The Challengers made one more big step towards a second-place overall finish in the standings by beating the Embrach Rainbows twice in Saturday’s doubleheader. Game 1’s big hero was Saentis Zeller as he went 6-for-6 with five doubles, setting a new franchise record, in a 15-7 win. Thomas Burger pitched a complete game for his fourth win of the season. In Game 2, Harry Bregy dominated the Rainbows, while the offense continued to pound on Rainbow pitchers, winning 16-1 in six innings. Zeller added two more doubles in a 3-for-5 performance. The Challengers now stand at 12-6 before the final doubleheader against the Zurich Barracudas on August 5.

The Challengers will face the Embrach Rainbows on Saturday, July 28 at the Heerenschürli, in what will be a rematch of last Sunday’s Swiss Cup Quarterfinal. After the C’s reached the Cup’s Final Four Tournament with a 8-3 victory, they will try to add two more wins to consolidate their second place in the standings. The games start at 11am and 2pm.

After missing the final tournament of the 2006 Swiss Cup edition, the Challengers’ NLA-team got back on track this year by beating the Embrach Rainbows 8-3 in the Quarterfinals. Tobias Siegrist with a 2-run-homer and Bryan Shemley with a groundrule-double, that also scored two runs, led the offense, while starter Thomas Burger pitched 8 decent innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 7 hits and 5 walks, fanning 9 batters.

The Challengers’ NLA-team lost two crucial games against a strong Lausanne Indians team. The Indians’ batters were swinging pretty well all day, and the Challengers couldn’t withstand the scorching heat and the painstaking minute-long discussions with the Indian players, going down 11-4 and 13-10. At several points of the doubleheader, the Indians were on the verge of one of their players getting sent off the field. Discussions after each pitch that didn’t go the Indians’ way made the second contest of the day an extremely long and forgettable one. One positive of the weekend was the Barracudas’ surprising 11-3 loss to the Embrach Rainbows, enabling the Challengers to maintain a 1-game lead over their arch rivals for second place overall. In Sunday’s other doubleheader, the Bern Cardinals wrapped up their second consecutive pennant by beating the Sissach Frogs 13-2 and 17-4.

The Challengers became the second NLA-team this season with double figures in the Win column by beating the Sissach Frogs twice on Sunday. In Game 1, Thomas Burger pitched the entire nine innings in a 6-2 win. Both runs were unearned, making his performance even more remarkable. Game 2 was dominated by Harry Bregy, who tossed his first career shutout in the NLA in a 9-0 win. Only six Frogs reached base, but none of them was able to score. Bregy improved his record to 4-0 on the season. The Challengers now have a firm grip on second place in the standings with a 10-4 record, trailing only the Bern Cardinals’ 13-1 mark. In other games this weekend, the Reussbuhl Eagles roughed up the Therwil Flyers 7-2 and 16-5, and the Cardinals pounded the Embrach Rainbows 15-1 and 21-3.

The Challengers’ A-team needed seven innings to advance to the third round of the Swiss Cup by beating the club’s B-team 12-0 on Sunday. Tobias Siegrist hit a walk off 3-run homer that delivered the necessary 10-run margin for the mercy rule to take effect after seven innings. Next up for the Challengers are the Embrach Rainbows, against whom they lost 8-7 last year in Round 3.

The Challengers played the Embrach Rainbows on a rainy Saturday, and came home with two clear wins. In Game 1, Thomas Burger just missed pitching a shutout, as three runners scored in the final inning in a 16-3 win. Game 2 was dominated by Harry Bregy’s excellent performance on the mound, backed by another good showing by his offense in an 18-3 win. With the cancellation of the Barracudas-Eagles encounter, the Challengers have further solidified their hold on first place in Group 2, having taken a 1-game lead.

With two wins against the Lausanne Indians on Saturday, coupled with the Barracudas’ two losses against the Bern Cardinals, the Challengers moved into a tie for first place in their group. Game 1 was dominated by the Challengers’ good offense, getting an easy 19-9 win against the Indians. Game 2 was much closer, as the Indians jumped to an early 6-0 lead against starter Roger Brunner. But the Challengers erased that deficit, while reliever Harry Bregy pitched seven shutout innings en route to an 8-6 victory.

The Challengers traveled to Neuenburg to play a friendly doubleheader against the Atomics. The team was fortified with Stefan Koller and Michel La Torre from the Therwil Flyers. But even with their help, the Challengers lost 12-3 and 5-4. In Game 1, eight errors made it difficult for starter Thomas Burger to even think about getting the win. He went five innings, before being relieved by Thomas Landis who tossed a scoreless sixth inning. Little offense did the rest to hand the Challengers a clear defeat. Game 2 went into extra innings as the Challengers rallied from 4-3 deficit in the seventh inning to tie the game, but than lost it in the tenth inning on an infield single. Starter Harry Bregy went five innings before handing the ball over to Chris Palatinus who worked the final five innings, allowing only two more runs. The Challengers will start into their 2007 campaign on April 21 with a doubleheader against the defending Champions Bern Cardinals.

Am Montag, 26. März 07 präsentierte der Zürcher Stadtrat Gerold Lauber anlässlich der GV des Quartiervereins Schwamendingen das Neubauprojekt Sportanlage Heerenschürli erstmals der Öffentlichkeit. Das Projekt stiess bei der Schwamendinger Bevölkerung auf breite Unterstützung.
Der Bau umfasst einerseits mit der Instandsetzung und Erneuerung der Rasensportanlage und andererseits dem Neubau der Hochbauten zwei Teilprojekte. Wie die Vertreter des Sportamtes, von Grün Stadt Zürich und des Amtes für Hochbauten mitteilten, liegt das Dossier bei der gemeinderätlichen Kommission und wird bald dem Gemeinderat vorgelegt. Mit der Baubewilligung rechnet die Stadt im Herbst 2007. Ebenfalls Ende 2007 kommt der Objektkredit von insgesamt 49,96 Millionen Franken – zwei Drittel davon entfallen auf die Erneuerung der Spielfelder (Fussballfelder, Baseballfeld, Skaterpark sowie Grünanlagen), ein Drittel auf den Ersatz der Hochbauten (Garderoben, Restaurant, Werkhof) – vors Volk. Heisst ihn das Stimmvolk gut, werden in der zweiten Hälfte 2008 die Baumaschinen auffahren können. Die Eröffnung der Anlage wird für Anfang 2010 in Aussicht gestellt. Weitere Infos unter www.baseball-zuerich.ch/stadion.asp