Czechs were promoted to European Championship A category 25 years ago
It was 25 years ago to day when Czech national team won in British Hull to secure the spot in the top category of European Championship. Since then Czechs managed to become one of the TOP 6 teams in Europe.
Czech team dominated the group stage of B category in Hull, when they scored at least 22 runs against each of their opponents. In the past we also brought an interesting review of the game against Ireland (Czech only).
After wins against Ireland (23-2), Lithuania (22-6), Norway (29-6) and Poland (25-9), Czechs continued to semifinals where they faced Austria. For both teams this was the most important game of the championship as winners of both semifinal games were certain to be promoted, since European Championship 1997 was extended to 12 teams. And we weren’t too far from seeing rivalry duel between Czech Republic and Slovakia in the semifinals. Slovakia had the same score in the group stage as Austria and Croatia. However, rules determined it was Austria who would go to the semifinals.
In the end, Czechs won the semifinal game 16-6 on 9th of August 1996. With the A category secured, Czechs could focus on the final game against Great Britain the day later. Despite narrowly loosing 5-6, it were Czechs who managed to stay in A category for next 25 years. With European Championship approaching, Czechs will hope to celebrate the anniversary with medals.
It is interesting to note, there are still three active players playing in Extraliga who were the part of the 1996 team. Aleš Navrátil, Marek Rejman and Pavel Budský still play for their respective teams. Marek Rejman finished the tournament in Hull with BA .533, Aleš Navrátil with BA .500 and Pavel Budský with .304. At the time Budský also played as a pitcher, throwing 2.1 IP without allowing any runs.
The team came back together at Prague Baseball Week this year, where they played game against Czech U-18. While players went their separate ways after finishing with their baseball careers, Czech baseball will be forever grateful for their part in securing the spot in A category.
1996 B Category lineup:
Břen, Michal
Budský, Pavel
Drha, Jiří
Duda, Martin
Fiala, David
Goleš, Petr
Hladký, Radek
Chadim, Pavel
Lichnovský, Milan
Navrátil, Aleš
Paul, Robert
Prokop, Richard
Přibyl, Tomáš
Rejman, Marek
Řehák, Vladislav
Roudný, Robert
Srbecký, Jiří
Svoboda, Tomáš
Talda, Roman
Tvrz, Daniel
Víšek, Jiří
