2004 European Cup

Dutch heavyweight DOOR Neptunus steamrolled the competition at the 2004 European Cup going undefeated (5-0) while outscoring opponents 48-3 and registering three shutouts to claim the championship trophy.

Neptunus opened the tournament with a 16-3 thrashing of Slovakian club STU Trnava as starting pitcher Daan Baeche tossed seven solid innings to pick up the win. Harvey Monte was 3-for-4, Railey Legito added a double and a home run, and Evert-Jan’t Hoen stroked a pair of doubles for the tourney champs.

Rob Cordemans and a trio of relievers blanked Spanish club Sant Boi 14-0 as Neptunus improved to 2-0 in Group One action. Legito had another big game going 3-for-4 with a homer and five RBI while Dirk van’t Klooster scored four runs.

Neptunus raced out to an early 2-0 lead against Czech powerhouse Draci Brno but failed to score again as Leos Kubat and David Winkler held the explosive Dutch offense at bay. Ken Brauckmiller combined with two relievers to register the shutout.

The vaunted Dutch squad recorded their third straight shutout over Mr. Cocker HCAW (Netherlands) 8-0 to reach the championship game against Italeri Bologna of Italy. The Italian club disposed of Mr. Cocker HCAW (1-0), Germany’s Paderborn Untouchables (8-2), and Draci Brno (12-5) to reach the finals with one loss, a 3-1 setback to San Marino.

The championship game pitted two of Europe’s top hurlers, Jesus Matos and Cordemans, but the Dutch squad struck early and often in claiming an 8-1 victory and the tournament title.

Melfried Comenencia led the hitting attack going 3-for-4 with five RBI while Legito, Monte, and Jeroen Sluijter all collected two hits apiece. Monte finished the tournament 9-for-15 for a .600 batting mark while the Neptunus pitching staff registered a nifty 0.84 Team ERA.

Top hitters in the tournament also included Italeri Bologna David Rigoli .600 (9-for-15), Draci Brno Jan Chudoba .571 (8-for-14), San Marino’s Andrea Paganucci .615 (8-for-13) and Grego Constantino .524 (11-for-21), and Paderborn Untouchables Octavio Medina .450 (9-for-20) and Willem Kemp .467 (5-for-15).

(See more tournament news at Int’l Baseball & Softball Stats)