by Michal Hanus
After three weekends off, the Extraleague playoff will continue this weekend. The first semifinal series between AVG Draci Brno and Skokani Olomouc has a clear favorite, as nobody is expecting that Draci could have any problems in the series like last year with MZLU Express. Almost all of the Czech fans still remember the excellent performance by Leos Kubat on the mound. The serie starts in Brno and this year’s Extraleague results between opponents Draci and Skokani are 11:3, 13:14, 13:3, 7:3 and 7:6.
The second series will be much more thrilling, because Technika Brno, the second best team in round robin with three Australians on the roster will face Arrows Ostrava with Robles and Bokaj on the mound, who had bad start into the Extraleague, but their performances got much better. They met this year already five times with following results of Technika vs. Arrows 12:6, 8:3, 4:2, 2:3 and 5:6. This series is starting in Brno as well.
On Wednesday the final series of Ceskomoravska League finished, which appointed opponents for Patriots, finished in 7th position in Extraleague, and the worst team of Extraleague Tempo Titans Praha. Winner of this series Hrosi Navisys Brno who defeated in a best of three series Kotlarka Praha 2:1 (6:4, 8:17, 3:1) and will play against Tempo Titans Praha, while Patriots Liberec will try to preserve their Extraleague spot for the 2010 season against Kotlarka Praha. Both series will be closer than in previous years, because both challengers from Ceskomoravska League had powerful rosters which are comparable with the rosters of Extraleague teams.
Schedule Semi-Finals:
Saturday, September 26:
14:00 AVG Draci Brno – Skokani Olomouc
14:00 Technika Brno – Arrows Ostrava
Sunday, September 27:
14:00 AVG Draci Brno – Skokani Olomouc
14:00 Technika Brno – Arrows Ostrava