Some 34 orphans from across the Czech Republic relished a day with their baseball heroes in Prague ©WBSC

Disadvantaged children have been given the chance to play baseball with the Czech national baseball squad, now known as Czechia, before it flies out to compete in the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo next month.

Some 34 children from orphanages across the country were invited to the session at the Tempo Praha Baseball Club in the capital Prague.

Pitcher Lukas Ercoli helped organise the event in conjunction with the charity Good Fairies for Children.

"You can't just take, you have to give something back," Ercoli explained.

"Hopefully, we managed to bring at least a little light into these kids' lives. 

"I hope they can take a great experience and the idea that good things happen."

They joined in sessions which included warm-ups, throwing for accuracy, pitching, reaction drills, and hitting from a front toss.

Hitting coach Alexander Derhak then guided the participants through a machine batting practice.

At the end of the session, team captain Petr Zýma involved the children in the ritual chant "one, two, three…Czechs."

The children were also given autographed baseball cards.

"Unfortunately, we won't go to Tokyo with them, but we still experienced a great day," Good Fairies for Children founder Angelika Nevěřilová said.

Czechia are ranked world number 15 and are set to play their first match at the World Baseball Classic against China, ranked number 30, on March 9.