EXL: Tempo beat Arrows again. Technika will end last
Saturday games brought a bit more clarity to TOP 6 Extraliga picture. We already know Technika Brno will not play for the title.
Tempo Praha – Arrows Ostrava 6-2
Ostrava need to get the wins to avoid Promotion League and chance to be relegated to First League. However, the didn’t start well on Saturday after Keibert Petit‚s 3 run homerun gave Tempo the lead. This more or less decided the winner of the game, as Marek Minařík on Tempo mound only allowed 2 runs (1 ER) and he steered his team to an important win with what was his best game of the season.
Tempo won the 10th game and thanks to winning the series against Arrows and Sokol, they don’t need to worry about TOP 6 spot. On the other hand, Arrows will have to hope for good results from their opponents even if they were to win all the remaining games.
Draci Brno – Eagles Praha 7-3
Eagles chances were looking good for a long time against Draci on Saturday. Albert Pražák on their mound didn’t allow any runs in 5 innings and Prague was leading 1-0 before the bottom half of the sixth inning. However, Andres Angulo started the bottom half with a solo homerun, for Martin Pernička to score in a run with his triple.
Eagles substituted their pitcher and sent in Tadeáš Zavadil. Home team seemed to be enjoying his pitches as they kept increasing the lead with 5 more runs.
Jan Vašourek had another quality start when he only allowed 1 run in 6.2 IP. David Mergans came to finish the game, allowing 2 runs in the 9th inning.
With the win Brno team comes one step closer to the first spot and they are currently only one of the two teams (with Tempo) who have a 5 game winning streak. Eagles, on the other hand, only won 2 out of 5 previous games. They will get a chance whether home turf works better for them on Sunday.
Sokol Hluboká – Technika Brno 11-5 and 8-5
Saturday doubleheader in southern Bohemia buried Technika hopes for TOP 6. While they were able to keep up with the home team for half of the first game, their opponent kick it up a notch in the 5th inning and scored 6 runs in 2 innings. Technika was unable to respond and after losing the second game of the series, they know they won’t be part of title race. Even a great performance from Ondřej Šebela, who finished with 5 hits, wasn’t enough for them.
The third game of the series was more important for Sokol. The win would improve their chances for TOP 6. And South Bohemians smell the blood right from the start, when they scored 4 runs in the first inning. They were helped by starter Daulton Barry, who hit three batters with a pitch.
Home starter Takamune Ichige had a much better arm, when he didn’t walk anyone for 4 innings, only allowing 3 runs. Michal Malát kept on well as a reliever, when he allowed 4 hits and 1 run in 4 innings.
Sokol outclassed their opponent in efficiency. Technika outhit them 14-7, but despite this they lost 5-8. This was partially thanks to Sokol ptichers, who only walked one batter.
Hluboká swept Technika and currently has 10-9 record. South Bohemians will play games against Arrows and Hroši in the upcoming week and they will need only 1 win to get to TOP 6. Any Arrows loss will also advance Sokol. On the other hand Technika is certain to finish in the last place.
