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After LLWS trip as a parent, Klimes is back as coach

By Jon Gerardi 4 min read

Two years ago, Czechia's Michal Klimes was sitting in the stands at Volunteer Stadium watching the Brno, Czechia team compete against both Santa Clara, Cuba and Santa Cruz, Aruba.

He didn't get to see Czechia win a game, but he got to witness something even nicer: his son playing at the grandest stage of youth baseball at the Little League World Series. A win would have been great, but seeing his son playing at Volunteer Stadium was a great honor.

Now, Klimes is back. Not just as a parent, but now as a coach leading Brno, Czechia to its fourth consecutive appearance at the Little League World Series.

"It means a lot. Two years ago I was here as a parent with my son, so my dream was to get here one more time with my younger son, but as a coach," Klimes said. "It's different, for sure (as a coach), but I'm so grateful to be here and can experience this two times."

His dream coming as a coach is now official, and now Klimes is looking to do something none of the prior three Czechia teams have done: win a game.

South Czech Republic Little League has been dominating at the Europe and Africa Regional tournament the last four summers, but that elusive first win at the Series has escaped them. Klimes and his players are hoping this year they breakthrough.

"It's a big honor for us to go all four years. Even though we were here for a fourth time in a row, we've never won a game. So the goal for us is to do that," Klimes said. "That's why we're here to beat a team unlike the years before us. It's a big honor for us to experience and for the kids as well. They're enjoying themselves and they're ready to start playing baseball. They can't wait."

Czechia has a bye until Friday evening and plays the winner of the Canada/South Korea matchup. That game is set for Wednesday evening.

South Czech Republic Little League has two players back on this year's team who got experience last year in David Caha and Mikulas Binek. Caha was Czechia's only player last year to record a hit at the Series.

"It's good to have them. They bring some confidence on team because they can prepare kids with what to expect. I also experienced this tournament two years ago with my older son," Klimes said. "I was here as a fan, but I also know what to expect from the tournament and the whole process of this team getting here started last November. We have experience of Mikulas and those kids, I was able to prepare them really well for the qualification, but as well for this tournament."

Klimes noted that the team's strength is simply the inner strength of the team.

"The kids know each other really well and we have a great group of guys," Klimes said. "It's a great environment and kids are making with the team. They can count on each other."

The fact South Czech Republic Little League is back for a fourth consecutive time shows that baseball is slowly but surely growing in the Czechia region. The men's national team qualified for the World Baseball Classic in both 2023 and 2026 and, while the team went 1-7 over those two tournaments, it shows progress after the team didn't qualify in either 2013 or 2017.

In addition, Brno, Czechia had a team reach the Junior League World Series multiple times since 2020.

"The sport's been growing a bit. We still are not in top-10 sports (in Czechia yet)," Klimes said.

But seeing the Little League teams having success at regionals and reach the Series means that younger players are starting to play baseball more in a region that historically was bigger with soccer.

In the regional tournament, Czechia beat Spain to win the title and qualify yet again and Klimes noted how tough it was getting through the Europe and Africa Regional to come to South Williamsport.

"The competition was tough. The teams have bigger players, stronger players, sometimes they even were better players than us in the games, but the strength of our team showed," Klimes said. "It was not about the individual players, but about the whole team. So that was the main thing. We're really happy that the guys won it and we can experience this and be here."

And now South Czech Republic Little League is looking to make history and win its first-ever Series game.

Starting at /week.