In their third game of the tournament, Belgian champion Brasschaat Braves faced the tournament host Olimpija Karlovac. The Belgians bested the Croatian champions with a surprising performance by Raf Cocu.
Brasschaat Braves 7 – 4 Olimpija Karlovac
Back in 2021, when Brasschaat hosted the Confederation Cup, Karlovac was way too strong for them. This time the roles were reversed.
A surprising outing of Raf Cocu. Back in the day, he used to be a reliever in the Netherlands, but this time he started the game. Not clear if it was a spot start or that he was scheduled to start today’s game.
After six scoreless innings, Cocu faced three batters without recording an out. Time for manager Kevin Peeters to replace him with Matthew Joossens.
After failing to cash in on a major scoring opportunity in the first inning, the Braves opened the score in the third inning. With runners in scoring position, Steven De Lannoy doubled to left center field to drive in both runners. A solo home run by Harry Deliyannis and an RBI single by Lino Ballardini added two more runs to the Braves’ score.
In the seventh inning, the Braves scored some insurance runs. With runners on first and second, Scott Lucas doubled to first base to drive in Steven De Lannoy and to put runners in scoring position. After an intentional walk, Christoff Peters was hit by a pitch, to drive in another run. A sac fly by StefanThomas Arzaga Leo, drove in the third and final run of the inning.
As written above, Raf Cocu was replaced by Matthew Joossens after gave up a run and allowed runners in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh. Joossens started his outing with giving up a two-run double to Dorian Bartolcic. Eventually, Joossens allowed one more RBI before recording the final out in the seventh.
Joossens kept Karlovac from scoring in the eighth but was replaced by Harry Deliyannis in the bottom of the ninth. Deliyannis gave up a walk but retired the other batters he faced in the ninth for the save.
Raf Cocu earned the win after six strong innings and three batters faced in the seventh. He was tabbed for three runs on five hits and two walks as he struck out seven.
Carlos Eduardo Garcia Troncoso took the loss. in 6.1 innings, he gave up seven runs on ten hits and four walks and struck out five.
Today’s best hitter for Brasschaat was Harry Deliyannis, who went 5 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored with a double and a home run.
Tomorrow, the Braves will face the only other unbeaten team of the tournament, Hrosi (Hippos) Brno. No matter the outcome of tomorrow’s game, both teams will face each other in Saturday’s championship game.
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