The Swiss national baseball team took their No. 49 shirts with them to Lithuania. The red T-shirts, with a large "49" on the chest, was a scarlet number for the program: This was the nation's WBSC ranking and it was motivation for the players. They wanted teams to fear the underdogs from a nation known more for skiing, soccer, or ice hockey.

"We all had our '49' T-shirts to try to remind us that that's where the world sees us," team captain Josh Crouse told MLB.com. "It was our job to change that."

After defeating Romania and Finland, Switzerland took on the favored hosts, Lithuania, in the qualifier final.

"The problem is that they had a Division I pitcher that was a really good, very experienced pitcher, [Marius] Balandis," manager Christopher Byrnes said. "I knew we would have trouble with him, but I thought if we could put the ball in play, they would make some errors, and we can get [three runs in the game.]"

Playing in Uetna, where the field is ringed by a horse racing track, Switzerland took an early lead. They scored two runs in the first inning on a Thierry Burkhardt RBI single and a wild pitch. Thanks to solid work from pitcher Jonah Schaller (7 IP, 11 K), Switzerland held a narrow 3-1 edge going into the ninth inning.

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Lithuania wouldn't go down quietly, though. After Swiss closer Ryan Byrne retired the first two batters in the ninth inning, Lithuania put runners on first and second after a single and an error. There was no margin left.

"That's where you're starting to think, 'Oh, no. Not again,'" Crouse said.

A win and Switzerland would qualify for its first European Championship. A loss and they would face an inglorious return to the "B" group -- a tournament for the nations not good enough to qualify.

Fortunately for the Swiss, they held on. Byrne struck out Lukas Pupininkas looking for the final out. The "Rossocrociati," or Red Crosses as the national soccer team is called, were going to the Euros.

"It was almost disbelief when we finally got the third out because it's just been so long," Crouse said. "We had a good time after that, that's for sure. We had to hop on a bus then and go back to Vilnius where the airport is. We had an hour-long bus ride singing and dancing. It was a good time."

Swiss baseball started with an inauspicious beginning. In December 1980, the Lucerne White Sox took on the Zurich Challengers in the first baseball game in Swiss history. Unfortunately, the game had to be called early due to snow. Perhaps that was a metaphor for the next few decades to come.

Like many European nations, baseball tends to be kept in underground circles with a small group of passionate supporters. Crouse, who moved to the country when he was 15 with his mother, made it onto a team the day after he arrived thanks to his stepfather seeing a notice in the paper. Same for Byrnes, who had lived in the country for "five or six years" before he ever saw an ad in the paper and checked out his first league game. Star slugger Noah Williamson found his way to the national team by simply emailing the federation and asking if they had a spot for him.

But things are changing. Williamson was drafted in the 19th round by the Marlins in 2021 thanks in large part to his performance with Switzerland. A late-bloomer, Williamson's college career was shortened by COVID-19, so he lacked the necessary at-bats to show scouts what he had. His performance on the international stage changed that.

"I just thought, 'Wow, this guy is so raw,'" Byrnes said. "He's late-blooming, but he has five tools. I worked with him when he came over here. And he played in a tournament for us and he hit some home runs, just unbelievable. You get to see the talent."

In January, the Reds also signed 6-foot-4 lefty Dominic Scheffler, the first Swiss-developed player to sign with a big league club. Though he was injured this season and will miss the upcoming European Championships, hope is high for the fireballer who can get his fastball up to the mid-90s.

"He's like a Chris Sale-type pitcher, because he throws on the side," Byrnes said. "He's tall, he's growing, he can throw 90 miles an hour. He just projects to be a really good professional pitcher -- and you'll get better with professional pitching help every day."

That last point is something Byrnes has taken to heart. The team's skipper has taken every opportunity possible to expand his knowledge base and share it with the squad. He's taken classes from hitting guru Richard Schenk -- Aaron Judge's personal coach -- and brought in people like current Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and Kai Correa of the Giants. They've shared their insight and knowledge of the game, giving the Swiss an edge when it comes to game management, mental skills and defensive positioning.

"There's no federation in Europe that has these things and the quality of instruction that we've had," Byrnes said. "We've built a bit of a knowledge base, and been plugging away. So every year, we have like five or six professionals and really work on things. We're making progress, developing our talent, and it's getting there."

Now, thanks to the World Baseball Classic and the success of teams like Italy, Great Britain and the Czech Republic, European interest in baseball is at an all-time high. Sporting federations have taken notice, ticket sales are on the rise for home leagues, and American ballplayers with passport eligibility around the world now know there is a thriving game on the continent.

"I think what's really, really helped us is the World Baseball Classic," Byrnes said. "I mean, I'm finding people coming to me now and saying, 'Hey, you know, I have a Swiss passport.' Before I tried to recruit in the US for Swiss passports and it was very hard. I found pockets of Swiss people in certain regions and I used to write to the Swiss-American community and post there and try to get people."

When the European Championships begin on Sunday morning, it will mark a high point 40 years in the making -- ever since that snow-canceled game back in 1980.

"This means everything to me," Crouse said. "This is like culmination of my career and we've been pushing for this for so long. We've always been just on the cusp of getting there. Now to be able to finally get there and see what we can do with the big boys? It's fun to be out there facing that sort of competition."

Few will expect Switzerland to succeed -- after all, they're the lowest-ranked team in the competition. The players have brought their No. 49 T-shirts with them, even though the nation slipped three places to No. 52 in the most recent WBSC ranking despite the victory against Lithuania.

They're happy to be underdogs, though. They've played that way once and succeeded, so why not do it again? 

"We want to get in the top 12. We want to develop. And we want to create that culture where we can stay there," Brynes said. "We have not had a winning culture in the last 40 years, but it's changing now. When you win, people perk up and they pay attention, they're a little more motivated. We have people's attention now."