PBW: Walk-off win sends U23 to the semifinals
The game to determine third place in Group A was played between Czech U23 and International Stars. And the game itself was interesting.
Head coach Vladimír Chlup sent Martin Grundmann on the mound and pitcher repaid him with an excellent performance, throwing 4 innings and only allowing 1 run. The run came in the fourth inning after Ryan Johnson’s homerun. Czech were winning 1-0 at the time, after Šimon Blažek sent Martin Kalábek home in the third inning.
David Mergans substituted Grundmann in the fifth inning and youngster continued in the good pitching performance. He only allowed one hit and no runs for the remainder of the game. The victor was decided in the bottom of the seventh inning. International Stars entered it with Tempo Praha pitcher Joey Wagman, who hit Daniel Ondroušek with his first pitch. Ondroušek then moved to the third base after hits from Zděňek Machačka and Martin Kalábek. Then came Radim Novotný’s moment, after whose hit the defense didn’t get out at the first base and Czech celebrated the win.
Czech U23 won the first game in the tournament. It was enough to get the third place in Group A and advance to semifinals.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| International Stars | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Czech U23 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
