WBC: Czechs beat China to take a historical win
The wait is finally over. Friday morning brought the first game of the Czech national team at World Baseball Classic, this time against China.
Czechs started their first offense swiftly, leadoff Vojtěch Menšík didn’t wait for anything and got his first hit from the first pitch. Eric Sogard followed him with a hit and Marek Chlup got the first RBI at World Baseball Classic.
China started Fuyang Zhao was substituted in the first inning, as Czechs loaded the bases against him. However, Martin Mužík‚s sacrificial fly out ensured another run for Czechs.
Czechs started with Daniel Padyšák on the mound and he handled the first inning well, ending it quickly, helped by 2 SO.
The explosive offense didn’t stop and Czechs once again loaded the bases with two outs. Martin Červenka batted far, but the ball ended up in a Chinese glove and the score remained unchanged. However, third inning brought more runs as Matěj Menšík opened the inning with a solo homerun to the left field.
China sent in their best pitcher Alan Carter, who plays in Los Angeles Angels organization, in the third inning. He had a long at bat with Filip Smola which ended with a striekout.
Daniel Padyšák, on the other hand, controlled the game. He walked a batter in the third inning, but defense helped him out with a double play afterwards.
Fifth inning saw the hero of qualification Martin Schneider come in. He had a tough inning and difficulties with control, walking three batters, which China used to get their first run.
Czech managed to break Carter’s spell in the sixth inning when William Escala earned a walk. He then stole the second base after a wild pitch and Petr Zýma got him to the third base. Filip Smola then hit a gap between inner and outter field, which meant the fourth run for the Czech Republic. China also had to substitute Carter to give him a chance to pitch in their last group game.
The first Chinese hit came in the sixth inning, after a successful hit from infielder Jin Yank. The inning saw Martin Schneider reach 49 pitches and thus he was substituted by Michal Kovala. This also means Schneider will be able to play against South Korea, or Australia.
Unfortunately, seventh inning spelt doom for the Czech team. Michal Kovala had troubles with control, which China used to tie the game. With one out and runner at the first and third bases, Marek Minařík stepped on the mound. Unfortunately, China managed to scored 5th run against him.
Ninth inning started knowing Czechs needed at least a run to keep their hopes alive. Marek Chlup was out, but after successful hits from Červenka and Matěj Menšík, checks had two runners in scoring position. China decided to change their pitcher, sending in Ju Kwon who plays in KBO. Martin Mužík then faced off against him and he welcomed the new pitcher in a best way possible – with a three run homerun which gave Czechs the lead.
Filip Smola continued in Mužík’s steps with another blooper and Czechs finished the half inning with three run lead. Marek Minařík thus needed to get three outs which he managed to do and Czechs could celebrate their historically first win at World Baseball Classic.
The team made a decisive step towards playing in the next WBC without qualification. They will now face Japan in a game played at 11:00 CET on Saturday.
„I feel fantastic. I hope this means we qualified to the next tournament,“ smiled Pavel Chadim in the interview for American Fox Sport immediately after the game.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| Czech Republic | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 1 | |
| China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 1 |
