Saarlouis Hornets in the playoffs for the Baseball Bundesliga

After finishing third in the 2. Baseball-Bundesliga Südwest, the Saarlouis Hornets are now in the playoffs

With two key home wins in the last two parts of the latter season for the 2. Baseball-Bundesliga Südwest, on Saturday (22 July 2023) the baseball players of the Saarlouis Hornets secured third place in the final table. Thanks to a ‘sweep’, or two straight wins over their namesakes the Bad Honburg Hornets, the Saarland natives were able to jump up another place in the table during the final double header in the league round at Saarlouis Ballpark, with a magnificent 15:0 in the first game and 20:0 in the second. This kept the Hornets from being faced with a direct duel with the top-placed team and most likely the strongest opponent from 2. Baseball-Bundesliga Süd-Südost in the upcoming playoffs.

Achieving the season’s goal of reaching the playoffs

The team and head coach Tom Gapp had already achieved its season’s goal of getting to the playoffs in away matches before the subsequent double header to a home crowd. After a hard-fought ‘split’ with the Darmstadt Whippets (9 July 2023), qualification for the promotion round for the 1. Bundesliga was secured. The double header day ended with a tie, following a narrow victory for Darmstadt in the first game (10:6) and an equally narrow, mesmerizing win for the Hornets in the second game of the day (7:9).

So what’s next?

Thanks to the momentum from their successes in their final two games and the satisfaction of having achieved their minimum goal for the season, the baseball players from Saarlouis can now move on brimming with motivation to the next stage and further goals in the playoffs. During the first round of the Bundesliga Süd playoffs, as the third-placed team in the Südwest section they will be facing the second-placed team in the Süd-Südost section. Their opponents in this best-of-three series will be the Guggenberger Legionäre second team from Regensburg. The first game takes place on 5 August 2023 in Saarlouis, starting at 2 p.m. This is followed by the decisive double header in Regensburg on 12 August, with play beginning at 12 p.n. If the series ends in a draw, the decisive third game will be played from 3:30 p.m.

We are delighted that the Saarlouis Hornets have already achieved their goals for the season, and wish them every luck and success for a continuing journey through the upcoming playoffs.