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Washout

Krč Altron humbled, angered, eliminated from playoffs

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
October 3rd, 2007 issue

The season-long Extraliga title chase of Krč Altron ended in a day of embarrassment and frustration.
Embarrassment came in the form of a 170 trouncing by MZLU Brno in the opening game of a Sept. 29 twin-bill, with the teams entering the day tied at one game apiece in the baseball league’s semifinals. Heavy rain forced a postponement of the series’ third game from the day before, and Krč manager Daniel Bagin decided to save his No. two starter, Jakub Jonák, for a possible game five.
Playing for a split proved costly. MZLU ace Leoš Kubát baffled the home squad’s hitters, allowing just two men to reach base. Meanwhile, Krč’s young lefty Matěj Hušek, a reliable closer for most of the year, fell apart in the third.
The onslaught began with back-to-back singles by Tomáš Zahradník and Michael Ondráček, the bottom of MZLU’s order. Leadoff hitter Tomáš Ovesný knocked in the first of his four RBI with a base hit to right. Krč second baseman, Miroslav Kovář, and right fielder Petr Zýma then collided on a shallow fly, allowing the ball to drop. Centerfielder Petr Hurník scooped it up and promptly fired over third for another error.
“We had a little luck in the beginning,” Ovesný said. “After that, they gave up.”
Brno scored six in the third inning, then overwhelmed a series of Krč relievers, reaching base 31 times and scoring 17 runs in a game that was mercifully called after seven innings. Ovesný went four for four, clubbing two doubles, scoring three runs and drawing a couple of walks. Behind him, the heart of MZLU’s lineup combined for seven hits and six RBI.
Following the game, Krč’s Vladimír Kůs just shook his head.
“They hit; we didn’t,” he said, summing up a miserable performance. “We just couldn’t stop them — that’s that.”
For the home team, the season then depended on the strong arm of veteran right hander Jan Homolka, who entered the nightcap with playoff-caliber credentials: a 2.43 ERA on the year and a complete-game victory over MZLU in the opening weekend of the semifinals.
The visitors slipped into the lead early on a squeeze play. Ondráček dropped a bunt down the line as Radim Chroust raced home. Third baseman Basilio Hernandez charged hard, a step or two behind the runner, and grabbed the ball in time to risk a play at the plate, but chose the easy out at first base instead.
Down 10, Krč tried to answer. A lead-off single by Adam Pospíchal in the fourth amounted to nothing. The next inning, Hernandez atoned for his decision by blasting a double to right field. With one out, Zýma slapped an opposite-field hit, reaching second when MZLU failed to bite on his base running ploy — rounding the corner in an attempt to become trapped. Ovesný, Brno’s second baseman, threw home instead, conceding the base to block Hernandez’s potential tying run.
After a conference on the mound, starting pitcher Vojtěch Jelínek walked Michal Müller intentionally to load the bases and was relieved. MZLU closer Miloš Fabian fanned Pospíchal and Homolka to end the threat.
The game — and Altron’s season — turned on a controversial call in the sixth inning. With runners on first and second and nobody out, MZLU’s Pavel Chadim tried to sacrifice. The ball dribbled along the chalk toward third before coming to rest, apparently in foul territory. Krč backstop Štěpán Hušek waited for the home plate umpire to make a call, but, hearing nothing, picked up the ball and fired to first — a bang-bang play.
Neither umpire seemed willing to make a decision for a moment. They eventually declared the ball fair and batter safe, drawing loud protests, most emphatically from Homolka, who twice pointed to the spot where the ball stopped, shouting “tady, tady” (“here, here”) in disbelief.
“That bunt was five-inches foul,” Müller said. “Everyone saw it but the ump.”
That moment of frustration led to three quick MZLU runs. Jan Jablonka lofted a sacrifice fly to left, Ondráček sliding in just ahead of Kůs’ throw. Then Sergei Holovka timed a Homolka curve perfectly, ripping it into the right field corner, a two-run double.
With six months of sweat, frustration and elation at stake, Krč attempted one final rally. Jonák finally came on in relief of Homolka and shut the visitors down, striking out five of the nine batters he faced. And the offense broke on to the scoreboard with a two-out RBI double by Hurník, ripping past the outstretched glove of Brno’s third baseman, Milan Vystrčil. In the ninth, Štěpán Hušek scored a run, also with two out.
But then Marek Blajer popped up, and the game was over.
MZLU Brno now enters the finals against 12-time champion Draci Brno in good spirits. “We beat them during the regular season,” Holovka said, looking forward to the match-up. “We can do it again.”
Before turning to address his team, Krč’s manager watched his rivals celebrate.
“Next year,” Bagin said.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


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