The Challengers NLA-Team grabbed the final Playoff berth on Saturday, August 31, finishing the Round Robin in fourth place with a 17-11 record after a split with the first-placed Therwil Flyers. The C's won the 28th and last regular season game, as they posted a 9-3 victory over the Flyers to make sure that their cross-town rivals Zürich Barracudas can't pass them anymore in the standings. Despite the Flyers cruised to a 9-0 shutout victory in Game 1, the C's won the season series against the Flyers 3-1. The 17 wins are the second most for the C's in the last ten years, just one win short of the 18 wins in 2012.
 
The Challengers will either face the Flyers again or the reigning Swiss champion Bern Cardinals in the semi-final series. Game 1 is scheduled for Saturday, September 14. 

The Challengers did what they had to do on Sunday, August 25, as they swept the Wil Devils in a day-night double header at Wil. Being tied for fourth place with the Zürich Barracudas, the C's absolutely had to win twice against the Devils to move one game ahead of their local rivals in the battle for the last playoff spot with two games remaining.
 
Game 1 was all Challengers, as they cruised to a 12-0 shutout victory over the Devils. Andrea Girasole tossed a completed game for his third win of the season, while Robert Sedin collected six RBI's. And the C's stayed focused also in Game 2, as they added a 15-6 win. Sedin recorded his sixth win of the season, while Thomas Blank led the offense going 4-for-5.
 
The Challengers will travel to Therwil on Saturday, August 31 to face the Flyers for their last two games of the round robin.

The Challengers wasted an opportunity to hold the lead over the fifth placed Zürich Barracudas in the fight for a plyoff spot, as the C's lost the night game on Saturday, August 17 against the Zürich Lions 9-10. The Lions scored five runs in the second inning to break a 2-2 tie and the Challengers weren't able to close the gap till the end. Pinch hitter Yusuke Azuma led off the ninth inning with a double and Nick Lehmann managed to bring the tying run on base, but closer Markus Streicher shut the door for the first Lions win over the Challengers for more than 20 years.
 
The Challengers will face next the Wil Devils on August 25. The C's will need two wins to remain on fourth place.

The Challengers took a huge step towards a playoff spot on Wednesday night, August 14, as the C's edged the Embrach Mustangs 3-2 in a pitcher's duel, as Harry Bregy scored the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning on the second error of the frame from the Mustangs defense. Robert Sedin outdueled Timothy Jones, as Sedin gave up two runs – one earned – and four hits with five walks while striking out 12 and Jones allowed three runs – two earned – and ten hits with four walks and seven strikeouts.
 
The C's opened the score in the third frame, as Francisco Colindres drove in Jesus Martinez and Robert Sedin added an RBI-single. But the Mustangs tied the game in the fourth on a RBI-triple by Timothy Jones, who scored later on a passed ball. Both teams exchanged zeros on the scoreboard for the next five innings, before Bregy scored to walk off.
 
With the win the team of headcoach Chris Palatinus tied the season series with the Mustangs at 2-2 and moved 0.5 games ahead of the fifth placed Zürich Barracudas, who have only four games left, while the Challengers will line up five more times. They will face next the Zürich Lions on Saturday, August 17 at 6 pm at the Heerenschürli ballpark.

Das NLA-Team der Challengers spielt am Mittwoch, 14. August ein Night Game gegen die Embrach Mustangs im Baseballstadion Heerenschürli. Es ist dies bereits der dritte Versuch für dieses Spiel, nachdem die Partie am 11. Mai und am 29. Mai wegen Regens zweimal abgesagt werden musste. Zu erwarten ist ein Pitching Duell zwischen Timothy Jones von den Mustangs und Robert Sedin von den Challengers. Jones glänzte bislang mit sechs Siegen und drei Niederlagen bei einer ERA von 2.16 und dem Ligabestwert von 125 Strikeouts, während Sedin in dieser Saison mit vier Siegen und vier Niederlagen bei einer ERA von 2.35 zu Buche steht. Die Challengers werden versuchen, ihre nun schon sechs Spiele dauernde Negativserie zu stoppen. Gegen die Mustangs gewannen sie in dieser Spielzeit eine von drei Begegnungen. Spielbeginn ist um 19.00 Uhr im Heerenschürli.

The Challengers lost twice against their local rivals Zurich Barracudas on Saturday, August 10. While the Streetparade rocked the city of Zurich, there was no reason to celebrate for the Challengers at the Heerenschürli ballpark, as the C's extended their losing streak to six games.
 
The Barracudas built an early 6-0 lead till the fourth inning and never looked back, as they held on for a 6-3 victory in Game 1. The C's scored the first run in the bottom of the fourth frame and cut the deficit to three runs till the eight. And the C's came close, as they loaded the bases with one out in the eight, but Barracudas closer Beni Montag ended the threat with two strikeouts. Harry Bregy went 2-for-3 and Eidrys Reyes added two hits, while Patrick Maier had a triple in the fifth.
 
The story book of Game 2 was almost alike. The Barracudas again opened the score with three runs in the first inning, but this time the C's answered right away with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. And they even tied the game in the fifth, but the Barracudas broke the tie again in the top of the sixth, as they scored twice with two outs. The C's fought till the end, but despite a lot of scoring chances – twice with the bases loaded – they managed to score only one more run, as Eidrys Reyes drove in Thomas Burger in the eight. The C's outhit their opponents 13-9, but fell short, losing 5-4. Starter Robert Sedin gave up five runs – four of them earned – in six innings of work, while reliever Andrea Girasole tossed three shutout innings and went a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate.
 
With the two losses the Challengers are now in a tie for fourth place with the Barracudas. The C's will face the Embrach Mustangs on Wednesday, August 14 for a night game at the Heerenschürli ballpark. 

The Challengers traveled to Bern on Sunday, August 4 with high hopes. But the Cardinals showed why they are in first place. The Cardinals cruised to a 15-1 win in Game 1, before adding a 5-2 victory over the C's in Game 2. With the two wins the Cardinals swept the season series against the Challengers 4-0.
 
The Challengers will face their cross-town rivals Zürich Barracudas on Saturday, August 10 in what will be an important matchup in the battle for the playoff spots.

The Challengers were swept by the reigning Swiss champion Bern Cardinals on Saturday, July 13 at the Heerenschürli. The Cards stopped the Challengers winning streak at five, as their pitchers kept the Challengers' bats quiet the whole day. Bern broke a 3-3 tie by scoring four runs in the sixth and seventh innings en route to an 8-4 victory in Game 1, before they celebrated a 4-0 shutout win in Game 2. The C's remain in third place with a 13-5 record, but they are now three games behind the first placed Cardinals.

The Challengers extended their winning streak to five games with a 17-1 six inning mercy-rule victory over the Zürich Lions on Thursday night, July 11. Bryan Shemley delivered a game-high three hits, while Thomas Burger tossed a complete game, as he allowed one run and five hits with five walks while also striking out four.
 
The Challengers improved their record to 13-3. They will face the reigning Swiss champion Bern Cardinals on Saturday, at 11am and 2pm at the Heerenschürli.