EXL: Hroši beat Hluboká with a late comeback. Shootout at Krč

Extraliga continued with more games on Friday, but only one was close till the very end.

Sokol Hluboká – Hroši Brno 5-6

The game had a very unfortunate ending for home Sokol. Hluboká led 5-2 after 8 innings, but Hroši took the win with a late comeback in the ninth when they scored 4 runs. This gave Brno the first win of the series.

Hroši had a tough third inning, where home team took advantage of defensive errors and scored 5 runs. Especially Willie Escala had a tough outing, when he finished with 4 errors to his name. The most important one, however, came from Michal Pokorný with game tied at 2-2, who was unable to stop the ball after a hit from Vasyl Županyn. The hit itself then cleared the bases.

Home pitcher Takamune Ichige had his first game in Extraliga. He only allowed 2 runs to Hroši in 4 innings he pitched. Alec Lemmon then came in for him. He kept Hroši scoreless for č innings, however ninth saw visitors find their swing. Sokol also added an error in the outer field and suddenly their three runs lead was gone. John Hussey finished the game with 2 K and Hroši could celebrate a narrow win.

Třebíč Nuclears – Arrows Ostrava 4-8

Ostrava couldn’t beat Třebíč at home, but they started aggressively in their second game. In the first inning, they scored 3 runs, as Lukáš Hlouch’s pitches were clearly what they were looking for. Arrows added 3 more runs in the third inning building a solid lead.

Home team had to wait till the bottom of third to get their first runs, after they scored 2 against Boris Bokaj. Nuclears added 2 more in the sixth inning, but Arrows matched them with 2 of their own.

Young Jan Kozel added 8 final outs for Arrows, without allowing any hits or walking anyone. He currently has ERA 1.59, which is better than his more experience teammates. Jakub Malík added 2 more hits in the offense, and showed he has a good form at the beginning of the season.

Arrows tied the series with the win and the final win will be decided on Saturday in Třebíč.

Draci Brno – Technika Brno 11-4

Technika managed to be a solid opponent to Draci on Thursday, however, Friday was a new day. Draci broke Parker Thode’s spell in the second inning and took a lead with 4 runs. They added 2 more in the 4th and Thode had to be substituted. Technika’s new man Daulton came in, but he only threw an inning while allowing 2 runs.

After long 6 years we got to see Daniel Mráz who had the best game out of all Technika pitchers. Technika couldn’t rely on the top of their lineup, as batter 1 to 4 went hitless.

On the other hand, this can’t be said about Draci. Milan Prokop added 2 more hits to the stats and currently has BA .615. Reigning champions started Gabrie Morao, who only allowed 2 runs, but 7 walks might rise a few eyebrows for the future. This time, however, it was enough for a comfortable win and Draci get a chance to sweep the series on Saturday.

Eagles Praha – Tempo Praha 18-10

If you arrived at Krč in the middle of the game, you had to be surprised. The cold weather wasn’t going well with the starting pitchers of either team and end of 4th innings saw boxscore show 16-7. Only sending Matěj Pláteník for Tempo and Vasko Kolev for Eagles stopped the waves of hits and the second half of the game was more of what we are used to.

There was a trio of batters on each side that finished with 3 hits. But only Šimon Blažek had 4 RBI, while Michal Antoň finished without a hit, but his 3 walks allowed him to score 4 runs.

This was the second time Tempo allowed their opponent at least 16 runs and while they only played 3 games, they currently have the most runs allowed (38) in the entire league. Eagles, on the other hand, are doing well for themselves as they keep the top spot in the table. Furthermore they are second in RBI (38) only to Draci (39) and compared to Hluboká they have 26 more runs. If the remaining duels of the series go as this one, we might see a record for the most runs scored in the game broken yet.