Four nations join Ireland in European Baseball Qualifiers in Ashbourne

Competitors and spectators from across Europe have flocked to Ashbourne this week for the European Baseball Championship Qualifiers, which take place all this week in the International Baseball Centre.  
The tournament began on place from Monday with games played at 12.30pm and 5.30pm each day from Monday to Friday and the final taking place at 2pm on Saturday.
The competition is the culmination of the Confederation of European Baseball’s third tier and will see Ireland face off against Norway, Finland, Greece and Slovenia.
As part of Baseball Ireland’s hosting the event, Meath County Council and Make it Meath are holding an event on Thursday night at the Baseball Centre with a taste of the Boyne Valley.
Baseball Ireland President Tom Kelley said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Irish baseball. We’re excited to welcome all the teams from abroad, and we hope for a competitive tournament, with Ireland ultimately emerging victorious.”
“We have been hosting tournaments at our International Baseball Centre in Ashbourne since it was opened in 2015, so we know how to put on a good show. The visiting teams and spectators will get the ‘full Irish’ experience, even though we want the home team to walk away with the trophy.”
The champions of the tournament will win promotion to CEB’s B-Pool competition in 2019, and Ireland manager Sean Mitchell says this is well within his team’s grasp, “We are delighted to be the host nation, and our team has one aim – to finish on top. "We have experience against all of these visiting teams, and they are strong competitors. We were unlucky against Slovenia in 2016, and they ultimately took the gold medal at home in Ljubljana, so we hope we can play to the best of our abilities and get results we feel we are capable of in front of a home crowd.”