EXL: Title defenders entered the season with a loss against Tempo

Sunday saw the end of the first Extraliga week, this time with four games played. The fifth one at Vysočina had to be postponed due to snow.

Eagles Praha – Draci Brno 12-15

After two lost games in Brno, Eagles wanted to improve their record at home. However, the first inning couldn’t make the fans of the Prague team happy, after David Wilson allowed 3 runs and many started to worry he would throw the same way as Raymond Watt on Saturday. This, fortunately, didn’t come to be and Wilson threw 6 innings, allowing 6 runs altogether.

Draci started with Tomáš Hrbek who gave them 6 innings, allowing 5 runs. The game got wide open when the bullpens entered. First, Draci scored 9 runs getting a 10 run lead. This was the run difference when they entered the bottom of the ninth inning. However, the last inning wasn’t as dominant as they wanted it to be and Eagles came close to a walk-off. Thanks to homeruns from MacDonald and Zýma home team scored 7 runs and had 2 runners on the based with 2 outs. Petr Zýma was at his second bat of the inning in this potentially tying situation. After the contact, Draci managed to play an out at the first base and take the win.

Brno team entered the season in the best possible way. On the other hand, Eagles will have to improve for the rest of the regular season. If they were to have another series like this, their chances for TOP 6 would take a hit.

Tempo Praha – Arrows Ostrava 7-6

After their games in Ostrava were postponed, Arrows and Tempo finally got to start their season on Sunday. Reigning champions traveled to the Czech capital without any foreign player and with many youngsters in their roster. For example, catcher Richard Omelka played his first game in Extraliga and managed to catch a runner in the first inning.

The first half of the game belonged to the home team, however. Tempo scored 3 runs in 4 innings against Ondřej Satoria. On the other hand, Ethan Skuija, playing his first Extraliga game as well, only allowed 2 hits in 4 innings and dealt 8 SO. Visitors only started to get some action after Skuija was substituted and even managed to take the 6-5 lead in the seventh inning. In the bottom half, it was Marek Minařík who tied the game with his second HR of the game and the stage was set for a dramatic finish.

Winner was to be decided in the last inning, specifically in it’s bottom half. Arrows fielded Matěj Satoria who hit Marek Minařík with his first pitch. Only moments later Michal Zelenka hit the ball to the left line and Minařík scored the walk-off run.

První výhru stylem walk-off v této extraligové sezoně zaznamenávají baseballisté Tempa, kteří po tomto odpalu Michala Zelenky porazili obhájce titulu z Ostravy. pic.twitter.com/WqinsTYHDk

— Milujeme Baseball (@MilujemeBasebal) April 3, 2022

Technika Brno – Sokol Hluboká 13-7 and 1-5

There were two games played at Kraví Hora on Sunday. And in both of them it was Hluboká who scored the first. In the first game the home team managed to tie in the third inning and to take the lead an inning later. And they wouldn’t let Hluboká to get the lead back till the end of the game. It was clear that both pitchers were struggling in the bad weather conditions, as they issued combined 22 walks, which ranks among top in the recent Extraliga history.

In the second game Hluboká didn’t lose the lead they got in the third inning. It was especially the pitching duo of James Boyce and Štěpán Havlíček they could rely on. They only allowed two hits and dished out 10 SO (Boyce with 9 in 6 innings). Svatoslav Kraut threw 13 SO on the home mound, but even that wasn’t enough to get Technika the win.

Matěj Vlach had a nice game in the offense, where he had 2 hits and 2 RBI. Another batter with two hits was Martin Mužík who also had a solo homrun. After 5-1 win Hluboká has their first win of the season.

EXL Standings (3.4.22)	W	L	%	SCORE
Draci Brno	3	0	1.000	37:21
Cardion Hroši Brno	2	0	1.000	14:4
Tempo Praha	1	0	1.000	7:6
Sokol Hluboká	2	1	.666	23:17
Technika Brno	1	2	.333	17:23
Arrows Ostrava	0	1	.000	6:7
Třebíč Nuclears	0	2	.000	4:14
Eagles Praha	0	3	.000	21:37