-Pool Championship will be promoted
to the A-Pool where they will compete against the
giants of European baseball in the Olympic qualification
tournament for Beijing 2008.
Ireland begin their campaign against Finland on Monday,
August 2nd, a team they have beaten in both the 1998
and 2002 European B-Pool Championships. The Irish
then play Austria on Tuesday, August 3rd and finish
the group stage against Serbia-Montenegro on Thursday,
August 5th.
Although
Ireland has only had an International team participating
in European competitions since 1996, this is, without
question, the strongest and best prepared team in
its short history. They are bouyed by the fact that
in 2002, the Irish reached the semi-final stage, losing
to the eventual Champions and host nation Sweden.
PROUD
SUPPORTERS OF IRISH BASEBALL
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