Jan Kucin, Hroši © Lenka Brožová/Photobank ČBA

EXL: Hroši hold first place. Blesk moving away from TOP 6

24.4.2021 Zuzana Ferková

There were seven games played in Czech Extraliga on Saturday and we could see several twists.

Draci Brno could add second win after Friday game and take the series against Hluboká. However, the newcomer from South Bohemia showed they are not an easy opponent. Both pitchers, Filip Čapka and William Parsons, played an excellent game. Thanks to this, the score was leveled at 0-0 after six innings. Home pitcher, however, created an error in the field in the seventh inning and away team managed to get three runs.

Draci tried to get the win an inning later, after they managed to press away bullpen and scored two runs. In the bottom of the nineth inning Wesley Roemer stepped on the mound and thanks to two strikeouts, he helped him team to get the win. The winner of the series will be decided tomorrow at Hluboká.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sokol Hluboká	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	8	0
Draci Brno	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	10	1

There were two more games played in Brno today, when Hroši hosted Tempo Praha. And this game was also a nice showcase of the pitching. Lukáš Hlouch and Marek Minařík both held the game at 0-0 for six innings. The score changed in the seventh inning as well, after a solo homerun by Phillip Steering from Tempo. In the bottom of the eight inning it was Kellen Croce who leveled the score for Hroši with a run. Only a moment later the Tempo defense created an error after which Hroši scored two runs. Kellen Croce then closed the game.

We could split the second game to two parts. In the first one Tempo had Joe Wagman on the mound and the second one, where Hroši put Raymond Whitehead in the play. And it was the second part where home team took the win, when they got into the 5-3 lead in the seventh inning thanks to three runs against Tempo bullpen. Away team couldn’t get more runs despite Steering’s offensinve performance who had 4 hits in the game. Whitehead pitched excellentely, only allowing 2 hits in four innings. Hroši can now travel to Prague knowing the series is theirs.

1st game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tempo Praha	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	4	1
Cardion Hroši Brno	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	–	3	6	1

iScore

2nd game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tempo Praha	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	11	3
Cardion Hroši Brno	0	1	0	0	1	0	3	0	–	5	8	0

iScore

It was the third time Eagles started Carson Goldsmith in the first game on Saturday, despite he having two losses in his stat sheet. However, his game against Blesk was much better, after he didn’t allow a single run in six innings. On the other hand, Eagles were able to find a way around Jiří Hikl and took a comfortable 7-0 win.

In the last game of the series Blesk was winning 6-0 after three innings and it seemed they could take the second win on the season. But Eagles managed to destroy Jablonec pitching and added 14 (!) runs in three innings. Jablonec tried to do something about the deficit, but it wasn’t enough to take the win. Oto Vrána had a good game for Blesk when he was 3-for-3, with 3 RBI and 2 BB. While Eagles still hold their hopes for TOP6, Jablonec is moving closer to fights for Promotion League. If they want to avoid it, they will need to start winning in the following series.

1st game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Eagles Praha	0	1	2	0	0	0	1	3	0	7	12	2
Blesk Jablonec	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0

2nd game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Eagles Praha	0	0	0	0	6	6	2	0	0	14	10	1
Blesk Jablonec	0	1	3	2	0	0	2	4	0	12	10	5

The first game between Kotlářka and Nuclears had two heroes in the home team. On the mound it was Ryan Johnson and at bat it was Richard Sázavský. Canadian pitcher threw six great innings, where he didn’t allow a run and had 13 strikeouts. Richard Sázavský had 3 hits, 3 RBI and it was he who gave his team 3-0 lead. Třebíč added three more runs and in the end took the 6-1 win.

The second game started better for Kotlářka. Jiří Vavruša pratically didn’t allow home batters anything and he only allowed the first run in the sixth inning, when his team was winning 3-0. Kotlářka found a way to bat around Lukáš Pacal quiet early, but they managed to let the lead slip in the nineth inning. Home team was helped by two errors of an experienced softball player Patrik Kolkus as they managed to load the bases. Scott Mulhearn stepped on the base with 3-4 for Kotlářka. It was Ryan Johannes Johnson who didn’t waste his time and send the ball behind the fence. Nuclears took the win with the walkoff grand slam and the home dugout errupted in celebration.