The baseball team from Kropyvnytskyi city – “BioTexCom” (former “KNTU-Yelisavetgrad”), became the owner of the first “Continental Cup” which was held in mid-April in Minsk, Belarus. In the dramatic final against the hosts of the tournament – “BC Minsk”, the Ukrainian champions managed to break the tie (3-3) only during the extra inning. In such way, Ukrainian baseball players successfully started the playing season 2017.

The Continental Baseball Foundation Europe organized the first “Continental Cup” championship. The top baseball clubs from 4 countries participated in the tournament: 2016 Belarus Champion and 2016 Inter-League Champion – BC “Minsk”; 2016 Lithuanian Champion and 2016 Inter-league finalist – “Lituanica” (Kaunas, Lithuania); representatives of Russia – BC “Moskvich”; the 21-time champion of Ukraine – “BioTexCom”.

The “BioTexCom” roster at the “Continental Cup” tournament in Minsk: Vladislav Kosenko, Konstantin Chukhas, Roman Boiko, Artem Lopata, Vladimir Bytiak, Yegor Liubchenko, Sergei Shtapura, Dmitriy Limarenko, Mikola Liakhovetskyi, Iliya Velykii, Denis Brechko, Aleksandr Mamontov, Yuriy Shvets, Vitalii Chukhrii, Konstantin Boiko, Georgiy Gvritishvili, Oleg Shkatula, Evgenii Zhantalai, Ruslan Deikun, Dmitriy Nelipa. Coaches: Urii Boiko, Oleg Boiko.

Results: “BioTexCom” – BC “Lituanica” 6:5 (pitchers: Sergei Shtapura, Yegor Liubchenko, W);

“BioTexCom” – “Moskvich” 13:4 (pitchers: Dmitriy Limarenko, W, Mikola Liakhovetskyi);

“BioTexCom” – BC “Minsk” 5:0 (pitcher: Georgiy Gvritishvili, W);

Finals: “BioTexCom” – BC “Minsk” 7:3 (pitchers: Vitalii Chukhrii, Artem Lopata, W).

Nine innings of the final game ended with a draw – 3:3. Moreover, Ukrainian baseball players had to recoup from 0:1 and 1:3 and only after the final attack Ukrainian team earned the right for the extra inning. In the extra inning Minskers took the lead again – 4:3, but Ukrainian Georgiy Gvritishvili made a home run and thus got 4 points.

“A start of a new tradition” has become a slogan of the tournament. Organizers provided broad information and media support of the competition. In point of fact the “Continental Cup 2017” was a spring training tournament, a kind of test of strength on the eve of the new baseball season. The situation was all the participating teams have not yet jumped in the playing season and thus opponents didn’t know true playing conditions of each other. Teams had to play four matches per three days and there were no obvious favorites. Therefore each team had an opportunity to win the “Continental Cup” competition.

The head coach of the “BioTexCom” baseball team, honored coach of Ukraine Urii Boiko says: “Early spring tournaments can bring rather unexpected results. Before participating in the Cup we had, in fact, only eight – ten days for trainings. During this time, we had four sparring matches. Oleg (Coach Oleg Boiko) and I knew that our starters only gain form and in Minsk none of them should pitch more than 80 times during the game. In addition, we planned to give all players quite the same playing practice and determine their strengths and weaknesses.

Our philosophy is that all competitions in which our club or team is involved, must be played on the highest level. Of course, we were going to win the “Continental Cup”. I think that each participating team wanted to win this tournament. But health of our players is the main prior for us. Therefore all 20 players were involved during the games. In general, we have followed all our basic principles and had a great match.”

Regulations of the “Continental Cup” were similar to the “U21 European Championship 2016” in Israel, which ended with a remarkable victory of the Ukrainian U21 team: three consecutive matches of the group stage and at once the final between the subgroups. There was no time to rest or to restore for players.

“At such competition every game is very important and therefore the cost of failure dramatically increases, –Urii Boiko said. – During the “Continental Cup” each team had to win each of its games, despite the results of the competitors. The recipe of the successful game at the tournament is simple: you have to win all the matches. Number of players on the bench also influences a lot on what tournament’s stage the team will reach. During the “Continental Cup” in Minsk “BioTexCom” team had a full roster. Each game we began with a “fresh” starter and there were also enough relievers. In four matches we used seven pitchers and there were still enough reserve players.”

– How can you explain the fact Ukrainian team allowed opponents to lead during three of four games and then “BioTexCom” had to recoup?

Urii Boiko: – All coaches tried to analyze the problem and agreed that the main reason was the lack of international experience. Our last training sparring that took place before games in Minsk was at a very high level: only once guys made a mistake in defense. But situations when young players face with fatal mistakes is not so common at home. Last year at the “Cup С.E.B” in Rouen we lost games against Swiss and Croats because of only one crucial mistake.

It is much easier to play when you have more points than competitor. But not every team could react properly on failures. It must be noted at the Ukrainian championships we rarely faced with such situations and we have no needed experience, so when we play in the international competitions with strong opponents often we feel a certain lack of practice. This tournament has shown us we could properly react on failures and in future we will correct all our mistakes. We never give up and it is very important because every day we focus our players on the team spirit and unity.”

During the “Continental Cup” the weather in Minsk was not so good – on the final day the temperature was 3-5 degree and it permanently was raining and snowing. We even had to stop the main game when it was sleeting again. It has happened in the 8th inning when the score was 1:2 in favor of BC “Minsk”. And there was the variant that the referee would stop the match earlier.

– Were you worry about the fact that due to the weather conditions the game could be finished ahead of schedule?

Urii Boiko: – The first goal of this tournament is the preparation for the great baseball season. If the judge stopped the match and awarded the win to “Minsk”, we would be disappointed because there was no time to recoup. But it would not be such a tragedy, because we fulfilled all our main tasks: players had a good sparring, and couches were able to see players’ skills.

Anyway I knew our team was going to fight till the end. Maybe Minskers were stronger in 8 of 9 innings and the game was not so easy for us but we took the kick and then used all our opportunities on the field. We won showing strong character and great baseball skills of our players.

Despite terrible weather conditions during this spring match it was a great game. And the finals exceeded all fans’ and our expectations. Rush, players’ efforts, emotions and atmosphere overcame the cold and snow. It was an awesome game!”

– There were strong competitors and Ukrainians had to increase the score to win. As it is said: «Score or go home». Did you have something special to cope with such situations?

Urii Boiko: – There are hundreds of combinations you could use depending on the situation on the field: the number of players on the bases and exactly what base it is, the number of outs, hits and so on. The most important is to make the proper decision at the right moment. Baseball is a game not only of strength and speed but also of brains. In extra inning we had at least to tie the game. There are several algorithms what players have to do on the field in such cases. Our team knows them in theory, all the time we work on such combinations during training, but it is quite different to do it at the tournament’s final. In fact, all players have made their algorithm almost perfectly. We were able to fill all bases receiving only one out – it is great situation not only to tie but to win as well. Georgiy Gvritishvili took the field because he has a strong hit. The player hit the ball over the fence. In my memory it was for the first time when our team finished the game with the grand slam.”

We will only add that in the final of the “Continental Cup 2017” baseball players of the “BioTexCom” team made two home runs, the first one tied the game 1:1. It was made by Evgenii Zhantalai – the best pitcher of the “U21 European Championship 2016”. He also tied the score 3:3 during the 9^th inning. So it is not surprising the organizers decided to award Evgenii Zhantalai with the MVP prize.

Text was translated from: https://ua.tribuna.com/tribuna/blogs/kgbaseball/1254180.html