EXL: Reigning champions lost in Vysočina. Hluboká with a huge win
Extraliga started with several games on Friday. Six teams all played interesting games.
The game between reigning champions Draci Brno and Třebíč Nuclears likely caught the most attention. Draci started their new player with MLB experience José Medina. And he started well, when he didn’t allow any runs for 4 innings. In the bottom of the fifth Třebíč stepped up and took advantage of a defensive error to score 3 runs. This practically decided the winner.
Ryan Johnson put on a heroic display on the home mound. In six innings he only allowed 2 runs and struck out 9. What’s more important, Nuclears also didn’t walk players. Lukáš Hlouch and Cameron Liss who came after Johnson continued in an excellent performance. Liss thus got his first Extraliga Save in the first game he played. Draci also introduced catcher Alex Monsalve, who had 2 hits. Nuclears beat Draci 4-2 and earned their first win of the season.
Arrows started with a win
After two years in First League Kotlářka Praha travelled to Ostrava and they showed they will be contenders this year. They only allowed 2 runs to the home batters and several times they put Arrows under pressure. However, one of the core players, Angel Vilchez seemed to get a minor injury and we will have to see how it affects his team.
Arrows Park didn’t have to wait for the first run long. In the bottom of the second inning it was Jakub Mánek who turned his first at bat into a solo homerun. David Komorous then batted in a tying run in the fourth inning. But this was all that duo Ondřej Satoria and Jan Kozel allowed. Arrows got their winning run from the newcomer in the roster Mark Rudolf, who did so in the sixth inning. Home team won the close game 2-1.
Hluboká with a decisive win
It was only in the southern Bohemia where we didn’t see a close game. Visiting Eagles only kept up with Sokol for 2 innings. Prague team was brought down mainly by the defensive errors, which they had 6. Hluboká took a 2-0 win in the first inning. Eagles managed to tie at 2-2 an inning later, but Martin Mužík then scored a three run homerun and Hluboká didn’t look back and won 12-3.
We got to see a trio of foreigners on the pitching mound for the home team, when Austin Hassani started. He threw 5 innings and struck out 8. William Nahmens then came for 3 innings and added 5 strikeouts. Alec Lemmon then finished the game with 3 strikeouts in the ninth inning. Another foreigner Mike Fitzsimmons played as a leadoff hitter and earned two hits.
Extraliga continues on Saturday with every Extraliga team in play.
