EXL: Jablonec celebrates their first win in Extraliga
Extraliga Week 2 continued with seven games on Saturday and most of them were really close. Additionally, Jablonec can celebrate their historically first win in Czech Extraliga.
After Friday win, Eagles were hoping for another successful outing. However, there was a much tougher task ahead of them, as they were to face Boris Bokaj on the mound. The home team started Matyáš Trčka who had his premier in Extraliga. Ostrava was able to make the best of it and was winning 9-0 after two innings.
There were three Arrows players who had three hits in the game, namely Jakub Kubica, Matěj Menšík (1 homerun) and Michael Vykoukal. Vykoukal showed that the beginning of the season caught him in a great form, since he had 3-for-3 and 2 BB. Boris Bokaj also turned his start into a win and he didn’t allow any run in six innings he pitched.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| Arrows Ostrava | 1 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 2 | |||
| Eagles Praha | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
The first game between Hluboká and Tempo promised a good pitchering duel when Jan Novák faced Joey Wagman. At the beginning, Tempo managed to load the bases with two outs, but Marek Rejman wasn’t able win his battle with Novák and ended striked out. On the other side, Hluboká managed to score two runs after defensive errors. Wagman then found his ground and he wouldn’t allow more runs.
The question then was, how would Novák do. The away team managed to get to him in the fifth inning, when Rejman grabbed his chance and send Marek Minařík home with a double. Tempo had two runners with one out, but Novák was able to get two strike outs and save the situation. And it wasn’t the last one, as he ended with 12 new SO in his stat sheet. Hluboká used Wesley Roemer for the last inning, who brough his team to win.
In the second game it was the away team that scored first. Tempo scored once against William Parson in the second inning. In that moment they didn’t know this would be the last run home team would allow them. William Parson remained on the mound for 7 innings, only allowing 4 hits without any walks.
On the other side Marek Minařík allowed two walks while Tempo defense produced 4 errors. Hluboká was able to take the 6-1 lead and win the game. With two more wins, they are currently 3-2 on the season.
| 1st game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Tempo Praha | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | |
| Sokol Hluboká | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| 2nd game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Tempo Praha | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | |
| Sokol Hluboká | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 6 | 10 | 0 |
The newcomer from Jablonec was without a win after their series with reigning champions. The situation could change in Třebíč. Jablonec, however, wasn’t able to find a way around Ryan Johannes who started for the home team. He only allowed two hits in eight pitched innings. Home starter showed a great performance, when he added two hits and three RBI as well. Tomáš Chadim also had a great game with 5-for-5. Thanks to these performances Třebíč won 9-0.
The second game was much closer. Jablonec started James Smiley, while home team played Lukáš Pacal. Both starters showed great performance when Jablonec was in 2-1 lead after six innings. However, in the seventh inning Nuclears reached into their bullpen and away team was able to start an offensive push, scoring 8 runs in two innings. Home team tried to press Smiley in the ninth inning, but three runs they scored were not enough and Jablonec took 4-10 win.
| 1st game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Třebíč Nuclears | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 1 | |
| Blesk Jablonec | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2nd game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Třebíč Nuclears | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 4 | |
| Blesk Jablonec | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | – | 10 | 7 | 1 |
The last doubleheader of Saturday was played between Kotlářka and Hroši. The two teams split the games. First game saw two Czech pitchers Lukáš Ercoli and Lukáš Hlouch that saw Prague team win 5-3. Home team had to sub pitcher Jakub Bílek after a nasty line drive hit him in the hand. Bílek came for Hlouch while home team was loosing 0-5 and had to be substituted by Raymond Whitehead.
Nepříjemnou chvíli prožil v sobotním utkání mezi Hrochy a Kotlářkou domácí nadhazovač Jakub Bílek, jehož trefil míč po odpalu Ivana Aubrechta přímo do házecí ruky. Domácí hráč následně z utkání odstoupil.#baseballczech pic.twitter.com/D8I5Io4OOU
— Milujeme Baseball (@MilujemeBasebal) April 17, 2021
The second game saw away team score first as well, but home team was able to find a quick response, when the grabbed the 4-2 lead in the bottom of third. Hroši followed with three more runs, increasing their lead to 7-3 after six innings. Michal Ondráček played especially well for the home team when he earned 4 hits. Kellen Croce was close second with three walks. Kotlářka managed to find second breath late in the game, decreasing Hroši lead to 7-6. Their efforts were halted by the bad lighting conditions, due to which the game was ended after eight innings. The winner of the series will be decided tomorrow in Prague.
| 1st game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Kotlářka Praha | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | |
| Cardion Hroši Brno | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
| 2nd game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Kotlářka Praha | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 2 | ||
| Cardion Hroši Brno | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | 7 | 7 | 2 |
