Czech Republic upset win changes Group A outlook of U-23 Baseball World Cup
The Europeans beat defending U-23 World Champions Mexico.
Rain was a factor in Ciudad Obregon for Day 1 of Group A action in the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup. The afternoon game, Cuba vs. Dominican Republic, was postponed to 28 September due to heavy rain.
The night game began with a 90-minute delay but was worth the wait. World No. 16 Czech Republic defeated world No. 5 Mexico, the defending U-23 World Champions.
Czech manager Vladimir Chlup said during the pre-tournament press conference that his team would be ready. Nobody could imagine how ready.
"You may have thought I was cocky," joked Chlup after the game. "Seven-inning games are very different from the usual nine-inning games. You can rotate pitchers in a different way, saving a lot of energy. When you score early, you have a bigger chance to win."
The Czech Republic scored four runs on just two hits.
"You can win on two hits," commented manager Chloup, in particular, if one of those is a big hit.
His son Marek got the big hit, a three-RBI double that higlighted a four-run at bat.
"I was sitting on a fastball in that situation," said younger Chloup. "I expected him to go outside, but I believe he missed the location. I got an inside fastball and made the most of it."
Startin pitcher Ondrej Satoria allowed just one run over 5.2 innings of work.
"While in the locker room I figured out that Mexican hitters would be aggressive. I decided to throw a lot of off-speed stuff and to use my fastball outside the strike zone and inside. The plan worked well," commented Satoria.
The right-hander believes the Czech Republic now has a fair chance to advance to the super round: "If we beat Germany, I think we have a very good chance to advance."
Mexico's manager Enrique Reyes credited the Czech Republic: "What happened is truly surprising. Baseball is developing everywhere, the Czech Republic showed us. They are a team with a lot of strengths."
Right-hander Zhong-Ao Zhuang-Chen is regarded as the ace of Chinese Taipei pitching staff. His fastball touches 95 miles per hour.
"I'm not sure if I'm the ace," commented Zhuang-Chen after the game. "I believe we have an outstanding pitching staff. My future? I want to experience baseball abroad."
Germany struck out 9 times against Zhuang-Chen and a total of12 times in 7 innings. Three players combined for 7 German hits. Left fielder David Dinsky went 3-for-3, second baseman Marco Cardoso went 2-for-2 and shortstop Alexander Schmidt went 2 for 4.
"Overall, we did well offensively," commented German manager Steve Janssen."We also played good defence. Pitching-wise, we could have limited walks. Overall, we did an OK job."
Friday, 24 September schedule (all times local)
Dominican Republic vs. Germany 10.30 am Czech Republic vs. Chinese Taipei at 3 pm Mexico vs. Cuba at 7.30 pm
