The Softball-Team faced the Bern Cardinals on Sunday, August 20. The Challengers posted an 11-8 win in Game 1 over the Cardinals, while the Cards answered with a 3-1 victory in Game 2.
Andrea Wirth broke a 5-5 tie by stealing home in the top of the fifth frame and the Challengers added another four runs in the same inning, as Sandrine Montandon and Taylor Mc Cants had a RBI-single each and the Cardinals defense committed two costly errors. The Cards cut the deficit to two runs again, but Sandra Mack drove in Andrea Wirth in the top of the sixth to make it 11-8, while the C’s shut the door to take Game 1.
Taylor Mc Cants and Andrea Wirth delivered three hits apiece, while Sandrine Montandon had two hits and drove in two. Leandra Simitovic allowed eight runs and eleven hits with seven walks and seven strikeouts.
The C’s gave away Game 2 with two base-running errors, a passed ball and an overthrow to spoil Elise Beguelin’s last start for the blue and red. Beguelin tossed a three hitter and allowed three runs – only one earned – while striking out eight, but ended up with the loss. The C’s took the lead in the fourth frame, as Simona Cellar had a RBI-double, but threw it away, as the Cards scored twice in the bottom of the inning, before adding an insurance run in the sixth.
The Challengers will miss the playoffs for the first time in team history after reaching the top four eight consecutive times. The C’s will finish their season on September 1 with a double header against the SG Eagles/Challengers at Luzern.

The Softball-Team needed two wins against the Wil Devils to keep their playoff hopes alive, but fell short. The Challengers lost 0-7 in Game 1, before posting an 8-3 victory in Game 2. 
After exchanging zeros on the scoreboard for the first three frames, the Devils opened the score in the fourth inning, as two errors by the C’s defense enabled them to score twice. In the fifth the Devils exploded for five runs on five hits to make it 7-0 and to seal the deal, while the Challengers’ bats remained silent. Simona Cellar had two hits in her first game of the season, while Leandra Simitovic and Sandrine Montandon had one hit each.
The blue and red proved that they can do better, as Taylor Mc Cants scored the first run of the day for the C’s in the bottom of the first frame in Game 2. The C’s added another run in the second, as Andrea Wirth drove in Alexia Zingg to make it 2-0 and they put things out of reach in the third by scoring five runs. After Elise Beguelin drove in Simona Cellar, Alexia Zingg delivered a two-run double and Brigit Zuber followed with a two-run single to make it 7-0. Alexia Zingg had a game-high three hits and three RBI’s, while Elise Beguelin gave up three runs – one earned – and three hits with three walks and seven strikeouts for her second win of the season.

The Softball-Team played one bad inning but lost twice against the first-placed Therwil Flyers on Sunday, July 15 at Therwil. The Flyers erased a one-run deficit in the bottom of the fifth, as they posted a 12-5 win over the C’s in Game 1. The Flyers opened the score with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. The Challengers didn’t wait any longer, as Elise Beguelin drove in Anouk Lkharrazi in the top of the third, but Nina Wolfensberger stole home in the bottom of the frame to make it 3-1 for the Flyers. The C’s turned things around in the fourth frame, as they crossed the plate four times. Anouk Lkharrazi bunted in Andrea Wirth, before Leandra Simitovic and Elise Beguelin delivered back-to-back RBI-doubles and Beguelin scored on an error to make it 5-3. The Flyers cut the deficit to one run in the bottom of the fourth, before they scored eight runs – six of them with two outs – in the fifth to walk away with the mercy rule win.
Game 2 saw a pitcher’s duel between Alexandra Vikartofsky for the Flyers and Karen Heimgartner for the Challengers. Heimgartner allowed two runs – one earned – and two hits with one walk and one hit-by-pitch while striking out eleven, but that was not enough, as Vikartofsky recorded a shutout win allowing three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. The C’s battled hard, but had no luck, as they hit two linedrives right into the Flyers’ gloves in the top of the seventh to end the game with a score of 0-2. Celine Welti delivered a double and Leandra Simitovic had two hits for the C’s.
The C’s remain in a dismal sixth place with a 7-11 record. They will face the Devils, the Cardinals and the SG EAG/CHA for their last games of the season in August.

The Softball-Team lost also the fourth local derby against the Zürich Barracudas this season on Thursday, June 28, but it was the first time that there was no doubt about which team will win the game. The Barracudas scored in each of the first four innings, while Marisa Everitt held the Challengers’ bats quiet, as the Barracudas posted a 6-1 victory over the C’s. The Challengers are now two games behind the fourth placed Barracudas with a 7-9 record.
Leandra Simitovic, Alexia Zingg and Sandrine Montandon had the only hits for the C’s, while Elise Beguelin’s twelve strikeout performance was not enough, as she allowed six runs – four of them earned – and ten hits.
The Challengers will travel to Therwil on Sunday, July 15, where they will face the first-placed Flyers.

For the fourth time this season the Challengers had the tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, but other than the previous three times the C’s came through against the Cardinals. And they did it in style, as Leandra Simitovic belted a three-run walk-off homer for a come from behind 10-8 win in Game 1 against the Bern Cardinals. Sandrine Montandon reached base with a two-out single and Celine Welti followed with another single, before Simitovic sent a 2-2 pitch over the center field fence to end the game.
The C’s erased a six-run deficit, as they scored eight unanswered runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to halt their losing streak at four games. Simitovic and Taylor Mc Cants drove in four runs each, while Celine Welti had three hits and Simitovic, Mc Cants, Elise Beguelin and Alexia Zingg had two hits apiece.
The Challengers started in Game 2 right where they finished in Game 1, as Elise Beguelin and Taylor Mc Cants scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning. And the C’s added another two runs, as Leandra Simitovic and Beguelin crossed the plate in the third frame, before scoring three times in the fifth, as Nadja Critelli had a RBI-single and Simitovic and Mc Cants scored on a passed ball and a wild pitch to make it 7-1.
Elise Beguelin pitched seven dominant innings in the 8-3 win, as she allowed three runs – only two of them earned – and four hits with two walks while striking out eight for her first win in a Challengers uniform.
The Challengers will host the Zürich Barracudas on Thursday, June 28 for a night game at 7pm at the Klopstockwiese.

Tuesday night was a bad case of déjà vu for the Softball-Team, as the Challengers were edged by the Barracudas 6-7 at Rümlang. For the third time this season and for the second time against the Barracudas, the C’s lost a game with the bases loaded and the tying run on base in the seventh inning. With two outs Elise Beguelin lined a rope right into the glove of Barracudas shortstop Ines Dübendorfer to seal their 7-6 victory.
Despite the Challengers outhit the Barracudas 11-6 and the C’s defense committed less errors, the Challengers lost for the fourth time in a row. Melissa Everitt broke up a 2-2 tie with a two-run double in the second frame and a 5-5 tie with a two-run single in the fourth inning. The C’s tied the game in the top of the fourth, as Andrea Wirth, Celine Welti and Taylor Mc Cants scored three runs to make it 5-5, but they managed to score only one more run in the last three frames, while leaving six runners on base in this span.
Elise Beguelin delivered three hits including two doubles and Taylor Mc Cants went 3-for-4 and scored twice, while Leandra Simitovic gave up seven runs – six earned – on six hits and seven walks while striking out one.
The Challengers dropped to sixth place with a dismal 5-8 record and are already two games behind fourth place.