2003 European Baseball Championship

2003 European Baseball Championship

Tournament details
Country	Netherlands
Venues	3 (in 3 host cities)
Dates	11–19 July
Teams	12
Defending champions	Netherlands
Final positions
Champions	Netherlands (18th title)
Runners-up	Greece
Third place	Spain
Fourth place	Sweden
Awards
MVP	Xavier Civit
←  2001 2005  →

The 2003 European Baseball Championship was the 38th edition of the European Baseball Championship. The tournament was held in Haarlem, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands from 11 to 19 July 2003 and included 12 national teams of the Confederation of European Baseball. ^[1]

Netherlands won its 18th championship, defeating Greece in the final, 2–0. Greece, competing in its first European championship, fielded a team with several Minor League Baseball players, including future major leaguers Nick Markakis and George Kottaras and former major leaguers Erik Pappas, Kevin Pickford, and Sean Spencer. ^{[2] [3]}

Spain won the bronze medal, defeating Sweden in the bronze medal game. ^[4] The tournament served as the qualification for the 2005 Baseball World Cup, with the top four teams qualifying for the championship. ^{[5] [6]}

Venues

Haarlem	Rotterdam
Pim Mulier Stadium  [ nl ]	Neptunus Familiestadion
Capacity: 4,500	Capacity: 2,200
Rotterdam Haarlem Amsterdam
	Amsterdam
	Sportpark Ookmeer  [ nl ]
	Capacity: 2,000

Qualification

Main article: 2003 European Baseball Championship – Qualification

The following 12 teams qualified for the 2003 European Baseball Championship.

Pool A		Pool B
Belgium	9th, 2001 European Baseball Championship	Germany	7th, 2001 European Baseball Championship
Croatia	8th, 2001 European Baseball Championship	Great Britain	10th, 2001 European Baseball Championship
Czech Republic	5th, 2001 European Baseball Championship	Greece	Winner of Nagykovácsi Pool
France	4th, 2001 European Baseball Championship	Italy	2001 European Baseball Championship
Netherlands	2001 European Baseball Championship	Russia	2001 European Baseball Championship
Sweden	Winner of Alby Pool	Spain	6th, 2001 European Baseball Championship

Opening round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Netherlands (H)	5	5	0	29	3	+26	1.000	—	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Czech Republic	5	3	2	10	13	−3	.600	2
3	Sweden	5	2	3	21	20	+1	.400	3
4	France	5	2	3	17	14	+3	.400	3
5	Croatia	5	2	3	16	16	0	.400	3	Advance to 9th–12th place round
6	Belgium	5	1	4	5	32	−27	.200	4

Source: European Baseball Confederation
(H) Hosts

11 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Croatia	0 – 4	France	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

11 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Belgium	0 – 7	Netherlands	Pim Mulier Stadium, Haarlem
		Boxscore

11 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Czech Republic	1 – 0	Sweden	Neptunus Familiestadion, Rotterdam
		Boxscore

---

12 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Netherlands	6 – 0	Czech Republic	Pim Mulier Stadium, Haarlem
		Boxscore

12 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Sweden	4 – 6	Croatia	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

12 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	France	9 – 1	Belgium	Neptunus Familiestadion, Rotterdam
		Boxscore

---

13 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	France	1 – 7	Sweden	Pim Mulier Stadium, Haarlem
		Boxscore

13 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Czech Republic	1 – 2	Belgium	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

13 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Netherlands	5 – 3	Croatia	Neptunus Familiestadion, Rotterdam
		Boxscore

---

14 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Czech Republic	3 – 2	Croatia	Pim Mulier Stadium, Haarlem
		Boxscore

14 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Netherlands	1 – 0	France	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

14 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Belgium	2 – 10	Sweden	Neptunus Familiestadion, Rotterdam
		Boxscore

---

15 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Sweden	0 – 10 (F/7)	Netherlands	Pim Mulier Stadium, Haarlem
		Boxscore

15 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	France	3 – 5	Czech Republic	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

15 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Croatia	5 – 0	Belgium	Neptunus Familiestadion, Rotterdam
		Boxscore

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Greece	5	4	1	34	7	+27	.800	—	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Italy	5	4	1	29	10	+19	.800	—
3	Spain	5	4	1	21	13	+8	.800	—
4	Russia	5	2	3	19	29	−10	.400	2
5	Great Britain	5	1	4	14	33	−19	.200	3	Advance to 9th–12th place round
6	Germany	5	0	5	13	38	−25	.000	4

Source: European Baseball Confederation

11 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Great Britain	1 – 4	Russia	Pim Mulier Stadium, Haarlem
		Boxscore

11 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Spain	1 – 0	Greece	Neptunus Familiestadion, Rotterdam
		Boxscore

11 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Germany	2 – 10	Italy	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

---

12 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Russia	4 – 5 (F/10)	Spain	Pim Mulier Stadium, Haarlem
		Boxscore

12 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Greece	11 – 0 (F/7)	Germany	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

12 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Italy	7 – 5	Great Britain	Neptunus Familiestadion, Rotterdam
		Boxscore

---

13 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Italy	1 – 2	Greece	Pim Mulier Stadium, Haarlem
		Boxscore

13 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Russia	7 – 6	Germany	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

13 July 2003 19:00 (UTC+2)	Spain	9 – 2	Great Britain	Neptunus Familiestadion, Rotterdam
		Boxscore

---

14 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Great Britain	1 – 10	Greece	Pim Mulier Stadium, Haarlem
		Boxscore

14 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Russia	0 – 6	Italy	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

14 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Spain	5 – 2	Germany	Neptunus Familiestadion, Rotterdam
		Boxscore

---

15 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Italy	5 – 1	Spain	Pim Mulier Stadium, Haarlem
		Boxscore

15 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Germany	3 – 5	Great Britain	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

15 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Greece	11 – 4	Russia	Neptunus Familiestadion, Rotterdam
		Boxscore

9th–12th place round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB
1	Great Britain	3	3	0	16	5	+11	1.000	—
2	Croatia	3	2	1	12	13	−1	.667	1
3	Belgium	3	1	2	8	6	+2	.333	2
4	Germany	3	0	3	6	18	−12	.000	3

Source: European Baseball Confederation

17 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Croatia	5 – 3	Germany	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

17 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Great Britain	1 – 0	Belgium	Neptunus Familiestadion, Rotterdam
		Boxscore

---

18 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Germany	0 – 8	Belgium	Pim Mulier Stadium, Haarlem
		Boxscore

18 July 2003 13:00 (UTC+2)	Croatia	2 – 10	Great Britain	Sportpark Ookmeer, Amsterdam
		Boxscore

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Netherlands	8
	Russia	0
					Netherlands	21
					Sweden	0
	Italy	2
	Sweden	4
									Netherlands	2
									Greece	0
	Greece	11
	France	1
					Greece	10
					Spain	0			Third place
	Czech Republic	5
	Spain	9
									Sweden	2
									Spain	5

	5th–8th place				Fifth place
	Russia	3
	Italy	9
					Italy	2
					Czech Republic	1
	France	0
	Czech Republic	2
					Seventh place
					Russia	0
					France	5

Final standings

Pos	Team	W	L
	Netherlands	8	0
	Greece	6	2
	Spain	6	2
4	Sweden	3	5
5	Italy	6	2
6	Czech Republic	4	4
7	France	3	5
8	Russia	2	6
9	Great Britain	4	4
10	Croatia	4	4
11	Belgium	2	6
12	Germany	0	8

Awards

Tournament Awards [7] Award Player MVP Xavier Civit Leading hitter Sharnol Adriana Best pitcher (ERA) Patrick Beljaards Best pitcher (W–L%) Tetsuhiro Monna Most runs batted in Bryan Engelhardt Most home runs Vince Rooi Most stolen bases Peter Maestrales Most runs scored Peter Maestrales Outstanding defensive player Vince Rooi

All-Star Team [7] Position Player Pitchers Eelco Jansen Patrick Beljaards Catcher Chairon Isenia First baseman Xavier Civit Second baseman Chris Demetral Third baseman Vince Rooi Shortstop Raily Legito Outfielders Bryan Engelhardt Giovanni Pantaleoni Cory Harris

References

1. "XXVIII European Seniors Championship - "A" Pool". baseballeurope.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2004. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
2. "Achttiende Europese titel voor Nederland" [18th European title for the Netherlands]. Honkbalsite archief (in Dutch). 19 July 2003. Retrieved 2026-01-08.
3. "Greece (National Team) Roster Report". Russian League Baseball Web Site. July 19, 2003.
4. "European Seniors Championship "A" Pool Netherlands - 2003 – Final Standing". baseballeurope.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2004. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
5. "Report C.E.B. Congress 2003". baseballeurope.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
6. "European Championship 2003 presented". baseballeurope.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
7. Wedemeijer, Harry. "European Championships, A-Pool 11 - 19 July 2003, Netherlands". Archived from the original on 19 November 2004. Retrieved 11 May 2025.