Draci Brno earned sixth U21 Extraliga title in a row
U21 Czech Baseball Extraliga 2020 saw its final games over the weekend. With a compressed schedule, it was clear we would know the winner of the series. The only question remaining was, who would grab the title.
The first game was played at the home field of Hroši Brno, who needed to win to have a chance on the title. Hroši found their hero in Jakub Bílek, who managed to eliminated strong Draci lineup, disallowing them to score any runs. Fans could see a nice pitching duel with Filip Čapka at Draci’s mound, as the score stayed level at 0-0 till the sixth inning. Matyáš Němčanský got first 2 RBIs of the game with a double, giving Hroši 0-2 lead. The game ended with this score, which meant the final game of the series would be played at Draci only few hours later.
Fifth game wasn’t nearly as close the the fourth, however, when Draci scored in the bottom of the first inning. After the lead off single, Lukáš Němeček managed to reach third base after a wild pitch and a balk. After another wild pitch by Viktor Dokoupil, Draci scored their first run of the game.
In the end, Dokoupil only lasted 6 outs, when he was substituted by Raymond Whitehead in the third inning, with two runners on. But the home offense wouldn’t be stopped, when Draci scored several times in the third inning, gaining 0-6 lead. Jan Nebenführ who started on Draci’s mound, used his Extraliga experience giving his team five innings with only one hit allowed. We didn’t see more as Draci managed to score their 10th run after error in the defense, gaining 0-10 lead.
With 3-2 win in the series, Draci managed to defend the U21 Czech Extraliga title. Since 2015, when the competition started, Draci managed to win the title every year. Last time they lost in the final of U21 was in 2014, when Arrows Ostarava won the series 3-2.
