EXL: Eagles lost their first series. Technika with the second win of the season

Saturday was plentiful game-wise and with favorable weather, none of the games had to be postponed for a change.

Draci Brno – Třebíč Nuclears 4-3

The third game of the series saw another close game. This time, however, it was Brno who snatched the win.

Fans in YD Baseball Arena had to wait till the 4th inning to see the first run, after Beicker Mendoza earned 2 RBI. An inning later Filip Moštěk added Draci third run after his aggressive base running forced catcher’s error.

Home starter Jan Vašourek kept his opponents scoreless for 5 innings. In the sixth Kamil Pejchal scored in 2 runs. An inning later Ryan Johnson tied the game after Vojtěch Ventruba’s balk.

The decisive run game in the 8th inning. Beicker Mendoza transformed Jake Rabinowitz’s 107th pitch into an RBI, wrapping up his game’s total at 3 RBI. David Mergans didn’t allow any runs and Draci thus won their second game of the series.

Arrows Ostrava – Technika Brno 10-2 and 3-11

Young Jan Kozel had a great game on the mound for Arrows. 2021 U15 European Championship hero only allowed 1 run and 4 hits in 7 innings he pitched. He confirmed he is the best Arrow’s pitcher (with at least 3 IP) as his ERA is currently at 1.42. His older brother Matyáš helped him out in the offense, adding 3 hits and 4 RBI. Young sibling duo from Frýdek-Místek thus had a lion share in 10-2 win.

On the other hand, the second game was dominated by Brno team, led by Parker Thode. American putcher threw 6.2 innings and he only allowed 1 run and striked out 7 batters. Furthermore, Technika scored 6 runs against Alexandr Šin in the first inning alone and it showed what could be expected from the game. While Technika made 4 errors, Arrows were unable to capitalize on them as they scored only 3 runs. Naturally this wasn’t enough to get Ostrava a win and thus Technika took at least one game after winning 11-3.

Sokol Hluboká – Eagles Praha 12-5 and 8-7

Eagles were able to come from behind on Friday and win. On Saturday Sokol wanted to get back at them. And they didn’t leave anything to chance in the first game, when they were leading 7-0 after 5 innings. Furthermore Petr Vojta held Eagles batters in check when he only allowed 4 runs, 2 of which were unearned, in 7.2 IP. The game itself was marked by inaccuracies as both teams made 5 errors each. Matěj Vlach had a good game offensively as he only need a triple to earn Cycle. Hluboká won the first game tying the series at 1-1.

The winner of the series were to be decided in the 3rd game. Eagles played Jose Balaguera, but he had to be substituted in the third inning, when he was unable to find the strikezone and walked 7 batters. Thanks to this Hluboká took 3-0 lead.

However, Eagles are the masters of combacks this year and they didn’t give up this time either. They were helped by a home defense in the sixth inning, which made 3 errors, and with 5 runs scored Eagles took 7-4 lead. Sokol was able to take advantage of an error in the bottom half of the inning and lowered the deficit with 2 runs scored. Josef Kovanda scored in Martin Mužík in the eighth inning and the game was tied. In the ninth inning Hluboká loaded the bases with one out and they had a chance for a win. When Camden Vasquez blasted the ball far enough, Kamil Miranda managed to reach the home base and score the winning run.

Hluboká became the first team this year to win a series against Eagles Praha and after 10 games they currently have 6 wins.

Hroši Brno – Tempo Praha 1-12 (F/7) and 11-7

The first game saw a duel of two national team pitchers – Lukáš Ercoli and Marek Minařík. Tempo pitched came on top, as he didn’t allow any runs to Hroši in 5 innings he pitched. On the other hand, his teammates had a quick start, when Martin Červenka‚s triple scored 2 runs and the third run came after a defensive error. Visitors kept increasing their score and in the end, the game finished on mercy rule in the seventh inning. Martin Červenka added a two run homerun to increase his lead in Extraliga homerun table.

The second game started where the first ended and Tempo took an early lead with a solo homerun from Michal Zelenka. This time, however, Tomáš Ondra didn’t allow to Prague players to improve their lead and Tempo only scored 2 runs against him in 6 IP.

Hroši had a much better day against Tempo pitchers, as they were leading 8-2 before the bottom half of the 8th inning. The following half inning didn’t go according to Tempo’s plans, however. First, Marek Minařík two run homerun started the half, for Tempo to come 1 run from tying the game. If Tempo was looking forward to comeback, Hroši made it more difficult for them when they scored 3 runs. Thanks to this Hroši won 11-7 and tied the series at 1-1.