EXL: Tempo walkoff. Třebíč still in the first place
The situation in the Extraliga standings cleared out some more after Saturday games. Třebíč now remains the first on their own.
The second game between Draci and Hroši so players from Jundrov enter the game better, when Lukáš Trunkát batted in the first run. Hroši starter Tomáš Ondra only allowed one run in three innings, when Draci tied the game after a hit from Arnošt Dubový. Hroši, on the other hand, scored three times against Jan Vašourek in six innings he pitched, when Tomáš Říčny and Matěj Menšík manufactured the remaining runs.
However, Draci took advantage over the change in the pitching, when Viktor Beránek came in for Ondra. Young Hroši pitcher struggled with control and was unable to create any outs. Reigning champions scored 5 runs in the eighth inning and took the lead in the game. Afterwards, Tomáš Hrbek didn’t allow any runners on bases for the remaining two innings, Draci won 6-3. Thanks to this, both teams hold 8-4 record after the weekend.
Tempo walkoff
Saturday game between Hluboká and Tempo was dominated by pitchers. Host Ondřej Vank only allowed 1 run in 5 innings and struck out 7. Visiting Vojtěch Vlach remained on the mound for 5.2 innings and he, too, allowed only 1 run. The 1-1 score remained unchanged till the bottom of the ninth inning. Viktor Sedláček started it with a walk for Michal Zelenka, for him to be substituted by Petr Vojta. Vojta struck out the first batter he faced, but Matěj Pláteník’s double batted in the winning run for Tempo. The win in 2-1 game was given to Kryštof Kavan who had a solid game as a reliever when he only allowed 1 hit in 4 innings.
Eagles with back-to-back-to-back homeruns
Arrows and Eagles played a doubleheader on Saturday. And the first one will sting Arrows for a while. Ostrava was 5-0 ahead before the bottom half of the seventh inning, when their starter Jan Tomek dominated Eagles. Tomek was substituted for young Jan Kozel, which played in hand of Eagles. With two outs, they managed to blast three homeruns in a row and they tied the game at 5-5.
Kozel looked stunt and had issues to get his confidence back and Eagles managed to get 6 more runs against him in the following inning. Thanks to this Eagles mounted a comeback from 0-5 to the final 11-5. There were 3 players for the hosts with 4 hits – experienced Jan Výbora, and youngsters Jan Mulač, and Michal Antoň.
Ostrava had to win a game or get swept and this was the mindset Arrows had for the last game of the series. Arrows were already 3-0 ahead in the second inning, but an inning later the game got tied and is started over again. Ostrava attacked in the fifth inning again when Brandon Smith gave his team lead and Mark Rudolf then batted in Smith for the 5th run. Matyáš Kozel then batted in 2 more runs in the following inning. Eagles didn’t give up and they scored 3 runs against Boris Bokaj in the seventh inning.
That’s why Ostrava decided to send Brandon Smith on the mound for the last two innings. He handled his assignment well and only allowed a hit, helping his team to 8-6 win. He also earned his first Save for Arrows. Eagles won the series 2-1 and kept their spot in Extraliga’s top 4. On the other Arrows‘ chances for the semifinal are quickly getting slim.
Nuclears first again
Lukáš Ercoli and Jake Rabinowitz kept the game scoreless for 4 innings. Batters then found their stride and the score suddenly looked dimensionally different. The winner was decided in the eighth inning, when Třebíč scored 5 runs and in the end won 9-4.
Keibert Petit wrapped up the score in the first Saturday game with a homerun and he also opened the second game with a solo homerun. But this was all American Cameron Liss allowed to Kotlářka. He struck out 12 batters in 6 innings. Home starter Angel Vilchez kept the game scoreless for four innings, but Ryan Johnson scored a three run homerun against him in the fifth inning, followed by a two run homerun from Pavel Jozek and suddenly, Třebíč had a significant lead.
Petit scored his second solo homerun of the game against Lukáš Smejkal in the eighth inning, but Třebíč reliever didn’t allow any runners on bases in the last inning. Nuclears won 5-2 and took the series 2-1. Thanks to this team from Vysočina now stands alone in the first place of Extraliga standings.
