The semi-final dream was already over for both of them on Wednesday. In the duel between the still winless teams Czech Republic and Austria, Thursday’s night game was about who gets the better starting position for the cross games against relegation. Austria pitcher Julian Faulhaber came under pressure in the first inning. The Czechs had occupied all three bases, but Elias Kreska provided the necessary third out. So no points for the neighbors for the time being.
Austria’s offense was then unable to score any decisive goals against Tadeas Kalcev. In the second inning, the Czechs had a runner on base. When a Czech scored again. Pitcher Faulhaber tried to pick up the ball instead of letting it through to the shortstop. Faulhaber was only able to tame the ball on the second try. The following pass to first base to Christoph Hoscher was too imprecise. So there was a first point for the Czechs and another runner on third base, who ran to make it 2-0 in the next play. The Czechs were then held harmless.
The pitchers dominate the match
In the third round, the Austrians had to survive tricky situations again. Jan Pospisil’s 3-0 was unavoidable. The Czechs were already celebrating the 4:0, but the referees gave the runner out on home plate. So it remained at the three-run lead. This managed pitcher Kalcev. With two outs, Team Austria put Moritz Riedmann and Dan Kawanishi on base. However, Christoph Hoscher was unable to score the necessary goal for the Austrians’ first run – 3-0 for the Czech Republic after three innings.
The Czech Republic put pressure on pitcher Faulhaber again in the fourth inning, but he withstood it quite well and limited the damage with a fourth run. But the hosts’ offensive didn’t really get going – Alessandro Zoufal and Georg Stemmer were stranded on first and second base. In inning five, Lukas replaced Inmann Faulhaber as pitcher and started impressively. Three strike-outs quickly brought Austria’s batsmen back onto the field. But the Czech defense proved to be an unbreakable concrete wall that evening, again it was fast, again there were no points for Austria.
Czech defense made of solid concrete
A catch-up race became increasingly unlikely in the sixth inning because the Czechs scored twice: Martin Pernicka made it to base and Jakub Winkler sent his team-mate over home plate to make it 5-0. Austria, on the other hand, remained far from countable. So it took a little baseball miracle before the last inning. This did not happen. After Duck Alexander Kienberger, who took over as pitcher, caused three strike-outs, the Czech defense played the 5-0 win dryly home.
Tomorrow the two semi-finals between the Netherlands and France (10 a.m.) and Germany versus Great Britain (2.30 p.m.) are on the agenda at Ducksfield. The two winners not only secure a place for the final, but also for the U23 World Championship. In the night game, Austria has to deal with the actual medal contenders Italy, which missed the semifinals after a smack against Germany. Austria is a blatant outsider. In the fight for relegation, the match against Belgium on Saturday will probably be decisive.
Results
Group A: Netherlands 1-0 Great Britain, Czech Republic 5-0 Austria.
end table: 1. Netherlands (1,000), 2. Great Britain (0.666), 3. Czech Republic (0.333), 4. Austria (0.000).
Group B: Italy – Germany 3:13, France – Belgium 8:0.
end table: 1. Germany (0.666), 2. France (0.666), 3. Italy (0.666), 4. Belgium (0.000).
semifinals
Friday, 10 a.m.: Netherlands-France (Ducksfield Wiener Neustadt).
Friday, 2.30 p.m.: Germany – Great Britain (Ducksfield Wiener Neustadt).
relegation round
Friday, 4 p.m.: Belgium – Czech Republic (Batsfield Schwechat).
Friday, 7.30 p.m.: Austria – Italy (Ducksfield Wiener Neustadt).
Tabel: 1. Italy (1,000), 2. Czech Republic (1,000), 3. Austria (0,000), 4. Belgium (0,000).
2023-08-10 20:33:07
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