Tien-Mou/Taipei City. Italy couldn’t do anything early on, but overcame a 0-3 deficit against the Czech bullpen to celebrate a 6-3 win. The eighth-ranked club from 2011 remains in the race for the quarterfinals, bringing its record back to .500 after four games. The Czech Republic dropped to 1-4 in the tournament.
During the first three and a half innings the Czech Republic showed why they won the European Championship a couple of weeks ago, dominating Italy on offense and defense. Starting pitcher Martin Grundmann was perfect through the first three frames, retiring all nine batters. He struck out two and relied mainly on a strong defense.
At the plate and the bases the Czech team was patient and aggressive on the same time, taking advantage of each Italian mistake. In the third inning they broke the scoreless tie. Miroslav Krivanek and Patrik Kadrnozka led off the frame with a walk and a single. Thanks to a throwing error on a double steal and a sac fly into shallow right field, both came around to score for a 2-0 lead. One inning later also Grundmann crossed the plate on Kadrnozka’s bunt single to second base. Grundmann had reached on a nine-pitch walk.
But it was not enough. Momentum completely shifted shortly after. The Czech coaching staff decided to remove Grundmann from the mound in the bottom half of the fourth. Relievers Tomas Oppelt and Kadrnozka weren’t able to stop Italy in the same way. After a single and a pair of walks loaded the bases with no outs, Kadrnozka replaced Oppelt, but was greeted by Andrea Pasotto with a two-run double to the corner in right field. Shortly after, Samuele Catalano’s fly ball dropped down to the ground in front of the charging right fielder for the tying RBI single.
While the Czech team missed out to answer in the top of the fifth, Italy continued to score in the bottom of the inning. An error and a single by Gabriele Marras put runners on the corners with one out. Andrea Orrasch profited and drove in the go-ahead run with a single to left. After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Pasotto once again doubled, this time off the top of the fence in left-center field. Two more runs scored and Italy was leading 6-3. The top three of the Czech lineup went down in order in the top of the sixth.
