The Swiss Cup game between the Zurich Challengers and the second team from the Therwil Flyers scheduled for today at 2 p.m. has been canceled due to an unplayable field because of heavy rain. No make-up date has been announced so far.
Continue Reading » Saturday’s Swiss Cup game postponedAuthor: Serge Künzler
Sunday’s 1st League home games canceled
The 1st league games scheduled for Sunday, April 21st at the Heerenschürli ballpark have already been canceled on Friday. Due to the constant rain and the weather forecast for the weekend, which promises even more wet weather, the stadium management canceled the games already to protect the field. For the games between the third team of the Challengers, the Zurich Barracudas and the SG Wil Pirates / Zurich Lions no make-up date has been announced so far.
Continue Reading » Sunday’s 1st League home games canceledRevival of the Swiss Cup and Season Opener for 1st League-Team
Next weekend the Swiss Cup will celebrate its revival with a completely new mode. And the 1st League-Team is the last team in the Challengers organization to start the 2024 season with a home game on Sunday.
After a break of over 10 years, a Swiss Cup will be held again for the first time in 2024. The mode has been completely overhauled. In the first part of the competition there is now a group phase in which the 16 NLA- and NLB-Teams have been divided into four groups of four and everyone plays a single game against each other on three game days. The top two teams in each group qualify for the knockout round, in which the Swiss Cup winner is determined in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final. The winner of the competition will take part in the European Federations Cup 2025. The Challengers NLA-Team will meet the second team of the Therwil Flyers on the first game day of the group phase in Therwil. The game will take place on Saturday, April 20th at 2 p.m. at Therwil Känelmatt. The second team will play the Zurich Barracudas Academy on Sunday, April 21 at 11 a.m. at Embrach PZ Hard in a duel of two NLB teams.
On Sunday, April 21st, also the 1st League-Team will open the new season as the last team in the Challengers organization. The Challengers’ third team welcomes the Zurich Barracudas and the SG Wil Pirates / Zurich Lions at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The games start at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Successful start for NLB-Team
A lot is new in the Challengers NLB-Team. With Farid Bekkali and Martin Strzodka two new skippers took over. Their main task is to introduce more young players to adult baseball and to give young players more responsibility. After all these are the future pillars of the first team.
Special about the start of the season was that Bekkali and Strzodka met their old club, the Zurich Barracudas, on Opening Day. There, however, they were responsible for the 1st league team. The philosophy of supporting young players was also evident in the lineup. The coaches gave the ball to pitcher Florin Kämpfer, who made his first Opening Day start for the NLB team. He was a bit wild with seven walks in three innings, but Kämpfer only gave up one hit and three runs, two of them earned, and handed the game to the bullpen with a 5-3 lead. Patrick Zöllig provided the first Challengers run of the season, Honey Gigato Romero, who joined the Challengers from the Zurich Eighters, celebrated a successful debut with an RBI single and Oliver Bernet made it 5-3 with a 2-run double. The Challengers defended this lead and ultimately won 8-4. Patrick Zöllig got the save with the last two outs of the game.
In Game 2 Joseph Stotz was given the start for the Challengers on the pitcher’s mound. The Barracudas had their sights sharpened in the break between the two games, scoring four runs on four hits in the first inning. In contrast, the Challengers’ yield remained low with an RBI single from Jack Siemers. Stotz did his job well and left the mound after three innings with five hits, five runs, four earned, two walks and one strikeout. But then came the fourth inning in which all the dams broke. From seven hits, seven walks, four hit batters and two errors the Barracudas scored 18 runs, meaning the fair was over. The Barracudas celebrated a 23-2 win.
Cadets with split in Rümlang
The U15 Cadets split with the Kobras in the reprise of last year’s U15 final in Rümlang. While game 1 was clearly in favor of the Challengers, game 2 just as clearly went to the Zurich Unterländer.
The mission of defending the title is a lot more difficult to achieve in the junior classes than with the adults. And there, too, this is quite difficult. What makes things even more difficult for the juniors is that some team members will no longer be available in the new season due to their age. However there are still a few champions in the Challengers’ lineup. For example Jasper Freigang and Ben Dickow, who pitched a two-hitter with seven strikeouts in the season opener and paved the way for the first win of the season. The offense contributed twelve hits and eight runs to the comfortable 8-0 start. Jasper Freigang and Fabrizio Bucher delivered three hits each, while Noam Müller, Ben Dickow and newcomer Tyler Smith each had two hits.
As in last year’s final, game 2 went in the opposite direction. The first three Challengers pitchers couldn’t find the strike zone at all, so the Kobras went out of the second inning with ten runs on the board. This proved to be a big enough lead because the Challengers didn’t do much on offense either, so game two went to the home team with a score of 10-2.
Strong reaction from the Challengers
One day after the unsuccessful opening day, the Challengers struck back. And the answer was impressive. While the reigning champion lost to its local rivals Zurich Barracudas 1-13 on Friday, the Challengers turned the tables on Saturday and won 13-7.
While the offense failed the day before, this time the Challengers started strong. Coach Thomas Burger’s team seemed to have thoroughly analyzed the false start and made the right adjustments. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the championship team suddenly appeared on the pitch again. The Challengers opened the game with hits from James Sanders, Robert Sedin, Leonel Sosa Marte and Tobias Siegrist for a quick 3-0 lead. The Barracudas came back again, because the Challengers weren’t solid in defense today either, and took the lead of 5-3 in the fourth inning. Anyone who thought that the three runs at the start of the game was just a brief flare-up for the home team was quickly proven wrong.
With an RBI-double by Ryan Byrne in the fourth inning and an RBI-double by Säntis Zeller in the fifth inning, the Challengers tied the game again before the MVP of the championship season, James Sanders, put his colors at 7-5 with a 2-run double. And the C’s selt the deal in the seventh frame. The defending champions followed up with four more runs from Simon Steffen and James Sanders. Finally the offense produced 13 runs on 18 hits. The Challengers thus delivered an impressive reaction and also clocked in for the 2024 season a day late.
Softball-Team defeats Swiss Champion
The Softball-Team is already making its first statement at the start of the season. In a rematch of the last three final series in Swiss softball, the Challengers split with the reigning champions Wittenbach Panthers. A 5-12 defeat in the first game was followed by a narrow 7-6 success in the afternoon.
The opening game went as expected. The Wittenbach Panthers took an lead early, extended it to 9-3 by the third inning and won 12-5 after five frames. The Challengers only managed four hits, while the defense, with seven errors, was not at the level to be able to endanger the guests from the eastern part of Switzerland. Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Simone Zurschmitten each had two RBI, while Leandra Simitovic and Anna Zgraggen recorded the other hits for the home team.
Game 2 looked different though. The Panthers took the lead again in the first inning, but this time the Challengers also found their way into the game straight away. Carmen Lutz-Demetz got her team on the scoreboard with an RBI-double, Leandra Simitovic followed with a sac fly and Alexia Zingg scored a hit in her comeback after an absence of a year and a half due to a knee injury. After three innings the game was tied at 5-5. In the fourth inning Mia Matas gave the home team the lead for the first time with a bases loaded walk and Anna Zgraggen followed with a sac bunt to make it 7-5. Challengers pitcher Karen Heimgartner gave the Panthers’ strong bats some trouble. The guests couldn’t do more than to cut the deficit to one run thanks to an RBI-double from Felicitas Schatton. This is also because Mia Matas took the wind out of the opponents’ sails in the sixth inning with a spectacular diving catch against Panthers team leader Kim Zehnder.
Heimgartner allowed just four hits, one run and three walks with ten strikeouts in six innings, while Carmen Lutz-Demetz, Simona Cellar and Simone Zurschmitten each had two hits. The only downside from the Challengers’ perspective was the loss of Marina Vaccaro Brüderli, who injured her knee in a tag play situation.
Juveniles open season with a sweep
The U12 Juveniles celebrated a sweep of the Rümlang Kobras at the start of the season. For many players on the youngest Challengers team, Opening Day was not only the first game day of the 2024 season but also their debut on a baseball field.
The pChallengers showed a splendid performance and grabbed two important wins against their neighbors with a score of 13-5 and 8-5, which will give the young team self-confidence for their future tasks.
Season Opener ends with a loss
Summer has arrived in Zurich right at the start of the 2024 Swiss Baseball Championship season. However, the sun did not shine for the Challengers at the season opener against their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas. The Challengers lost Game 1 with a score of 1-13.
The mission to defend their title is off to a tough start for the Zurich Challengers. The reigning champion was still visibly rusty and was inferior to its local rivals in all aspects of the game. The result of 13-1 speaks for itself, but due to the 13-1 hits and eight errors on the home team’s side there were no doubts about the outcome of the game. At the beginning it was tight game. The Barracudas scored their first run of the season in the third inning with a sacrifice fly from Nick Fischer by Simon Brändli. One inning later the season opener was already decided. The Barracudas produced six runs on five hits and three errors from the opponent to take an 8-0 lead and were no longer looking in the rearview mirror.
Not much was going well with the Challengers. The highlight from their perspective was the outfield assist by left fielder Jack Siemers at home in the fourth frame. At this point the deficit was already six runs. The Challengers have the opportunity to do better tomorrow evening. At 6 p.m. the two teams will meet again for the second local derby in Zurich’s Heerenschürli ballbark.
Opening Weekend with six home games
The new baseball and softball season begins with the Opening Weekend. Challengers fans can enjoy six home games from Friday to Sunday.
It starts with the NLA-Team, which opens its mission to defend the Swiss championship title against their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas with a night game in the Heerenschürli ballpark on Friday, April 12th at 6:30 p.m. Game 2 of this two-game series will take place on Saturday, April 13th from 5:30 p.m. also in the Heerenschürli with the official Challengers Season Opening Party.
The Challengers Softball-Team will also start the new season on Saturday, April 13th. In a reprise of the last three final series in Swiss softball, the blue and red welcome the reigning Swiss Champions Wittenbach Panthers on the Klopstockwiese in Zurich-Enge. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
The NLB-Team opens its season on Sunday, April 14th in the Heerenschürli ballpark. The greatly rejuvenated second team will face the Zurich Barracudas second team in the small city derby. The games start at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.