The Bonn Capitals equaled the VOITH Heidenheim Heideköpfen and got their first win at the European Champions Cup in Bonn in the ninth inning. On Wednesday, head coach Max Schmitz’s team defeated Arrows Ostrava 6-3 after a more than six-hour marathon thanks to a walk-off Grand Slam home run by Vincent Ahrens.
Photo: Thomas Schönenborn
The game was originally supposed to take place on Tuesday, but then started on Wednesday afternoon and was only over shortly before half past nine due to bad weather conditions. Another game, the game between Heidenheim and ASD Parma (score in the third inning 0:2), had to be interrupted due to rain. The game between Bonn and Curacao Neptunus was not played at all. Two other games ended prematurely.
Bonn and Ostrava gave nothing in their game. The Capitals actually dominated the game with 11:4 hits, but initially only managed to reach the scoreboard sporadically. Daniel Lamb-Hunt equalized the Czechs’ early lead with an RBI single in the first inning. Vincent Ahrens briefly gave Bonn a 2-1 lead with an RBI single in the seventh inning, but the equalizer came in the eighth.
With the score at 2-2, we went into the last inning. The Caps ordered ex-major leaguer Dovydas Neverauskas to the mound, but he acted extremely wild. Although he managed three strikeouts and didn’t allow any hits, Ostrava scored after two base on balls and three wild pitches to make it 3:2. But the host of the Champions Cup answered in an impressive way. Wilson Lee, Daniel Sanchez and Daniel Lamb-Hunt quickly loaded bases with a walk and two singles. Vincent Ahrens then wasted no time smashing Ondrej Satoria’s first pitch for a walk-off grand slam home run over the fence in left field.
On Thursday, both Heidenheim and Bonn have to go twice to complete the preliminary round. Provided the weather in the Rheinaue plays along. The Heidekoepfe have to play against Draci Brno at 9:30 a.m. and then finish the game against ASD Parma at 1 p.m. The Capitals play Curacao Neptunus at 4 p.m. and ASD San Marino at 8 p.m.
All games can be played via www.wbsceurope.org can be followed in the live stream and in the live ticker.
