European Federation Cup - Day 2
Both Essex Arrows and London Mets were in action on day 2 in their respective group play rounds in the European Federation Cup. Brad Neal (Arrows) and Joe O’Connell (Mets) provide the reports
Arrows 12 v 3 Zurich Baracudas (European Federation Cup)
The Essex Arrows took their first European Federations Cup victory today over a quality Zurich Barracudas side.
Captain Angel Perez led the offence with a 3-4 line that included a towering shot to left field in the 5th inning. 2025 addition, Julio Figuereo, also went 2-4 with a triple.
Starting pitcher Josué Matos threw a complete game and compiled 8 strikeouts, allowing just 13 base runners in the 143 pitch performance.
General Manager Brad Neal: “It was fantastic to see the boys playing the type of baseball that we know we are capable of, combining quality pitching with an electric offence”
The Essex Arrows are 1-1 for the tournament
Mets 6 v 5 KS Silesia Rybnik (European Federation Cup Qualifier)
Those that have followed the London Mets in their European endeavours will know that there is some history between the team and Silesia Rybnik. In 2023, the teams met in an epic cup qualifier final in Poland which ended with the team from London winning in extra innings with a walk-off home run.
As with the game against Lithuania, today would be another showcase of both teams excellent starting pitching. For the Mets this would be team assistant manager Ryan McLaughlin who currently holds a minuscule 0.41 ERA across 3 starts in NBL.
Both teams would struggle to secure much solid contact with the score level at 1-1 going into the 7th inning. McLaughlin would strike out the final batter of the inning to give the Mets a chance to walk off the game.
The Polish starting pitcher would continue his excellent performance by matching McLaughlin to strike out the final batter in the bottom of the 7th to send the game to extras. Starting with runners on first and second no outs, manager Derrick Cook would make a call to the bullpen. However, some poor luck and a tight zone led to the Polish team exploding for 4 runs.
The London Mets however were down, but not quite out as the top of the lineup came to the plate. Louis Dean who’d had a fantastic game at 3b laid down what seemed to be a perfect bunt if not for a heroic dive by the 3rd baseman to catch the ball. Up next Sollecito would scorch the ball down the left field line, scoring 1 and putting runners on 2nd & 3rd, with slugger Cotton up to bat. Making the decision to intentionally walk Quin, the games starting pitcher McLaughlin would come to the plate, bases loaded representing the winning run.
The Polish team would also make a decision to go to the bullpen at this point. Bringing in a hard throwing right handed pitcher who had previously been patrolling right field. The Mets dugout watched the warm-up pitches and then McLauglin dug into the box. On the second pitch of the at bat, the games starting pitcher would connect, the ball jumping high into the air and making its way for right field. As McLaughlin rounded first the dugout erupted as the ball landed 15 ft over the deepest section of the outfield fence. For the second time in two years the Mets had walked off the Rybnik team with a home run, only this time it was a grand slam.
The London Mets are 2-0 for the tournament
