Collegiate Baseball League Europe

Collegiate Baseball League Europe (CBLE) is a wood bat summer collegiate league based in Oosterhout, the Netherlands.

Collegiate Baseball League Europe
SportBaseball
Founded2012
No. of teams6
Country Europe
Most recent
champion(s)		La Rochelle Admirals (2016)
Official websiteCBLE

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 at 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 Dutch pro team 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 CBLE Championship Series playoffs and the Championship Game.

This is a list of the winningest CBLE franchise teams as measured in both total wins and winning percentage. The Sant Boi Barcelona Falcons lead all other teams with 33 wins. The remaining all-time win leaders in CBLE are the La Rochelle Admirals (29 wins), Praha Dragons (14), Amsterdam Bombers (13), Vienna Emperors (13), and London Cavaliers (11), respectively. In winning percentage, the all-time leaders in the CBLE are the Sant Boi Barcelona Falcons (.635), La Rochelle Admirals (.596), Vienna Emperors (.481), Praha Dragons (.467), Amsterdam Bombers (.406), and London Cavaliers (.344), respectively.

Teams
COLLEGIATE BASEBALL LEAGUE EUROPE
Current TeamsEnteredHead CoachManager
La Rochelle Admirals2012–presentJay Hemond (USA)Serge Meijer (NLD)
London Cavaliers2012–presentMitchell Berghmans (NLD)Frank Cramer (NLD)
Sant Boi Falcons of Barcelona2012–presentChris Cummings (USA)Mike Graham (USA)
Amsterdam Bombers2012–presentDavid Yamana (USA)Felix Brown (FRA)
Prague Dragons2015 expansionMark Wisthoff (USA)René Fischer (NLD)
Vienna Emperors2015 expansionBas Nooijens (NLD)
VenueLocation
Oosterhout TwinsOosterhout, Netherlands
La Rochelle BoucaniersLa Rochelle, France
London Mets and Essex ArrowsLondon, Great Britain
Club de Béisbol y Sófbol Sant BoiBarcelona, Spain
Amsterdam PiratesAmsterdam, Netherlands
Tempo Titans PrahaPrague, Czech Republic
Vienna WanderersVienna, Austria

Regular Season Champions and Runners-Up
  • 2017: SANT BOI FALCONS OF BARCELONA | LA ROCHELLE ADMIRALS
  • 2016: SANT BOI FALCONS OF BARCELONA | VIENNA EMPERORS
  • 2015: SANT BOI FALCONS OF BARCELONA | PRAHA DRAGONS

CBLE Championship Series Champions and Finalists

  • 2017: LA ROCHELLE ADMIRALS | AMSTERDAM BOMBERS
  • 2016: LA ROCHELLE ADMIRALS | SANT BOI FALCONS OF BARCELONA
  • 2015: SANT BOI FALCONS OF BARCELONA | PRAHA DRAGONS
  • 2014: LA ROCHELLE ADMIRALS | SANT BOI FALCONS OF BARCELONA
  • 2013: LA ROCHELLE ADMIRALS | SANT BOI FALCONS OF BARCELONA
  • 2012: SANT BOI FALCONS OF BARCELONA | LONDON CAVALIERS

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)

Contact
  • President: Jan Maarten Kops (NLD)

References
  1. http://www.britishbaseball.org/news_article/show/381405?referrer_id=271910
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-27. Retrieved 2014-12-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-30. Retrieved 2014-12-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. http://northwoodsleague.com/blog/2014/04/17/the-northwoods-league-and-collegiate-baseball-league-europe-create-partnership/
  5. http://www.wanderers.at/index.php/de/top-news/390-cble-zu-gast-in-wien
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-02-21. Retrieved 2014-12-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. http://www.mister-baseball.com/amsterdam-pirates-completes-east-division-collegiate-baseball-league-europe/
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