EXL: Arrows Ostrava won regular season. Tempo will play in TOP 6

5.6.2021 Zuzana Ferková 4 min read

Saturday games could determine who will win the regular season and who will be the last to get to TOP 6. In the end, we know the answers to both questions.

Arrows had a bullpen day in the second game of the series but even that didn’t seem to cause them trouble against Hluboká. Their opponent was only able to get 5 hits. Home team was doing much better against William Parsons. Radim Novotný gave his team lead with 40th Arrows homerun in the season, which also broke current Arrows HR record. Ostrava was able to take the win in the end and Arrows made sure they would finish first in the regular season. This is also their third first place on a row.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sokol Hluboká	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
Arrows Ostrava	0	3	0	1	2	0	1	1	–	8	12	1

In the second game of Brno derby, Hroši had a chance to pay back the loss against Draci. The game was looking promising for them as they were able to score against Draci starter Ondřej Furko. In the first inning they were winning 3-0, but Draci were able to get two back in the fourth inning. Home team responded with two runs, however fifth inning marked comeback for Draci. In three innings they were able to score 11 a take the lead. Pabel Manzaner was doing exceptionally well with 3 hits and only missing triple to Cycle. Hroši tried to bite back in the ninth inning, where they were able to score four runs against Tomáš Hrbek. Visitors then sent Omar Conorop to get the last out and he finished the game with a strikeout. After the win Draci overtook Hluboká in the second place.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Draci Brno	0	0	0	2	2	6	3	0	0	13	14	1
Cardion Hroši Brno	3	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	4	9	13	4

Tempo needed at least one win against Jablonec to get to TOP 6. And they were able to do so in the first game of the series as they won 15-0 after five innings. With the win they buried the hope for Blansko and Nuclears. Marek Minařík earned 10 SO in the five innings he played.

Second game was much closer despite Tempo scoring first, after Steering’s hit and David Vohánka‚s run. Joey Wagman had 11 SO in five innings and he only allowed one hit. After the first inning, fans had to wait till bottom on seventh, where Tempo exploded in the offense and scored seven runs. Visitors were able to add few runs with Michal Kubina‚s grand slam homerun.

G1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Blesk Jablonec	0	0	0	0	0					0	2	1
Tempo Praha	0	6	7	0	2					15	13	0

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Blesk Jablonec	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	5	2
Tempo Praha	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	1	–	9	15	2

Kotlářka had to wait till the last week of the regular season to get their first series win. They were able to get it against the last Extraliga team Olympia Blansko. But the road to the victory was not easy. Blansko was able to win the first game on Saturday after a better second half and they leveled the series 1-1.

However, Prague team played much better in the the third game, despite loosing 0-2 after the first inning. Patrik Kolkus turned the tables with a three run homerun in the bottom of the first. This energized the home team and in the end, they took the game 4-17 after seven innings and could celebrate first win in the series.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Olympia Blansko	1	1	1	0	1	0	2	0	2	8	10	1
Kotlářka Praha	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	5	9	2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Olympia Blansko	2	0	1	0	0	1	0			4	10	5
Kotlářka Praha	4	0	5	1	3	4	–			17	20	0

The last two games of the regular season awaited Eagles and Nuclears. The teams split the wins. The first game offered a nice pitching duel, but Justin Revels came on top. He remained on the mound for 9 innings, only allowing 5 hits and a run to Eagles. The run came in the last inning, where Eagles corrected the score to 1-2. Away Carson Goldsmith allowed 2 runs in 6 innings, however one of them was due to a catcher’s error.

The win in the series thus had to be decided in the third game. It started better for Třebíč, as they were winning 2-1 after the first inning. However, they made two errors in the fifth inning and Eagles were able to get 5 runs. In the sixth inning, they added 3 more runs, however, the game had to be stopped due to strong rain. Nevertheless, neither of the team would benefit much from the win as Eagles are certain to play in TOP 6 and Třebíč will have to fight for their spot in Extraliga.