by Jakub Kopřiva
The top European men’s league is on summer break now, as the sport’s best athletes gather in Saskatoon, Canada for the 2015 WBSC World Championships. All but two teams have played a total of 24 games (including a double header against the junior Czech squad). Five Czech teams (six if you include the U23 team) will be participating in the European Supercup Men held in Radotín in August. Let’s have a look at how these teams have done so far.
The reigning champions, Spectrum, have dominated the league so far, winning all the 24 games they played. They scored 240 points while allowing a mere 52. There is a lot of power in their batting line-up, which includes Mertl, Kolkus, Vácha, Klein, Voborník and the younger Terkelsen. The addition of several talented youngsters means Spectrum are likely to keep playing top level ball for years to come. The pitching load was shared equally by Jetmar and Maleček. The young gun Michael Bala pitched almost 20 innings, winning three games. The addition of an experienced top pitcher could make Spectrum a top contender for the European title.
The North Bohemian powerhouse, the Beavers, are making their return to top European softball this year. They won 17, and are on their way to securing the 2nd spot in the league that would take them directly to the semifinals. The 6-time European champion (prior to the Supercup era) still relies on the legendary Lubomír Vrbenský, who won 6 and sports an 0.67 ERA. He’s got Marek Malý and Jakub Petřík to watch his back – they each won three and both have an ERA below five, which is not bad, given they’re both juniors. Their offence has been relying on Svoboda and Malý, who are both starting at worlds’ in a few days. They young Václav Šrétr (on the Czech roster for the junior championship in Most) has hit 3 homers already, and the veteran Petr Pěnička (turns 35 in September) has also been doing his part.
Tempo had a very good start this year, and if it hadn’t been for the unfortunate injury to their pitching ace Jiří Brabec, they would probably have a better record than 12-12. It seems though that clinching the play-offs shouldn’t be an unsurmountable problem for the Red Fox. Tempo had three 0.400+ batters, and Štoček, especially, has been on fire lately. Pitching wise, the team relied mainly on Brabec, who pitched a league-leading 84 innings with an ERA of 2.35 and 131 strike outs. We will see if he will be back healthy for the Supercup, as without him, their chances for success drop significantly.
The host team, Radotínský SK, has an 11-13 record and are 3 wins ahead of Ledenice in the play-offs race. The team went through a change of management mid-season, with Josef Duda taking the helm for the rest of the season. Radotín got pretty good pitching fromtheir ace Jaroslav Breník, who should be the no. 1 pitcher for team Czech Republic in Saskatoon. Breník has 90 strike outs with an ERA of 2.07. The team also got an important win from the veteran pitcher Rostislav Hrych (53) who went seven innings against Ledenice. Vojáček and Breník are the batting leaders, both with a BA above .300.
The Hippos are 12-10 with two games to make up for against Kotlářka. Winning both would put them in joint 4th place, so it seems play offs are a must for the squad managed by Vojtěch Albrecht this year. The leftie second baseman Pavel Just has been on fire this year. Their ace Jaroslav Müller is 6-5 with an ERA of 2.41. The young Michal Holobrádek has shown a lot of promise sporting an ERA of 5.25.
Several other Czech players are expected to make an appearance at the Supercup. Among them, Tomáš Benda is batting .444 with 6 homers and 22 RBI’s. He will be playing for Horsholm, along with his teammate from the national team, Mikuláš Klas, who is batting a solid .317 for the struggling Kotlářka. Radotín should have Bartoloměj Řízek as a pick up for the tournament. The defending champion with DVH s batting .375 with six homers for the Eagles, who are probably the biggest surprise so far (14-10). Several guys from Ledenice are expected to be picked-up as well. In particular the young Patrik Kopečný (.378, 7 HR, 20 RBI) who was added to the Czech roster after the legendary Patrik Kolkus broke an ankle in a friendly game a few days ago.
There will be plenty other excellent ballplayers in action in Radotín, Tempo and Spectrum starting 24th August. We will bring you more info on some of them as we receive the preliminary rosters. In the meantime, enjoy the World Championship and get ready for the summer. For Prague Softball Summer.