FINAL STANDINGS:
1 – AIST (6-1)
2 – Russia (5-2)
3 – Czech Republic (4-2)
4 – Croatia (3-3)
5 – Austria (2-4)
6 – Czech Juniors (1-5)
7 – Israel (1-5)

The tournament featured two national teams from the Czech Republic – the junior and senior squads – as well as the national units from Austria, croatia and Russia. An American team (AIST) and a team from Israel rounded out the field.

2010 Prague Baseball Week Results:

Tuesday, July 13:
12:00 Israel 7, Czech Junior 4
15:30 AIST 9, Croatia 6
16:30 Czech Junior 12, Austria 11
19:30 Czech Republic 8, Russia 6

Wednesday, July 14:
11:30 Austria 8, Israel 5
15:00 Czech Republic 8, Croatia 4
16:30 Russia 6, AIST 5
19:00 Czech Republic 10, Czech Junior 4

Thursday, July 15:
12:00 Russia 8, Israel 2
15:30 Russia 9, Croatia 3
16:30 AIST 6, Czech Junior 1
19:00 Austria 8, Czech Republic 7

Friday, July 16:
12:00 Croatia 4, Israel 0
12:00 Russia 12, Austria 1
15:30 AIST 12, Austria 6
15:30 Croatia 6, Czech Junior 2
19:00 Czech Republic 7, Israel 2

Saturday, July 17:
12:00 Russia 15, Czech Junior 5
12:00 AIST 10, Israel 2
15:30 AIST 6, Czech Republic 5
15:30 Croatia 6, Austria 4
19:00 AIST 7, Russia 1

The Russians, which outscored their opponents 64 to 15, finished the tournament with a unblemished 4-0 record.  Czech Republic end the tourney with a 3-1 mark.

Kuznetsov, a two-way standout who earned Most Valuable Player honors, went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs to help Russia race out to a quick 3-0 lead. An RBI groundout by Nikita Selivanov and Nikita Laykov’s run-scoring single pushed the lead to 5-0 in the third. Meanwhile, Kuznetsov was throwing goose eggs until the tournament hosts snapped the shutout bid in the sixth.

FINAL STANDINGS
1 – Russia
2 – Czech Republic
3 – Lithuania
4 – Austria
5 – Slovakia
6 – Belarus
7 – Romania

The Czech Republic made things interesting in the seventh when Lukas Roubicek drilled a three-run triple off reliever Artem Kraevskiy to close the gap to a pair of scores, but the Russian squad kept their poise to claim the tournament championship.

Andrej Viskupic of Slovakia garnered the Best Pitcher award, while Czech slugger Adam Stejskal earned the Best Hitter trophy.

2010 European Championship (Juveniles) Results:

Tuesday, July 13
Russia 22, Romania 0
Lithuania 28, Slovakia 1
Czech Republic 20, Belarus 5

Wednesday, July 14
Austria 19, Romania 6
Belarus 18, Lithuania 11
Czech Republic 14, Slovakia 3

Thursday, July 15
Slovakia 16, Belarus 13
Russia 18, Austria 3
Czech Republic 11, Lithuania 1

Friday, July 16
Russia 18, Lithuania 8
Slovakia 22, Romania 10
Czech Republic 18, Austria 1

Saturday, July 17
Belarus 16, Romania 6
Lithuania 16, Austria 6
Russia 6, Czech Republic 4

Photo courtesy of Confederation of European Baseball (CEB)

The Czech national team will prepare for the European Championship by competing at the Prague Baseball Week from July 13 to 17 on their home soil. Other participants slated for the tournament includes the national teams from Austria, Croatia, Israel, Russia, the Czech junior national team, as well as a team from the United States.

2010 CZECH REPUBLIC NATIONAL TEAM:

CATCHERS:
Petr Cech (Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg), Jakub Vojak (Saarlouis Hornets) and Radim Chroust (AVG Draci Brno).

INFIELDERS:
Pavel Budsky (AVG Draci Brno), Jakub Sladek (Kotlarka Prague), Jakub Hajtmar (AVG Draci Brno), Martin Schneider (AVG Draci Brno), Jan Drabek (Eagles Prague), Tomas Polansky (AVG Draci Brno) and Petr Baroch (Kotlarka Prague).

OUTFIELDERS:
Jakub Malik (Konica Minolta Pioniers), Ales Navratil (Arrows Ostrava), Michal Ondracek (AVG Draci Brno), Karel Hrusovsky (AVG Draci Brno) andMartin Vesely (AVG Draci Brno).

PITCHERS:
Boris Bokaj (Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg), Marian Gajdos (Kotlarka Prague), Jan Homolka (Eagles Prague), Vojtech Jelinek (AVG Draci Brno), Leos Kubat (MZLU Express Brno), Petr Minarik (AVG Draci Brno, pictured), Jan Rehacek (Minnesota Twins) and Radim Chroust (AVG Draci Brno).

COACHES:
Arnost Nesnal (Manager), Radek Prochazka (Assistant Coach), Jan Rubes (Assistant Coach), Greg McCarthy (Assistant Coach), Premysl Zak (Trainer) and Martin Mohyla (Doctor).

Photo courtesy of AVG Draci Brno

The Lokomotiva Louny product also participated at this year’s MLB European Academy Tryout in Prague.

Photo courtesy of Lokomotiva Louny

Draci blanked the Eagles in the opening contest, 3-0, and finished off the day with a 6-3 victory in the second game. Draci has outscored its opponents by a margin of 91-32 so far in 2010.

Both Technika and MZLU Express, which share identical 6-5 records, split a twinbill against Kotlá?ka and Skokani Olomouc, respectively.

Technika claimed a suspenseful 5-4 win in the first game before mustering up little fight in a 7-1 setback in the second encounter. MZLU Express rebounded from a 6-3 loss in the opening matchup to salvage a split with a 7-4 triumph.

The final matchup last weekend had Navisys Hroši slipping past Arrows Ostrava, 1-0. The second game between the two teams was rained out.

CZECH LEAGUE:
1-Draci (11-0) 2-MZLU Express (6-5) 2-Technika (6-5) 4-Kotlá?ka (4-5) 5-Skokani (4-6) 6-Navisys Hroši (3-5) 7-Eagles (2-5) 8-Arrows (2-7)

Saturday, May 8
AVG Draci 3,6 Eagles 0,3
Technika 5,1 Kotlá?ka 4,7
Skokani Olomouc 6,4 MZLU Express 3,7
Navisys Hroši 1, Arrows Ostrava 0

Photo courtesy of AVG Draci Brno

Draci (6-0), which has averaged almost nine runs an outing so far this season while allowing opponents a meager three scores, captured a pair of not-too-easy victories against Kotlá?ka (7-4 and 7-5) last weekend.

MZLU Express (4-2) moved into sole possession of second-place a week ago with a convincing sweep over the Arrows Ostrava, 17-3 and 11-4. Similar to Draci, the Express has a potent offensive attack and a pitching corps that has limited opposing lineups to less than four runs a game.

STANDINGS:
1-Draci (6-0) 2-MZLU Express (4-2) 3-Skokani (3-3) 3-Technika (3-3) 5-Navisys Hroši (2-2) 6-Eagles (1-1) 7-Kotlá?ka (1-3) 8-Arrows (0-6)

Friday, April 30
AVG Draci at MZLU Express
Technika at Navisys Hroši

Saturday, May 1
AVG Draci at Technika
Navisys Hroši at MZLU Express
Kotlá?ka at Eagles
Arrows Ostrava at Skokani Olomouc

Sunday, May 2
Navisys Hroši at AVG Draci
Technika at MZLU Express
Eagles at Kotlá?ka

Photo courtesy of AVG Draci Brno

Draci (1-0) opened the season with an impressive 3-1 victory over Technika Brno and has assembled a talent-laden roster with an eye on making some noise at the European Cup tournament this summer. Meanwhile, the Arrows are a shell of the squad that posed a serious threat to the league crown last season.

Ostrava (0-1), which fell to Skokani Olomouc 9-3 in the season opener, is missing Filipino southpaw Job-Jon Robles and national team pitcher Boris Bokaj, who anchored the pitching staff a year ago.

Other matchups this weekend includes Technika hosting Skokani Olomouc, while the Praha Eagles will be on the road in Brno against Navisys Hroši.

STANDINGS:
1-Draci (1-0) 1-MZLU Express 1-Skokani 4-Eagles (0-0) 4-Kotlá?ka (0-0) 6-Arrows (0-1) 6-Navisys Hroši (0-1) 6-Technika (0-1)

Saturday, April 17
Skokani at Technika
Arrows at AVG Draci
Eagles at Navisys Hroši

Sunday, April 18
MZLU Express at Kotlá?ka

Photo courtesy of foto.mapy.cz

AVG Draci, which has captured the league title an astounding 15 consecutive seasons, are led by a talent-rich roster that features nearly the entire Czech national team. The Czech powerhouse has stockpiled an impressive array of quality arms with an eye on the European Cup tournament this summer.

Technika debuted a trio of import players who could pose a serious threat to Europe’s longest-running baseball dynasty. Former minor leaguers Alex Drehak and Trevor Caughey (pictured) joins ex-Mannheim Tornados middle infielder Billy Hess in Brno this year.

The MZLU Express and Skokani Olomouc also started the new season in the win column. MZLU spanked Czech League newcomer Navisys Hroši 16-1 at MBS in Brno, while Skokani Olomouc dealt the rebuilding Arrows Ostrava a 9-3 home loss.

STANDINGS:
1-Draci (1-0) 1-MZLU (1-0) 1-Skokani (1-0) 4-Eagles (0-0) 4-Kotlá?ka (0-0) 6-Arrows (0-1) 6-Navisys Hroši (0-1) 6-Technika (0-1)

Sunday, April 11
AVG Draci 3, Technika 1
MZLU Express 16, Navisys Hroši 1
Skokani 9, Arrows 3
Kotlá?ka vs Eagles (postponed)

Monday, April 12
AVG Draci vs Technika (postponed)
Kotlá?ka vs Eagles (postponed)

Tuesday, April 13
MZLU Express vs Navisys Hroši (postponed)

Photo courtesy of Mark Mauno

Coach Arnost Nesnal directs a talent-laden roster stocked with national team members, Aussie standout Wayne Ough, and player/coach Greg McCarthy. Veteran slugger Pavel Budsky headlines an offensive attack that also includes Jan Jablonka and Tomas Polansky.

Former MZLU Express ace Vojtech Jelinek joins a talented cast of pitchers led by Martin Schneider, Petr Minarik and Radek Prochazka.

The Arrows reached the league title series in 2009, but will be hard-pressed to emulate last year’s success after several key losses. Boris Bokaj, who teamed with Philippines dual threat Jon-Jon Robles last season to form a dynamic 1-2 punch on the mound, left for the German League along with talented backstop Petr Cech.

MZLU Express added several Draci players including national team catcher David Winkler, and pitchers Jakub Toufar and Vojtech Papez. Other newcomers are Premek Chroust and Arnost Dubovy

Pitchers Jakub Jonak and Jan Homolka will be calling the shots for the Eagles this season as playing coaches. The Praha club lost Basilio Barrios and Dominik Benatcan to Kotlá?ka, but pitcher Richard Prokop returns after a stint with in Liberec (Patriots).

National team pitcher Vojtech Holicky is the new head coach for Skokani Olomouc. Jakub Vojak was lured away by the German League club Saarlouis Hornets, but the team added former Temp Titans pitcher Lukas Josefus.

Technika lost top players Jakub Vancura (Kotlá?ka) and Ondrej Navrkal (Black Hill Blansko), but welcomes Jan Marek (Draci) and Jan Oralek (Black Hill Blansko) into the mix this season. However, the Brno club title hopes hinge on the return of their Australian import players.

Photo courtesy of http://brnensky.denik.cz/

Havlicek (pictured, sliding) was a member of the Czech national teams that captured the gold at the 2004 European Juveniles Championship and the 2007 European Cadets Championship. He will travel to the United States in March for spring training, and is expected to train in Australia this summer.

2009 CZECH LEAGUE ANNOUNCES TOP AWARDS

The Czech Baseball Association announced recently the top five players from the 2009 season. The awards will be presented at the annual Czech League All-Star Game on May 8 in Brno.

Czech powerhouse AVG Draci Brno claimed three of the five awards. Veteran slugger Pavel Budsky was named Best Hitter while teammates Petr Minarik and Daniel Wayne Ough earned Best Pitcher and Playoffs MVP, respectively.

Other award winners included Marek Cervenka (Talent of the Year) of Kotlarka/Tempo Titans and Technika Brno’s power hitter Martin Stritecky (Home Run King).

CZECH LEAGUE INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:

Best Hitter: Pavel Budsky, AVG Draci Brno
Best Pitcher: Petr Minarik, AVG Draci Brno
Talent of the Year: Marek Cervenka, Kotlarka/Tempo Titans
Home Run King: Martin Stritecky, Technika Brno
Playoffs MVP: Daniel Wayne Ough, AVG Draci Brno

Photo courtesy of kotlarka.rajce.idnes.cz