EC: Slovakia troubled Czechs for half the game. Czechs then took over

It was supposed to be a given win for the Czech team, but the first half of the first ever derby at European Champions didn’t look like it. In the end, Czechs affirmed their role as the favorite and wrapped up the game early.

First shock for Czech Republic came in the first inning, when Mário Gottschall hit the first Slovak homerun at European Championship. It gave his team 2-0 lead and marked the historically first runs for the country. Slovak starter Martin Gieci handled the first inning without much trouble, but Czechs leveled the score in the second inning thanks to a two run homerun from Marek Chlup.

The leveled score lasted for four innings. Slovaks then took the lead again, when Daniel Just batted in Tomáš Biskorovájný. Czech offense finally woke up in the fifth inning, when they loaded the bases without an out. Jakub Malík and Petr Čech batted in a run each and Czechs took the lead for the first time in the game.

And they wouldn’t let go of it for the reminder of the game. Slovakia substituted their starter in the sixth inning. Czech team managed to score more rapidly against Slovak bullpen and they were gradually increasing their lead. Petr Zýma then wrapped up the game with his homerun in the eight inning, increasing Czech lead to ten runs.

Czechs finished second in Group D and they advanced to the quarterfinals. Slovakia will face the third team from Group A at 16:00 on Wednesday (at the moment of writing the article, this would be Austria).

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