|
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
| |
 CEB cup qualifier 2007 in Poland
On June 19th 2007 European baseball blogger Marvin Moore wrote:
"Playing in only their second CEB tourney, Milon Sports Club was easily the Cinderella team of 2007. The Greeks upset the Russians in the round robin and returned home with memories that will last a lifetime."
A week earlier when pitchers ANTONIO FRANCESE, AJ BRACK, HEVIN CARRILLO, infielders ROB McNAMARA,STATHIS GEORGATSOS, YANNIS APOSTOLOPOULOS,
STEVE PALOS, GEORGE KALARAS and outfielders JAMES KOMNINAKIS, SPYROS KORKOKIOS, MARKOS MANIATIS, ALEXIS KONTOGEORGIS and GEORGE REMVALTADOS were about to take the field for the opener against Bulgarian side Sofia Athletics, very few (if any) expected the team of MILON to give influence to such writting.
|
 |
| |
The games during the round robin
WIth a mind focused more on playing baseball rather than sight-seeing (unlike last year's european tournament) and with the pitching rotation now being the team's strong spot instead of the weakest one, MILON took the field against the Sofia Athletics winning its second opener in a row. 3 runs in the 1st inning gave us the lead and another 3 in the 7th expanded it, for a final score of 9-3.The 2nd game of the round robin put us up against the Russian team(and favored to win the tournament by ease) MGPU SYOS N42 in the most exciting game of baseball this team had ever played! Final score of that game: 3-1 for us and all of the sudden we were the talk of the tournament! Next day's defeat in the hands of the Austrian team Dornbirn Indians by 12-7, despite another strong 3 run 1st inning, put our heads back into the tournament.At the end of the round robin and in the middle of a 3-way tie MILON ended up in the 2nd place of the group and clinched a spot for the semifinals against Juodasis Vikingas.The Lithuanian team that finished at the top of their group undefeated.
|
|
| |
The semifinals and medal games
The influence of ANTONIO FRANCESE on the mount started to take effect on the MILON team and as a result of that he got one of the best supports a pitcher could ask from his fielders.19 putouts and 1 error shutout the Vikingas for the next 7 innings despite their early lead of 1 run in the bottom of the 1st inning.That run was answered back with 3 runs in the 2nd inning,3 more in the 6th and 2 more in the 8th for the 8-1 lead.Vikingas scored 2 more in the bottom of the 8th for a final score of 8-3 and MILON would face the Russian team one more time,this time for the final game!
At this point of the tournament MILON had already set a record for Greek teams in European tournaments for games won (3), for making it this far in a tournament and for winning a medal, as no Greek team except the national team had ever done this before.So, the participation in a European tournament's final game seemed like a very good reward for this!
But, the very strong -as proven- Russian side came out to the game very focused to claim what they were favored (and deserved) to win.The first place gold and the promotion to Europe's A pool for next season's tournaments. We only managed to keep it a close game for 8 innings trailing by 2-0, but 4 runs scored in the 9th ended the game for us.Final score MGPU SYOS N42 - MILON 6-0 and as someone said "The Greeks...returned home with memories that will last a lifetime."
ANTONIO FRANCESE won the tournament's MVP award as well. |
|
| |
MILON OFF THE FIELD
We stayed at the OLIMPIA HOTEL, about 3,5 Km outside the Rybnik center.This was a smart choice as it kept some "distractions" away from the team's players.A very relaxing corner of Rybnik surrounded by thick woods and natural lakes and rivers.All players enjoyed the city's relaxing pace and mostly enjoyed the restaurant's menus written exclucively in Polish!Surprise dinners took place every night! Ofcourse we could not pass on the opportunity to make a daily trip to Auschwitz,the largest concentration camp built by WW II nazis and we were all moved by the emotionaly intence tour we were offered.
|
|
| |
IN CONCLUSION
This trip would not take place if it wasn't for team captain ROBERT McNAMARA's effort and time.(Expanding that line and by putting here a personal mark i must say that the whole MILON BASEBALL TEAM would not exist without ROBERT McNAMARA's effort and time spent).
It was a good trip that became better as the days went by,
and our game results were the main cause for that.
SPECIAL THANKS SHOULD GO TO Mr MIKE RISKAS. His love and devotion to the improvement of Greek baseball is the main reason this trip was such a success.
LINKS
Tournament's results and standings
CEB's webpage of the tournament
Local webpage of the tournament
(in polish) |
|
| |
 |
|
