2001 European Baseball Championship

2001 European Baseball Championship
Tournament details
CountryGermany
Dates28 July – 5 August 2001
Teams12
Defending champions Netherlands
Final positions
Champions Netherlands (17th title)
Runners-up Russia
Third place Italy
Fourth place France
Tournament statistics
Most HRs Jiri Visek
Most SBs Ralph Milliard
Best ERA Michael Leys
Awards
MVP Rinat Makhmoutov

The 2001 European Baseball Championship was held in Germany and won by the Netherlands. The main venue was the Baseball Stadium Rheinaue in Bonn, and secondary venues were in Cologne and Solingen. Russia was a Cinderella team in the tournament, beating both the Netherlands and Italy and finishing in second place. Russia beat the Dutch, coming from behind in the 9th inning in group play, and beat the Italians in the semifinals. The Dutch avenged their earlier loss, defeating Russia in the gold medal game, 4–0 behind the pitching of Rob Cordemans and Patrick Beljaards.

In group play, Russia lost to Great Britain, marking the first time the British defeated an eventual medalist in the tournament.