by Michal Hanus
The Czech National Team won for the second time in a row the Prague Baseball Week. For the Czech Republic it was a good preparation for the upcoming World University Baseball Championship, which will by organized by the Czech Baseball Association, in the second half of July. For the Czech Under 21 Team it was one of the tests before the European Championship Under 21 in Pamplona (Spain). Croatia, which was invited for the first time presented itself with a nice performance and return back home with the bronze medal. The teams from the USA remained in the background in comparison with their previous starts at the Prague Baseball Week.
Saturday was dedicated to the classification games for the final standings. In the first match USA Athletes hosted Slovakia, in a close game won by the USA Athletes, but Slovakia presented itself very well. The second game played on Central Field between Sweden and the US team AIST brought another win for the team from overseas.
In the afternoon the bronze medal game took place. Like said before, Croatia finished in third after beating the Czech Under 21 squad 7-1.
In the final between the Czech Republic and France everybody expected a very close game with dominated defense. And the expectations were confirmed, Martin Schneider (Czech Republic) dominated through seven innings, allowing two hits and striking out ten. He was awarded as best pitcher afterwards. On the French side lefthander Patrice Briones had an good outing too. However his defense committed six errors and the Czech National Team won 3-0. The best hitter award also went to the host with Simon Kudernatsch receiving the honors.
Final standing:
1. Czech Republic
2. France
3. Croatia
4. Czech Republic Under 21
5. AIST
6. Sweden
7. USA Athletes
8. Slovakia
Parallel with the Prague Baseball Week was the Prague Softball Week was played too, an international women fast pitch tournament. In a six team lineup the teams from the United States dominated.
The final standings of Prague Softball Week:
1. AIST
2. USA Athletes
3. SaBaT Prague (CZE)
4. Czech Republic Under 22
5. Czech Republic juniors
6. Poland