The WBSC Europe commission officially released the 2023 European Championship group draw which will take place from the 24th of September through the 1st of October. After qualifying for the 2021 Euro Championship by defeating Lithuania in the July 2021 Utena Qualifier, Hellas avoided relegation with an emphatic win over France in Torino’s 2021 European championship. Now for 2023, there are 4 groups of 4 countries for a total of 16 countries. Each of the 4 groups will be placed in each of the 4 host cities, Ostrava, Prague, Brno and Trebic. The groups were determined by random draw with 4 teams to select from for each tier (1-4).
Hellas will be in Group A with the likes of host Czech Republic, Spain and Austria. The group will play in Ostrava, CR, a city in the eastern part of the country. Hellas most recently faced Spain and Czech Republic in the 2022 Prague Baseball Week event. An annual friendly international competition to promote the sport in Czech Republic. As for Austria, Hellas most recently defeated the Austrians 14-13 in the 2021 European Championship.
Hellas has already begun preparation as this is manager Chris Demetral’s first European Championship at the head position. Demetral has already previously announced his coaching staff including Erik Pappas, Demetre Kokoris, Scott Demetral and Mike Tonis. The staff is currently organizing a pre-tournament calendar of exhibitions and training sessions for preparation during next summer.
The Greeks will have a good number of veterans suiting up again as the coaching staff has acquired the commitments of multiple players already to pair up with the young players who will be a crucial part of continuing to build a strong national team for years to come. Hellas is looking to advance to the knockout stage for the first time since 2010 championship after falling short by one out in 2021.
Stay tuned for all information by following @GreekBaseball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
