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December 1st, 2008
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Do or die

Krč must sweep final games to reach playoffs

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
September 3rd, 2008 issue

MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
Veteran infielder-turned-starting-pitcher Michal Müller kept Krč Altron's post-season hopes alive by holding off Ostrava 7-5 last weekend.
MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
Injuries have frustrated coach Richard Kania's (left) squad in 2008.
The odds are stacked against Krč Altron heading into the final week of baseball’s regular season schedule.
Two games down in the loss column with two to play, they must sweep Saturday’s doubleheader against MZLU Brno, hope that Draci Brno downs MZLU earlier in the week and that Olomouc drops at least two of their remaining three games in order to secure a playoff spot. And they must accomplish all this without the services of two starters — right fielder Matěj Hejma and promising young shortstop Petr Zýma — while relying on a pitching staff cobbled together from position players, semi-retired infielders and fresh-faced junior squad rookies.
“That’s baseball,” says head coach Richard Kania, shrugging off the game’s complicated mathematics.
Krč scraped out two wins during a four-game home stand last weekend, ensuring one final shot at the playoffs, although it wasn’t easy. Sloppy play cost them Saturday’s nightcap against a weaker Olomouc team. Michal Müller, a former third baseman called back from retirement, turned things around in Sunday’s opener, shutting down Ostrava’s dangerous lineup. But a string of novice hurlers — Tomáš Sýkora, Miroslav Kovář and Vojtěch Záruba — blew an early lead in the second game.
The home squad fought back twice. Basilio Hernandez slapped a little, looping single over the shortstop, driving Petr Hurník home in the seventh, making the score 7-5. But Ostrava ace Jon Robles fanned Marek Blajer and Hejma to end the threat. In the bottom of the ninth, Lukáš Borecký beat out a bunt to start things off. But Hurník grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Undaunted, Zýma drew a walk and Hernandez ripped a solid base hit to left, putting the potential tying run on first.
Blajer popped up, however, leaving Krč to face Saturday’s must-win situation.
“We had to win one today, so it’s still not over,” Kania says with a sigh of relief. “Maybe we’ll have some luck [against MZLU].”
Krč finished the 2007 season in third place and was never out of playoff contention. This year, however, misfortune plagued the team. Müller, a .388 lifetime hitter, called it quits and No. 3 hurler Vladimír Kůs transferred to Tempo Praha. Then standout Jan Homolka suffered a shoulder injury, keeping him off the mound entirely. Just before the July break, lefty Matěj Hušek, at the time among league leaders with a 2-0 0.53 record, was knocked from the rotation by a nagging muscle pull.
So the team improvised their way to 12 wins, staying alive on the hitting of Blajer (.295) and Hernandez (.391), as well as their one remaining healthy pitching arm.
“[Jakub] Jonák can give us a complete game Saturday,” Kania points out. Despite little relief support, the curveball specialist has notched four wins against three losses and an impressive 1.94 ERA over 60 innings this season. Borecký, normally Krč’s center fielder, will likely start the second game, with Sýkora and Záruba in relief if he falters.
Záruba has been sharp on occasion, working three scoreless innings against MZLU back in May. But cellar-dwelling Blansko hammered the young hurler. And Ostrava ousted him after just one inning Sunday. Sýkora has been subject to spells of wildness, although he looked good this past weekend.
“We’ll have some pitching,” Kania says, “just not our top.”
Krč will need it to quiet MZLU’s explosive Ryan Berg, the league’s second leading hitter with a .398 average and nine extra base hits. Behind him, Martin Behul (.311) and Milan Vystrčil (.297) always threaten to punch in runs.
Fortunately for the home squad, MZLU’s vaunted pitching staff is showing signs of fallibility. Marian Gajdoš, at 3-1 2.78, looks somewhat like the 7-1 1.48 fireballer of a year ago, but Leoš Kubát (1-4 4.95) has fallen off dramatically from his stellar 7-1 0.96 performance in 2007.
As it stands, Krč must win both games or they sink into the post season “play outs,” the beginning of Extraliga’s relegation round. They had some trouble against the league’s worst teams, Blansko and Tempo Praha.
Quite simply, Kania explains, “we hope to be in the playoffs, not the play outs.”
The critical twin-bill between Krč and MZLU Brno gets underway at 1 p.m. Saturday in Prague 4’s national baseball center — weather permitting, of course.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


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