Just a day after we saw Great Britain secure a historic qualification to the 2023 World Baseball Classic we are treated to another huge watershed moment courtesy the Czech Republic. They saw off Spain in a 3-1 nail-biter of a game that was rich in suspense.
The Czechs had already impressed with two wins earlier in the tournament. They had also shown poise. These same Spanish had run them out in seven innings to the tune of a 21-7 scoreline. But this was a new day. That first game was now irrelevant. Everything hinged on today, September 21, 2022, a day which will be remembered as the coming of age of Czech baseball. This will be the day when Europe's most overlooked national baseball program shook all of us from our slumber.
It began with a run conceded to Spain on a Justin Connell sacrifice fly. Martin Schneider had allowed a run in the first. He would not allow another in 6.1 innings of poised five hit ball that was about as good as imaginable against a strong Spanish offense. Meanwhile Schneider held off Spain, Martin Muzik hit a two run homer in the top of the second inning whose consequences would be as epic as Dvorak's 9th Symphony. It was a game winner though that would only become apparent later on. Marek Chiup added another in the fourth, a solo shot to make it 3-1. And then there was silence. Slowly but surely, outs trickled away as Spain huffed, puffed, but could not blow the door down. They would leave nine runners on base, the big innings of the first game between the two teams a distant memory. Marek Minarik would take over in the seventh and work around four hits and a walk to keep Spain off the board. Muzik would field a grounder to first to wrap up a historic result and cement himself as a hero of Czech baseball.
For Spain, it is heartbreak. After being an out away from securing qualification against Great Britain, they have failed to repeat their drubbing of the Czech Republic from the first game. For the Czechs, it is the culmination of a steady, workmanlike rise through the European baseball ranks. They have been a steady contender in the European Championships for about a decade now and fallen just short of Olympic qualification to Tokyo finishing 3-2. There is no denying them this time. They have a date with history. They have a date with the 2023 World Baseball Classic where they can be expected to compete hard and frustrate even the best of teams.
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