European Championship: Czechs entered the tournament with a win against Sweden
Czech national team played their first game on European Championship on Sunday. They faced Sweden in the opening game of the tournament.
Sweden started Jacob Syrén, an experienced pitcher who played in Netherlands and Germany. Czechs, on the other hand, started current Extraliga champion Boris Bokaj. And both pitchers kept their opponents scoreless for first two innings. Syrén also didn’t allow Czechs any hits.
Everything changed in the third inning, when Matěj Hejma scored a solo homrun. However, Sweden leveled the score in the bottom half of the inning.
Fortunately for Czechs, their first two batter in the fourth inning, Vojtěch Mešník and Marek Chlup, both hit a double. Duo also scored the runs in the inning and Czechs went ahead again.
Julius Hopkins substituted Syrén in the seventh inning and he managed to keep Czechs at bay for a bit. In the eight inning, duo Menšík-Chlup opened the inning by getting on bases and subsequently scoring two runs. Jakub Hajtmar then added the third run of the inning after Matěj Hejma‚s RBI.
Boris Bokaj remained on the mound for seven innings, where he threw 74 pitches, which is a good news for Czech coaches. Jan Novák then recorded the remaining six outs. Novák didn’t allow Swedes anything and so Czechs earned their first win of the tournament.
Czechs will play their next game on Monday, when they face Netherlands, in the duel which is likely to determine the winner of the group.
| 12.9. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| Sweden | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
