Fenwick High School rising senior Mike Sosna has been in several big games over the last two years as a starting pitcher for the Friars’ baseball team.
It stood to reason that the valuable experience he gained stood out as a member of the Polish national team at the U18 Pool B European Baseball Championship Qualifying Tournament July 27-30 in Ashbourne, Ireland.
In the opener July 27, Sosna tossed six scoreless innings, allowing six hits while posting 13 strikeouts, to help lead Poland to a 5-0 victory over Slovakia. Of his 99 pitches thrown, 64 went for strikes.
The following day versus Croatia, Sosna delivered at the plate with a clutch two-run single in the bottom of the sixth that brought Poland within a run. Then in the top of the seventh, he made a terrific running catch in the left-field corner to thwart a possible Croatian rally. Subsequently, the Polish scored twice in the bottom half to notch a 4-3 walk-off win and effectively clinch a spot in the title game.
Poland completed the round-robin sweep with a 21-5 rout of Ireland on July 29, and Sosna took the hill July 30 in a rematch with Croatia for the championship. He allowed a run on three hits and struck out eight over five innings, while also going 2-for-3 at the plate.
Sosna was in line for the victory as Poland led 2-1 after five innings. But Croatia rallied for four runs in the sixth to hand the Polish a 5-2 defeat and advance to Pool A of the U18 European Baseball Championship.
Overall in Ireland, Sosna batted .333 with two RBI and sported a 0.94 earned-run average (one run in 11 innings pitched) with 21 strikeouts. He was named the tournament’s Best Pitcher.
