Led by four hits from Jan Pospíšil and a homer from Tomáš Říčný, Hroši Brno exacted revenge on the Brasschaat Braves in the championship game of the Confederation Cup in Karlovac, Croatia, one day after losing to the Belgian baseball club by an almost identicxal score.
The Hippos (the English translation of Hroši) jumped out to a 6-0 lead after their first three at bats and were up 10-1 by the bottom of the eighth. Two late rallies by the Braves made things interested, but the early lead was too much to overcome. Pospíšil led Brno with a 4-for-6 day, while Vítězslav Nový joined him with a two-bagger as part of a three-hit day. Adam Jacques and Daniel Ondroušek also had multiple hits. Steven de Lannoy had a round-tripper and a double as part of three hits for Brasschaat, falling a triple short of the cycle. Stefan Leo, who plays for Baseball Philippines’ national team, left the park for the second game in a row in the loss.
Offensive Leaders
De Lannoy led the tournament in average (.611, .111 better than No. 2), on-base percentage (.667), and slugging percentage (1.222), to say nothing of home runs (3), total bases (22), hits (11, tied with two others), stolen bases (2, tied with two others), and RBI (10, three more than the next closest), and was second in runs (8), despite playing one fewer game than some. Other players are worth mentioning also.
- Harry Deliyannis (Brasschaat) was tops in runs (9) and hits (11, tied), and was second in home runs (2, tied), doubles (3, tied), total bases (20), and walks (4, tied). He slasshed .500/.577/.909.
- Thomas de Wolf (Brasschaat) was named “Leading Hitter” using only Round Robin numbers, as he hit .643 through the first four games. His final line was an excellent .500/.640/.667.
- Ryan Johnson (Brno) tied for No. 2 in HR and was third in total bases (15), despite only playing three-plus games. The two-player slasshed a monster .438/.550/.938 and scored six runs.
- Adam Jacques (Brno) hit .500/.526/.778 across four games, striking out just once.
- Vítězslav Nový (Brno) was named MVP after hitting .429/.409/.571.
- José Herrera (Karlovac) continued to demonstrate why he is one of the most underrated infielders on the left side in Europe. The veteran was 8-for-16 with a homer, finishing at .500/.556/.688.
- Martin Vissac (Rouen) finished with a .467/.500/.800 line and was one of five Huskies with a dinger. He tied for the lead in stolen bases and scored a team-leading six runs.
- Oscar Lebouc (Rouen) hit .467/.556/.533 with five runs.
- Hugo Desir was the top hitter for Savigny, leading the Confederation Cup in doubles (4) and hitting .462/.500/.769.
Pitching Leaders
Only two pitchers started more than one game and only five threw more than nine innings, but several pitchers shone in limited opportunities.
- Jose Pereira (Karlovac) was No. 1 in ERA (0.00) thanks to only an unearned run over seven innings in his one start. He had six strikeouts and took home Best Pitcher honors.
- Ryusuke Ito (Rouen) and Deliyannis shared the lead for strikeouts (14), though the former did so in 11 innings as opposed to the latter’s 16. Deliyannis was first in appearances (3), starts (2, tied), and innings. Ito finished with a 3.27 ERA and Deliyannis was at 4.50.
- Yui Taido (Rouen) was the only other pitcher to start twice, totalling 13 inings of 2.08 ERA ball with 10 Ks and only two walks.
- Adrian Peña (Savigny) struck out 11 in 11.1 innings, totalling a 2.38 ERA.
- Hroši had an incredible eight pitchers available, with only Jesús Castillo topping six innings. In that time, he struck out 11 and had a 3.27 ERA and tournament-leading 0.50 WHIP. He was third in batting average against (minimum five innings) at .171.
- Teammate Lukáš Pacal started the final and allowed only one run (1.80) and six baserunners in five frames for the win, with opponents hitting .167/.286/.333 off him.
Tom Dahan (Savigny) was named the Confederation Cup Outstanding Defensive Player. The rightfielder–relief pitcher had an assist and one error among 18 chances, fielding .944.
All four of WBSC Europe’s baseball cups have now been contested, with only the Baseball Champions League (BCL) remaining. For more on the Confederation Cup, consult our other coverage of the event: Introduction https://www.mister-baseball.com/confederation-cup-2026-hrosi-brno-champions/, Day 1 https://www.mister-baseball.com/confederation-cup-2026-hrosi-brno-champions/, Day 2 https://www.mister-baseball.com/confederation-cup-2026-hrosi-brno-champions/, Day 3 https://www.mister-baseball.com/confederation-cup-2026-hrosi-brno-champions/, Day 4 https://www.mister-baseball.com/confederation-cup-2026-hrosi-brno-champions/, Day 5 https://www.mister-baseball.com/confederation-cup-2026-hrosi-brno-champions/. Box scores can be found here [link].
Results
June 15
Brasschaat 5 – Rouen 4
Savigny 3 – Karlovac 7
June 16
Rouen 4 – Brno 5
Savigny 8 – Brasschaat 18 (7)
June 17
Rouen 22 – Savigny 7 (7)
Karlovac 4 – Brno 14 (8)
June 18
Brno 7 – Savigny 2
Brasschaat 7 – Karlovac 4
June 19
Brno 5 – Brasschaat 11
Karlovac 1 – Rouen 2
June 20
Final: Brno 11 – Brasschaat 4
Standings
| Team | W-L | RF | RA |
| Hroši Brno (Czech Republic) | 4-1 | 42 | 25 |
| Brasschaat Braves (Belgium) | 4-1 | 45 | 32 |
| Rouen Huskies (France) | 2-2 | 32 | 18 |
| Olimpija Karlovac (Croatia) | 1-3 | 16 | 26 |
| Lions de Savigny (France) | 0-4 | 20 | 54 |