EXL: Ostrava had a better start to the series which will determine the first place in the regular season

5.6.2021 Zuzana Ferková 3 min read

The last week of the Extraliga regular season started with four games. The games would determine the final standing with first place, but also TOP 6 spots still uncertain.

Ostrava saw two teams fighting for the number one spot. Visitors started probably the best pitcher of the current season Jan Novák. On the other hand, Arrows relied on young Filip Votava. Extraliga newcomer started very well, after they took the lead with Martin Mužík‚s homerun in the first inning. They further increased their lead in the third inning. Jan Novák held home team back, and with performance like that, he could break yet another record. He only needed to keep his ERA below 0.52, which is currently the best ERA for the regular season, held by Patrick Ahearn.

However, Arrows were against it, as Michael Vykoukal double scored two runs. Sokol managed to get back the lead in the following inning and even increase it to 5-2, however they substituted Novák for Vasil Zhupanin in the seventh inning, which marked the beginning of the comeback for the home team. Jakub Voják helped his team score six runs, which gave Arrows the first win in the series.

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

Třebíč traveled to Eagles Park to try and fight for TOP 6. However, their chances are not entirely in their hands, as they have to hope for Tempo loss as well. Furthermore, they would also need to win all the games against Eagles to help themselves. However, the first game in Prague didn’t go their way as they couldn’t find a way around Tomáš Duffek. Eagles pitcher threw a complete game, only allowing one run. The run came in the last inning, when Eagles were already up 4-0. Šimon Blažek was doing well at bat with 3 hits.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Třebíč Nuclears	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	2
Eagles Praha	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	0	–	4	7	1

MBS in Brno welcomed local derby between Draci and Hroši. The home team had a better start to the game, after they took the lead in the first inning with a sacrificial hit by Eugene Helder who sent Arnošt Dubový home. Visitors were trying, without luck however, to find a weakness in Radim Chroust‚s pitching, who only allowed 4 hits in seven innings. Jan Vašourek then closed the game for Draci. This was the fifth game on the season, where Hroši were unable to score a run and are second worst (behind Blansko with 6 games) in this statistic.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cardion Hroši Brno	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2
Draci Brno	1	1	2	0	2	0	0	0	–	6	11	0

The best game of the night was played in Blansko that welcomed Kotlářka. Prague team lost all their series 1-2 this season, however, they wanted to change this against the last team in Extraliga. They started well with two runs in the first inning, and the game looked promising for them. However, the second half went better for Blansko, after they took advantage over their opponent’s errors. The ninth inning ended in 6-6. Extra innings saw Blansko make two errors in the defense, thanks to which Kotlářka scored five runs. Blansko was unable to respond as two runs were not enough to get the win.

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Kotlářka Praha	2	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	5	11	8	3
Olympia Blansko	0	0	1	0	2	2	1	0	2	8	8	5

Extraliga standings (4.6.2021)

	W	L	%	GB	BA	ERA	FA	Score
Arrows Ostrava	19	6	.760	–	.339	4.09	.957	252:106
Sokol Hluboká	17	8	.680	2	.250	2.62	.952	129:104
Draci Brno	16	8	.667	2.5	.280	2.29	.971	133:68
Eagles Praha	16	9	.640	3	.255	4.83	.958	145:129
Cardion Hroši Brno	14	11	.560	5	.279	5.66	.949	151:162
Tempo Praha	11	13	.458	7.5	.238	3.99	.946	115:119
Třebíč Nuclears	10	15	.400	9	.270	4.52	.945	157:138
Kotlářka Praha	9	16	.360	10	.217	5.44	.934	96:177
Blesk Jablonec	7	16	.304	11	.236	7.85	.942	110:184
Olympia Blansko	3	20	.130	15	.180	5.8	.93	77:178