The ‘final four’ event, held in Minsk, saw the capital’s team defeating Severnye Zvezdy from St. Petersburg, in its first match, then Lithuanian Vilnius, with much struggle and minimum advantage. In the match for 3rd place, Belarusian Sakharny Storm, from Skidel, beat St. Petersburg.
Minsk head coach Alexander Sechko, who is also General Secretary of the Belarusian Baseball Association, notes that his wards have been champions of Belarus five times now, having recently defeated their main rival, the Brest Bisons. Since 1993, the capital’s baseball team has operated under Minsk’s football club, using the facilities for matches and training, for adults and children. About 100 youngsters train with the baseball school of Minsk club.
This season, the national team of Belarus played in Vienna in the second division of the European Championship and managed to keep its place. In the Austrian capital, Belarus took victory over Poland’s national team, but suffered defeat from the Israelis, Lithuania, Austria and Sweden. In its duel with the Swedes, the Belarusian squad lost crucial points at the end to the strong Scandinavian team, who eventually took first place, gaining a ticket to the elite division of the European Baseball Championship.
