EC U18: The win against Croatia not enough to get Slovaks to the finals

Slovak players knew they would need to beat Croatia by at least 9 runs, if they were to advance to the finals. Unfortunately, they were unable to do so despite winning in the end.

The important game didn’t start well for Slovakia, as Croatia was the first to post runs on a scoreboard. Slovakia responded in the bottom of the second inning, scoring 4 runs and taking a two run lead.

This didn’t last long, however, as their opponent tied the game in the following half inning. An interesting game continued when Slovak took the lead again after hits from Timon Nespal and Dušan Lipták.

Next score change came in the sixth inning. First, it was Croatia that came one run from tying the game. Slovak were hoping they would be able to build a substantial lead. It didn’t happen, despite Slovakia scoring two runs.

The seventh inning turned dramatic as it wasn’t certain until the last pitcher whether Slovakia would be able to get the win at all. Croatia scored three runs taking the lead. They only needed to keep their opponents scoreless and battle it out in the extra innings, were they to advance to the finals. But thanks to Matej Sládeček walkoff hit, Slovakia took their second win of the qualification.

Unfortunately, despite winning, Slovakia finished the group with 2 wins and 2 loses, same as Ukraine and Croatia. This meant they finished at the fourth, second to last, spot. Ukraine and Belgium advanced to the finals instead.

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