David Dinski from the Bundesliga baseball club Haar Disciples has become European champion with the German U23 national team.
Now the World Cup is just around the corner.
Haar
- Just in time for the final of the U23 European Championship, David Dinski from the Haar Disciples showed his best offensive performance of the tournament. In the duel against the Netherlands, the 22-year-old baseball player ran two runs home after having previously walked to first base. There was only one catch from Dinski's point of view: Despite his strong performance, the German team lost 7-3 in the final and had to be content with silver - as in 2019.
"Of course we would have liked to have won the final," says the man from Haar, who had already become vice European champion two years ago. “But I think we can be satisfied with our performance. We played a great tournament - even though we started with an almost completely new squad. ”This team hardly has any time to breathe before the next major event is due in just under four weeks: the World Cup in Mexico, which was actually last year should have taken place, but was postponed to 2021 due to the corona pandemic.
“It will be a very special tournament,” says David Dinski with conviction.
Not only does he and his teammates go to Central America, where baseball has a completely different status than in this country.
But at the World Cup, the level will also be "one or two loungers higher" than at the European Championship, the man from Haar is convinced.
The German U23 team came to this event with ambitions for medals, as it is ranked 18th in the world - the fourth best team in Europe.
Ukraine ranks eleven places down, against which Dinski and Co. won a 10-0 start.
After a 1:10 defeat in the second game against the Netherlands, Germany qualified for the semi-finals with a 10-2 win over Belgium, where they faced hosts Italy.
A real baseball thriller unfolded in front of a good 800 spectators in Verona. “It was a match at eye level, extremely intense and very special,” says Dinski. After six innings with no points, the Germans took the lead 1-0 in the final section and then saved the narrow lead at the finish. Afterwards, national coach Steve Janssen's team celebrated on the field, "which was not well received by the Italians," reports Dinski. As a result, heated arguments broke out between the two sides, but the Germans' joy at reaching the final did not diminish. In the final, the opponent was called the Netherlands again. And even if it was closer this time than in the preliminary round - not least thanks to the two runs by David Dinski: In the end, Germany again fell short and lost 3: 7. "I think,that in the end it was the experience of the Dutch that made the difference, ”summarizes Dinski.
From September 23, it's about the world championship
The 22-year-old, who lives with his Disciples teammate Nate Thomas in a baseball flat share in Haar, will now take a few days off.
"Because together with the ten-day preparation in Tuscany, the EM was really exhausting," says Dinski.
But then it's back to everyday training - with a view to the World Cup in Mexico, which begins on September 23.
There it gets Germany with the world number 16.
Czech Republic, with Cuba (11), the Dominican Republic (6), defending champions Mexico (5) and Taiwan (3) - all opponents against which the team will be underdog.
"We measure ourselves against the best teams in the world," emphasizes David Dinski with a view to the World Cup in Mexico.
"And we just want to enjoy that."