The Softball-Team remained in third place after earning a split against the Bern Cardinals on Saturday, August 7.
The Challengers scored nine runs in the first inning and held on for a wild 24-14 victory over the Cards in Game 1. The C’s started the scoring thanks to three walks and a pair of hit-by-pitches before Andrea Wirth and Brigit Zuber delivered back-to-back RBI-singles.
The Cards cut the deficit to five runs, but the C’s extended the lead to seven runs, as Alexia Zingg belted an RBI-triple to deep center field. Both teams scored several more runs over the next frames, before the C’s pulled away with eight runs in the sixth inning to seal the deal.
Andrea Wirth drove in a game-high four runs and crossed the plate three time and Celine Welti scored four runs for the Challengers, while Brigit Zuber, Leandra Simitovic, Ziegylou Wehrli and Nadja Critelli scored three runs apiece.
Leandra Simitovic was credited with her fourth win of the season, as she allowed 14 runs and 13 hits over six innings.
In Game 2 the Cardinals cruised to a 10-1 win, as Jennifer Ellenbeck delivered a three-run homer in the first inning. And Ellenbeck added a two-run double in the fourth to put things out of reach.
The Challengers opened the score in the top of the first inning, as Leandra Simitovic scored on a passed ball. But Ellenbeck slammed the door from there, completing four innings of one-hit ball, walking one.
Challengers starter Simona Cellar went the distance, as she allowed ten runs – two of them unearned – and seven hits over five innings, while Ziegylou Wehrli had the only Challengers hit of the game.

The Softball-Team moved over .500 after sweeping the Geneva Jets on Saturday, July 10 at the Klopstockwiese. The two teams battled for 2 hours and 20 minutes in Game 1, as the Challengers exploded for a six-run fifth inning to beat the Jets 16-9.
The Jets grabbed an early 3-0 lead, as they delivered four hits in the first inning. And four more hits in the second made it 7-0 for the visitors. Then the Challengers’ bats heated up, as they erased the deficit to tie the game at 8-8 after four frames. But the Jets weren’t done yet, as they took the lead back in the top of the fifth, as Charissa Rajnoch crossed the plate to make it 9-8.
Brigit Zuber tied the game again in the bottom half of the inning for the C’s before Simona Cellar had an RBI-double for a 10-9 lead. In the end the C’s scored eight unanswered runs to seal the deal.
Simone Zurschmitten delivered two hits including a double and finished with two RBI and four runs scored, while Simona Cellar and Alexia Zingg posted a double and a single, three runs scored and an RBI and Leandra Simitovic and Ziegylou Wehrli drove in two runs apiece.
Leandra Simitovic allowed nine runs – six earned – and ten hits with six walks, while also striking out four for the win.
Karen Heimgartner and Simona Cellar combined for a one-hitter, while Leandra Simitovic drove in two runs, as the Challengers downed the Geneva Jets 8-0 in Game 2.
The C’s opened the score with two runs in the first inning and added four runs in the third frame on a bases-loaded walk to Zurschmitten, a two-run single by Simitovic and a run-scoring single from Wehrli to put things out of reach for the Jets.
Heimgartner scattered one hit while fanning five and walking one for her fifth win of the season.
With their seventh win in nine games the Challengers moved into third place with a 8-7 record.

The Challengers had their five-game winning streak halted in Game 1 when they dropped a 10-2 decision at Therwil against the first placed Flyers on Saturday, June 26.
The reigning Swiss champion seized control of the opener by scoring five runs on three hits and two Challengers errors in the first frame and they added five more runs in the second, as Roo Richardson belted a grand slam to center field that made it 10-2 in her first game for the Flyers. The Challengers took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, as Alexia Zingg delivered a two-run double, but missed several scoring opportunities in the next couple of frames, as they stranded a total of ten baserunners.
The defense was the difference in Game 2. While the Flyers played flawlessly, the Challengers committed several defensive miscues that allowed the Flyers to pull out a 6-0 victory. The Flyers opened the score in the second inning on an overthrow and a passed ball to make it 2-0 and put things out of reach in the fifth, as they scored four runs on three hits and three errors by the Challengers’ defense.
Jennifer Feret tossed a three-hitter with ten strikeouts and two walks, while Karen Heimgartner allowed six runs – only one earned – and five hits with one walk and eleven strikeouts.

Das Softball-Team empfängt den Stadtrivalen Zürich Barracudas am Donnerstag, 24. Juni auf der Klopstockwiese. Nachdem dieselbe Begegnung am vergangenen Donnerstag nach nur 1 Inning wegen Regens abgebrochen werden musste, sind die Wetterprognosen diesmal zumindest günstiger. Die beiden Teams standen sich bereits am Opening Day gegenüber, als die Barracudas das Eröffnungsspiel mit 13-6 gewinnen konnten, während die Challengers in der zweiten Partie mit einem 14-3 Erfolg antworteten.
 

The Challengers Softball-Team saw its Thursday night game against the Zurich Barracudas called after the first inning and a 0-4 score due to rain. It was already the third rainout for the C’s in 2010. No make-up date has been announced so far.
The next scheduled game between the two teams will unfold on Thursday, June 24 at 7pm at the Klopstockwiese again.

The Challengers swept the Bern Cardinals on Sunday, June 13 at Hünenberg Wartstrasse to even their record at 5-5.
Victory seemed far away for the Challengers, as they committed three first-inning errors and found themselves staring at a six-run deficit entering the bottom of the first frame in Game 1. Then the C’s came to life. They scored nine runs in the first two innings to make it 9-7, but lost their lead again in the fourth. But neither the Cardinals nor the rain were able to stop the Challengers in this one, as the C’s rallied for the second time crossing the plate seven times in the bottom of the fourth for a 17-12 lead. And the C’s shut the door in the fifth, as they added four more runs to eventually win 21-14.
Simona Cellar delivered four hits including a triple and a double and scored four runs and Simone Zurschmitten reached base five times, while Leandra Simitovic drove in five runs for the Challengers.
 
And the Challengers kept their winning streak alive, as they got another strong outing from Karen Heimgartner, as they posted a 6-0 victory in Game 2. Heimgartner tossed a three-hitter with 14 strikeouts to record her first shutout of the season. That bested Cardinals Jennifer Ellenbeck, who allowed just three hits but six runs, while striking out 17.
The blue and red heated up after a 20 minutes rain delay in the bottom of the fourth inning to do the damage. Nancy Plamondon reached on a base-on-balls and two stolen bases and a wild pitch later she opened the score for the C’s. Simone Zurschmitten’s RBI-double added another run before she scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. And the C’s added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth on RBI-singles by Simona Cellar and Alexia Zingg to seal the deal.
 
With their fourth win in a row the C’s moved into fourth place. They will face their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas on Thursday, June 17 at 7pm at the Klopstockwiese.

The Softball-Team swept the Wil Devils on Saturday, June 5 to improve its record to 3-5. The Challengers scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back, as the C’s posted a 9-2 win in Game 1. The blue and red had a perfect start, as they took advantage of three errors by the Devils’ defense and Andrea Wirth and Brigit Zuber drove in two more runs to make it 5-0. The Devils cut the deficit to three in the bottom of the first inning, but the C’s put this one out of reach for the Devils, adding insurance runs in each of the next three innings, while Leandra Simitovic kept the Devils’ bats silent.
Simitovic pitched five strong innings, as she allowed only two runs on five hits and two walks, while also striking out two to record her first win of the season. Karen Heimgartner went a perfect 3-for-3, while Simone Zurschmitten scored three times and Simona Cellar drove in two runs for the Challengers.
And the Challengers added a dramatic one-run victory in Game 2. It took a tie-break inning before the C’s took a 2-1 lead to win, as Celine Welti scored the game-winning run in the top of the eight inning on an error by the Devils’ defense. The Devils couldn’t cash in on their last opportunity, as Karen Heimgartner struck out Nadja Lehmann to seal the deal.
The Challengers opened the score in the first inning, as Nancy Plamondon scored on a RBI-single by Simone Zurschmitten. Both teams exchanged zeros on the scoreborad till the Devils tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Christina Saenz delivered a RBI-triple that drove in Vanessa Kitor to make it 1-1. The Challengers loaded the bases in the seventh inning, but Claire Rietmann-Grout struck out Welti to end the threat, while another scoreless inning for the Devils sent the game into extra innings.
Heimgartner was credited with her second win of the season, as she tossed a two-hitter with eleven strikeouts, while Rietmann-Grout allowed two runs and five hits with twelve strikeouts.

The Softball-Team lost two tight games against the Luzern Eagles on Saturday, May 29 at Reussbühl. The Challengers rallied to tie Game 1 in the fifth, but the Eagles pushed across the game-winning run when starter Simona Cellar walked Jasmin Zihlmann with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, allowing the Eagles to escape with a 7-6 win.
The Challengers opened the score with four runs in the first inning. The Eagles got three runs back in the first two frames before the C’s plated a run in the third, as Celine Welti drove in Simona Cellar to make it 5-3. Three runs in the bottom of the third put the Eagles in front for the first time. Trainilng 6-5, the C’s got a run in the fifth to deadlock the score, as Elisabete Vieira scored Cellar with a RBI-groundout, before the Eagles walked off with the win in the seventh.
Cellar (0-1) allowed seven runs – six of them earned – and four hits, while Simone Zurschmitten had a game-high two hits.
Jasmin Zihlmann’s run-scoring double in the bottom of the sixth inning proved to be enough for Kirsten Rowell and the Eagles, as they held on for 2-0 victory over the Challengers in Game 2.
Rowell tossed a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts, while Karen Heimgartner (1-2) was the hard-luck loser for allowing two unearned runs on four hits in 6 innings of work, as she struck out eight with no walks.
The games against the Therwil Flyers scheduled for Sunday, May 30 have been canceled due to heavy rain. No make-up date has been announced so far.
The Challengers are now in sixth place with a 1-5 record. They will face next the Wil Devils on Saturday, June 5 at Wil.

The Softball-Team was swept by the Luzern Eagles on Saturday, May 15 at the Klopstockwiese. The Challengers pitchers struggled with the constant rain and the low temperatures, as the Eagles posted a 13-3 victory over the C’s in Game 1.
Starter Andrea Wirth was credited with the loss after allowing five runs in the first inning. Simone Zurschmitten took control for the next couple of innings, as the C’s cut the deficit to three runs after three innings, but the only error by the Challengers defense and six consecutive walks in the fourth increased the gap to ten runs.
Nadja Critelli led the Challengers offense with two hits, one RBI and a run scored, Alexia Zingg delivered her second double of the season and Celine Welti and Zurschmitten had a hit and scored a run each, while Nancy Plamondon made her debut in blue and red.
Game 2 saw a pitcher’s duel between Karen Heimgartner and Kirsten Rowell. Heimgartner gave up six hits and two earned runs, while stirking out ten in what was another quality start, but her effort was not enough, as the C’s lost to the Eagles 0-4.
Rowell pitched a complete game shutout against the C’s, as she surrendered just three hits on thirteen strikeouts.