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September 7th, 2008
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Hitting it big

Qualifying tourney win opens way to Euro championship

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
July 16th, 2008 issue

MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
Radek Procházka's unique delivery kept Slovenia off balance. He allowed only three base runners over seven innings of work.
MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
Tomáš Polanský, left, and Pavel Budský greet teammate Jakub Malík after his home run put the Czechs on top, 5-0.
Coach Arnošt Nesňal calls it the first step toward a potential European baseball crown. But the Czech national team’s sweep of last week’s qualifying round is also a step toward redemption.
A year ago, Nesňal’s squad returned from Spain in disgrace, their only two European Championship tourney wins taken away after authorities accused the team of using two players under major league contract. The Czech Baseball Association protested — both had signed their MLB agreements a few days before the Spanish event — but to no avail.
This time around, says veteran first baseman Pavel Budský, “we look like the best team we’ve ever had,” combining experience and youth.
But twice during last week’s qualifying tournament, Slovenia threatened to knock the Czechs off course. On Wednesday, July 9, they rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force the game into extra innings. The Czech nationals finally pulled it out, 3-2, in the 11th when Petr Baroch smacked a one-out triple past the center fielder and Jakub Malík followed with a game-winning base hit to left.
“Slovenia can play with real emotion,” Nesňal said the next afternoon.
In Saturday’s rematch — and qualifying finale — the Czech Republic held a 1-0 lead in the third when starting pitcher Radek Procházka, a big right hander with a curious submarine delivery, momentarily lost his composure. After fanning Slovenia’s number nine hitter, he walked Tine Marolt and Jaka Trobec back to back. The next man up, Alessio Miani, ripped a hard grounder toward the left. Tomáš Polanský, the Czech third sacker, snapped it up moving to the hole. But instead of throwing to second for the easy force, he whirled and outraced the runner to third.
“The ball was hit to my glove side,” he acknowledges, “but I was close to third — and I have a good arm.”
Polanský then whipped a bullet to first, beating the batter by an imperceptible fraction to complete the double play.
“That was the most important moment of the game,” Procházka says. “When you’re in trouble, you have to fight.”
From that point on, Procházka calmed down, allowing no further base runners until relieved by Jan Řeháček after the seventh, striking out six hitters along the way. The offense came to life, as well. Radek Němec drove home a run in the fourth, Malík smacked one over the wall in left-center the next inning. Nesňal’s boys added two unearned runs to lead 5-0 at the end of five. The three-run outburst in the seventh barely mattered.
“We were ready from the first pitch,” Polanský explains, shrugging off the tough start — and Wednesday’s near upset. “We didn’t think about the other night.”
Polanský chalked up five hits, including a home run, and six RBI over six games in the qualifying round. Simon Kudernatsch also tallied five hits and six RBI. Baroch, Malík and Budský also starred at the plate. Procházka worked 11 scoreless innings over the tournament, striking out 12 while allowing only two bases on balls.
The win puts the Czech Republic into the 2010 European Baseball Championship group phase. Although the tournament, to be played in Germany, is still some time off, Budský expects a solid performance.
“If we keep the same team together,” he says, “we can play good baseball there — maybe in the top four.”
Meanwhile, the younger members of the Czech national team continue into this week’s World University Games, taking on the likes of team USA, Japan — both include Olympics-bound players — Canada and Korea. The United States knocked off favored Cuba 4-1 in a Netherlands tune-up tournament last week.
Jared Clark of Cal St.-Fullerton’s sixth inning home run broke up a 1-1 tie, propelling team USA to the unexpected victory.
“It will be a completely different competition,” Nesňal says, pointing out that his squad is listed as underdogs. But, he adds, “we want to surprise one of those teams.”
The World University Games open July 17. The Czech nationals will meet team USA July 19 in Ostrava.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


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