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That sinking feeling strikes as losses mount

Krč drops two at home, falls to sixth

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
August 27th, 2008 issue

Confidence is a fickle thing.
It finds strength in a momentary rush of good fortune but wanes quickly when the twists and turns of a game veer suddenly off course.
When you haven’t played baseball as a team for two months and must spar with Draci Brno — the very situation facing Krč Altron last Saturday — already thin strands holding confidence together fray quickly.
In the eighth inning of the first game, a little Texas League blooper by Brno’s Radim Chroust, followed by back-to-back doubles — Karel Hrušovský and Michal Ondráček doing the damage — not only broke a 3-3 tie but also sent the game spinning out of control. Draci leadoff hitter Martin Schneider reached on an infield error and stole second while Krč reliever Lukáš Borecký stood napping with the ball in his hand. Martin Veselý scored on a wild pitch; Pavel Budský hammered his league-leading ninth home run over the left field wall.
And that was enough for game one, an 11-7 Krč loss.
The nightcap turned much earlier on an equally unfortunate collapse. The home squad held a 3-1 lead in the third, but Draci loaded the bases for Budský. Krč curveball specialist Jakub Jonák coaxed the big man into lifting a lazy pop up. Borecký from center field, left fielder Petr Hurník and shortstop Ondřej Bagin converged on the ball then stared helplessly at each other as the ball dropped in their midst.
Draci scored four runs that inning and added two more, the next on doubles by Ondráček and Tomáš Polanský along with Budský’s RBI base hit, the start of an 8-3 Brno victory.
Krč has struggled through most of the disjointed Extraliga season thanks in part to a series of injuries. Jan Homolka took the field Saturday but is still unable to throw. Lefty Matěj Hušek remains shelved, as well.
“I have too many DHs in my lineup,” quips Krč head coach Richard Kania.
But the team is in trouble, sinking to sixth place after the Draci sweep and facing four games this weekend with only one reliable starter, Jonák (4-2 1.82). “It will be tough,” Kania admits. “We will have to decide which game is most important — and all four are important.”
Bagin pitched five decent innings against Draci and should get a start. Borecký and Jonáš Výbora have shown some potential. The staff is so thin, however, that coach Kania even worked a couple choppy innings earlier in the season.
Whatever happens, echoes Marek Blajer, “it will be tough on our pitching staff.”

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


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