Mister Baseball

by Michal Hanus

The PRAGUE BASEBALL CLUB hosted the SUMA Open Cup in their beautiful facility April 17-20, 2008. The winner is promoted to the final tournament of the Pony League slated for August 6-13  in Lafayette, IN.

The SUMA Open participants consisted of 16 teams from 8 countries. Teams were divided into four groups. Thursday and Friday were group matchups, Saturday and Sunday were dedicated to playoff games. Local team KRC ALTRON organized the competition. The tournament favorites - the CZECH and GERMAN NATIONAL teams - both made it to the final. The last game was a thrilling match, with the CZECH NATIONAL team leading 7-1 against GERMANY. The GERMAN NATIONAL team scored several runs and threatened to take the lead, but still fell short to CZECH NATIONAL with a final score 7-6. The SLOVAK NATIONAL team took third place from PRAGUE. The biggest sensation of the tournament was the fourth place TREBIC NUCLEARS, who defeated the national teams of LITHUANIA, ROMANIA, AUSTRIA, GREAT BRITIAN and all other CZECH clubs. The MOSCOW team withdrew one hour before tournament began.

In addition to the SUMA Open, women’s fast pitch was played in Krc during the weekend. Top Czech clubs with the AUSTRIAN NATIONAL team and the Russian team OHU ODINCOVO prepared for the upcoming season. The winner of the Jakobe Cup was SABAT PRAHA, who swept tired TEMPO PRAHA 8-0. Third place champions in 2007, JOUDRS PRAHA, won and earned a bronze medal versus home team KRC ALTRON 3-0.

Follow the link for results from SUMA Open
Follow the link for results from JAKOBE Cup

Final standings of SUMA OPEN
1. Czech Republic
2. Germany
3. Slovakia
4. Trebic Nuclears
5. BC Vilnius (Lithuania)
6. Czech Republic II
7. Austria
8. Draci Brno
9. Technika Brno
10. Kotlarka Praha
11. Krc Altron
12. Great Britain
13. Botosami (Romania)
14. Green Roller Praha
15. Sharx Spalene Porici
16. Moscow (Russia)