Collegiate Baseball League Europe
| File:CBLE Official League Logo.jpg | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Country |  Europe |
| Most recent champion(s) | 2014 ; ADMIRALS |
| Official website | CBLE |
Collegiate Baseball League Europe (CBLE) is a wood bat summer league based in Oosterhout, the Netherlands.
The league currently consists of two divisions, the East Division (Vienna Emperors, Prague Dragons and Amsterdam Bombers) and the West Division (London Cavaliers, Sant Boi Falcons of Barcelona and La Rochelle Admirals). Players can apply individually and have the opportunity to choose their preferred division. Each year the coaching staffs draft their team rosters from the list of registered players in the month of April. Players typically play their regular season at college teams in North America or with club teams in elite leagues across Europe.
History
The league was founded in 2012 and is based Oosterhout in the Netherlands.
The inaugural tournament was held in July 2012 with 56 players from 10 different countries. All games were played at "Sportpark de Slotbosse Toren" in Oosterhout the Netherlands, home of the Oosterhout Twins.
In 2014 the league expanded to baseball venues in London (GBR),[1] Barcelona (ESP)[2] and La Rochelle (FRA).[3] As the only collegiate summer league in "the Old World", CBLE aims to offer players age 18-23 a great summer experience with high level baseball and a nice piece of Europe at the same time.
On April 17, 2014, CBLE announced an agreement with the Northwoods League[4] to offer their top players the opportunity to play with the Elite College players in the US. The agreement between the two summer collegiate leagues is first of its kind.
In September 2014, 10 CBLE alumni represented 5 different countries at the European Baseball Championship in Germany and Czech Republic. The game France vs. Belgium on September 16 featured former CBLE players Owen Ozanich (Falcons 2012) and Ben van Nuffel (Falcons 2013) as the starting pitchers for their country, while Axel Poesmans (Cavaliers 2014) was the starting catcher for Belgium.
In December 2014, CBLE announced it added venues in Vienna,[5] Prague[6] and Amsterdam[7] to launch its East Division expansion in 2015, while London, Sant Boi Barcelona and La Rochelle will form the West Division. CBLE's hometown Oosterhout (NLD) will be the host of the EAST vs. WEST All Star game, the playoff schedule and the Championship Game.
Teams
| COLLEGIATE BASEBALL LEAGUE EUROPE | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Teams | Entered | Head Coach | |||
| La Rochelle Admirals | 2012–present | Jay Hemond (USA) | |||
| London Cavaliers | 2012–present | Don George (USA) | |||
| Sant Boi Falcons of Barcelona | 2012–present | Selwyn Young (USA) | |||
| Amsterdam Bombers | 2012–present | Steven Algarobba (USA) | |||
| Prague Dragons | 2015 expansion | Mark Wisthoff (USA) | |||
| Vienna Emperors | 2015 expansion | Tony Klarberg (SWE) | |||
| Venue | Location |
| Oosterhout Twins | Oosterhout, Netherlands |
| La Rochelle Boucaniers | La Rochelle, France |
| London Mets and Essex Arrows | London, Great Britain |
| Sant Boi | Barcelona, Spain |
| Amsterdam Pirates | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Tempo Titans Praha | Prague, Czech Republic |
| Vienna Wanderers | Vienna, Austria |
League champions
- 2014: LA ROCHELLE ADMIRALS
- 2013: ADMIRALS
- 2012: FALCONS
Notable CBLE Alumni
- Jesse Aussems (Kingdom of the Netherlands National Team)
- Stijn van der Meer (Kingdom of the Netherlands National Team)
- Owen Ozanich (French National Team)
- Mathew Smith (Adelaide Bite, Australian Baseball League)
- Quentin Becquey (French National Team)
- Oscar Combes (French National Team)
- Daniel Schmidt (Perth Heat, Australian Baseball League)
References
- ^ http://www.britishbaseball.org/news_article/show/381405?referrer_id=271910
- ^ http://lapremsadelbaix.es/esports-1/sant-boi-de-llobregat-sera-seu-de-la-collegiate-baseball-league-europe-de-beisbol
- ^ http://www.ffbsc.org/edit.asp?typ=1&id=3230
- ^ http://northwoodsleague.com/blog/2014/04/17/the-northwoods-league-and-collegiate-baseball-league-europe-create-partnership/
- ^ http://www.wanderers.at/index.php/de/top-news/390-cble-zu-gast-in-wien
- ^ http://www.titans.cz/index.php?action=article&id=101
- ^ http://www.mister-baseball.com/amsterdam-pirates-completes-east-division-collegiate-baseball-league-europe/