Tuesday’s exhibition contest lasted more than three hours and went 10 innings, but it was not enough to determine a winner.
In a slow, extra-inning affair, Duke tied the Czech Republic national team 5-5 in an exhibition game at Jack Coombs Field. With the score tied following the bottom of the 10th, the two sides agreed to end the contest and call it a night without declaring a victor. The Czech team made the trip to Durham for the second time in the last three years and played a more complete game compared to a 13-1 loss in October 2013.
“I’m so impressed with the job [the Czech Republic has] done in two years. They’ve improved their club so much, especially on the mound,” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. “It’s a dramatically different club than what it was two years ago just in terms of the way they execute, especially on the mound.”
The Blue Devils were facing the Czech Republic as a part of its second U.S. tour, which runs from Oct. 2-11. With qualifying tournaments for the World Baseball Classic and European Championships every two years, the Czech squad packs its bags every other year after minor league and European schedules end to play a number of collegiate teams in North Carolina, including other ACC teams N.C. State and Wake Forest.
“The weather gets cold in October over in central Europe, so typically here in North Carolina it’s good weather,” said Czech Republic head coach Mike Griffin, a Canadian who played college baseball at Hawaii. “A couple of our coaches live here and have played at school here, and it’s a good opportunity just to play everyday in better weather.”
The Czech Republic has an assortment of players—ranging from 20 to 30 years old—with four players currently part of Major League Baseball organizations. In the most recent International Baseball Federation standings, the team ranked 24th, so building a stronger schedule prior to World Baseball Classic qualifying is imperative for the national squad to prepare for other international competition.
“We want to play quality teams every day,” Griffin said. “In the Raleigh area you can play UNC and Duke and N.C. State all within half an hour.”
Junior Bailey Clark toed the rubber for the Blue Devils, and got off to a quick start with two strikeouts. The Asheville, N.C., native then ran into trouble, though, as catcher interference, a wild pitch and two errors put Duke behind 2-0 in the top of the first. Clark only lasted one inning for the Blue Devils, which made the decision pregame to switch pitchers every inning in an attempt to build experience for a young squad that will infuse 12 freshmen into its roster this season. After allowing three runs in as many innings to start the game, Pollard’s squad picked it up on the mound as a squad, allowing nine total hits.
Duke’s bats answered back by scoring four runs in the first three innings. Sophomore outfielder Michael Smiciklas led the Blue Devils at the plate, going 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run on the night. Despite Smiciklas’ numbers, Duke trailed 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth, but evened the score with a two-out single up the middle by freshman catcher Chris Proctor. The run proved to be the last run of the night, as a ground-out and two strikeouts by the home squad ended the game in the 10th.
“I thought Michael Smiciklas looked really good tonight,” Pollard said. “Offensively, there is no doubt in my mind we’ve made a big jump.”
Despite giving up the tying run so late in the game, the Czech Republic is enjoying its time in the United States with a number of firsts for its players. The team will travel to Wilmington, N.C., Wednesday to play Coastal Carolina, giving players a chance to “czech” some items off their bucket-lists.
“They’ll get to see the beach. Obviously they don’t get to do that [in the Czech Republic],” Griffin said. “[The tour] is good. We play in good facilities. We appreciate Duke being great hosts. They got to see a Duke football [game] and they loved that. They’ve never been to a football game before, so a lot of good experiences.”
For the Blue Devils, the preseason schedule will continue into this week. Following team scrimmages and a trip to Fort Bragg during fall break for Operation Blue Devil, Duke will return to Durham for its annual Fall World Series Oct. 16-18.
“I’m really excited [for our trip to Fort Bragg],” Pollard said. “I’m looking for us to develop camaraderie. I’m looking for leadership to percolate. I think it’s an opportunity for chemistry…. We’re just excited to go down there and learn from what the special ops officers down at Fort Bragg have to offer us.”
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