August begins with a full program of baseball action at Schwamendingen’s Heerenschürli. The NLA-Team will play its final doubleheader of the season on Saturday, August 2nd. The Challengers will host the reigning champions Therwil Flyers. With the newly introduced intermediate round this season, only the top two teams in the standings advance directly to the playoff final. It’s already clear that this will be Zurich’s last game of the 2025 season. Games begin at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Thanks to the withdrawal of the Hünenberg Unicorns, the NLB-Team has subsequently slipped into the intermediate round. After two narrow victories against the Lausanne Indians last Saturday, the Challengers will play two night games against the Zurich Barracudas Academy before the start of the playoffs. The two-game series will take place on Monday, August 4, and Tuesday, August 5, at the Heerenschürli ballpark. Both games start at 6:30 p.m. each.
Author: Serge Künzler
A lot of Baseball to start the month of August
Challengers also lose fourth Zurich derby
The Challengers lost also the fourth derby against their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas this season. The game was very even for a long time before the Barracudas pulled away in the eighth inning, ultimately winning 11-4.
After their decisive defeat in last Friday’s local derby, the Challengers started way better this time. Pitcher Tate Stone-Frisina had a good night and the offense was up to speed right from the start. James Sanders delivered an RBI single in the first inning to make it 1-0. Although the Barracudas were able to score two runs themselves following a Challengers error, the home team answered in the third. After a leadoff single by Carsten Zuber, Säntis Zeller, James Sanders, and Noam Blickenstorfer had RBI-singles to make it 4-2. But the Barracudas found the antidote to the Challengers’ bats in Nicholas Miceli. The former German champion, with the Bonn Capitals, didn’t allow a single hit in six innings as a reliever and recorded twelve strikeouts. Meanwhile, the Challengers defense gave away the lead with numerous errors. These initially tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth inning, before the Barracudas retook the lead 5-4 in the seventh. In the eighth inning the visitors then sealed the victory with six runs, making it 11-4.
It wasn’t pitcher Stone-Frisina’s fault. He gave up eleven hits and eleven runs, but only one of those was earned. He also recorded eleven strikeouts. The Challengers defense ultimately totaled no fewer than nine errors – the most in 16 years. At least one Challenger had reason to celebrate, though. Mike Siemers got his first hit in the NLA in the second inning.
Nightgame on Tuesday
On Tuesday night, July 29, at 6:30 p.m., the fourth local derby of the season between the Zurich Barracudas and the Zurich Challengers will take place at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The game was originally scheduled to take place last Saturday, but had to be canceled early due to heavy rain.
Continue Reading » Nightgame on TuesdaySoftball-Team sweeps Eagles in third Eaxtra-Inning
The doubleheader between the Lucerne Eagles and the Zurich Challengers was not for the faint of heart. The two teams pushed each other to the limit over a total of four and a half hours. While the Challengers ultimately prevailed in Game 1 with a clear 15-8 victory, they were only able to settle Game 2 in the third extra inning.
The visitors from Central Switzerland got off to a better start. The Eagles took a 5-0 lead in the second inning. However, the home team didn’t panic and narrowed the lead to 4-6 by the third inning. And they turned the game around in the fourth. The Challengers loaded the bases with no outs before Anouchka Michel with an RBI groundout and Lara Müller with an RBI single tied the game at 6-6. Once they got going, the Challengers never let up. Marianne Aellen gave her team its first lead with an RBI single, before Simona Cellar added an RBI groundout and Carmen Lutz-Demetz added a two-run double and a steal to home to make it 11-6. The Eagles narrowed the gap to 8-11, but Aellen and Cellar’s RBI singles, along with Lutz-Demetz’s another two-run double, ended the game early in the fifth.
Carmen Lutz-Demetz had three hits and four RBI, Simona Cellar had two hits and four RBI, while Tamara Ammeter, Lara Müller, and Marianne Aellen each collected two hits.
The second game featured a pitcher’s duel between American Georgia Ingle for the Eagles and Leandra Simitovic for the Challengers. The battle was on a knife-edge throughout the game. No team ever led by more than a run, and the Challengers managed to tie a visitors’ lead four times. The Eagles opened the scoring in the second inning with an RBI double by Noelani Scazzariello. The lead held until the fifth inning before Isabelle Tan broke the Eagles’ defense with a bunt single. But in the very next inning, the Central Swiss team struck back with an RBI double by Michelle Keller. But the Challengers immediately tied the game again with a bunt single by Lara Müller. With the score tied at 2-2, the game went into extra innings. And the drama unfolded. The Eagles brought the ghost runner across the plate in both the seventh and eighth innings, but the Challengers also managed to score a run on both occasions. The visitors escaped a bases loaded situation in both innings and thus avoided defeat. In the tenth inning, however, the Challengers survived the Eagles’ attack unscathed, giving them another chance to win. And indeed, they did. Designated runner Marianne Aellen advanced to third base on a wild pitch and profited from an opposing error to secure the 5-4 walk-off win.
Georgia Ingle ultimately surrendered twelve hits and five runs in nine innings, only one earned, with 13 strikeouts, while Leandra Simitovic became the first pitcher in Challengers history to pitch ten innings, in which she gave up ten hits and four runs, also only one earned, and recorded eight strikeouts. The one against Alexandra Aregger in the ninth inning was the 900th strikeout of her career.
Two unexpected Wins for NLB-Team
It was a turbulent week for the NLB-Team. On Wednesday, the Challengers learned that, due to the Hünenberg Unicorns’ withdrawal, they would inherit their spot in the intermediate round and thus also in the NLB playoffs. However, on Saturday they immediately had to take over the Unicorns’ slot on the field against the Lausanne Indians as well. And ultimately they won both games by one run.
Assembling a team on such short notice, especially during the summer holidays, would have been virtually impossible. But the Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation approved the midweek transfer of three Unicorns players to the Challengers, enabling the games against the Lausanne Indians to take place. The first game of the day featured a pitcher’s duel between Maxime Flayol for the Indians and Ari Lonstein, the Unicorn, who was essentially a guest pitcher for the Challengers. Flayol delivered a strong performance for Lausanne, giving up only five hits and two runs, one earned, with one walk and six strikeouts. However, this wasn’t enough for the victory. Lonstein even topped this performance. He allowed just three hits and one run in seven innings, with four walks and thirteen strikeouts. On offense, Fabrizio Bucher organized the Challengers’ two runs with a single in the first inning and an RBI groundout in the third, while the defense was able to stave off the tie in the top of the seventh inning thanks to an out against the Indians’ batter-runner, who was trying to stretch a single into a double.
The second game was not only a battle between the Indians and the Challengers, but also a battle against the elements. The game had to be called off early in the fifth inning due to heavy rain. And the Challengers once again had the better ending. In the previous inning, Kazuki Sato scored the decisive run on a wild pitch, making the score 7-6. The Zurich team was previously down 2-5, but the Challengers turned the game around with an RBI groundout by Sato in the second inning and runs by Unicorns catcher Marvin Müller, Mike Siemers, and Noam Blickenstorfer in the third.
By advancing to the intermediate round, the Challengers will now play two night games against the Zurich Barracudas Academy at their home ballpark, Heerenschürli, on Monday and Tuesday, August 4 and 5.
Tonight’s local baseball derby canceled
The local derby between the Zurich Barracudas and the Zurich Challengers, scheduled for Saturday evening at 6.30 p.m., has been canceled due to heavy rain. The field at the Heerenschürli ballpark is unplayable under these conditions. The Technical Commission of the Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation rescheduled the game for Tuesday, July 29 at 6.30 p.m.
Continue Reading » Tonight’s local baseball derby canceledBarracudas take first Nightgame
The first of two night games between the Zurich Barracudas and the Zurich Challengers was a clear victory for the Zurich Barracudas. After their 4-9 loss, the Challengers have a chance for revenge tomorrow, Saturday, when the next local derby takes place at 6:30 p.m. at the Heerenschürli ballpark.
The Barracudas, playing as the visiting team this evening, needed no warm-up. Three of their first four batters reached base with singles, and Nicholas Miceli and Camden Vasquez scored the first two runs in the first inning already. Even before the Challengers’ first hitter reached base, the Barracudas had already increased their lead to 4-0. Furthermore, their pitcher, Fabio Bundi, had a brilliant day. He gave up just two hits and recorded ten strikeouts in seven innings. When his workday ended, the scoreboard showed a score of 7-0. Only then did the Challengers clock in. After a hit by pitch to James Sanders and a walk by Simon Steffen, Carsten Zuber’s RBI single and Jordi Bucher’s RBI brought the home team on the scoreboard. And after RBIs from Regis Reinhard and Säntis Zeller made it 4-7, there was a brief glimmer of hope. But the Barracudas put the final touches on the event with two more runs in the ninth inning.
NLB-Team inherits playoff spot
The NLB-Team narrowly missed reaching the intermediate round and thus the playoffs. However, the Challengers can still compete for the NLB crown. The Zurich team inherits the Hünenberg Unicorns’ spot in the intermediate round, who definitively withdrew their team from the championship after two forfeit losses last weekend. The Unicorns club management has taken tough internal disciplinary action and accepts the consequences of an early end to the season due to a lack of remaining players. The Technical Commission of the Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation has now decided that the Challengers, as the fifth-place team, will be allowed to move up.
For the Challengers, this means they must, or rather, will be allowed to, play against the Lausanne Indians tomorrow, Saturday, in Hünenberg. At the beginning of August, there will be two night games against the Zurich Barracudas Academy, followed by a playoff duel with either the Wil Pirates or the Zurich Barracudas’ second team.
Two night games with local derby
The 2025 baseball season has another highlight in store. On Friday and Saturday night the Zurich Challengers and the Zurich Barracudas will face off in a two-game series at the Heerenschürli ballpark.
Since only the top two teams after the intermediate round advance to the playoff finals, the Challengers, currently in third place, are under severe pressure to close the gap to the top pairing of the Barracudas and Therwil Flyers. However, the Challengers were decisively defeated by their cross-town rivals in both of their preliminary round games. The games begin at 6:30 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
On Saturday the Challengers Softball-Team will host the Lucerne Eagles at the Klopstockwiese for a home game as well. While the Challengers are in third place and firmly on course for a playoff spot, the Central Swiss team is still locked in a long-distance battle with the Bern Cardinals for fourth place. Both teams won one game each of the doubleheader in Lucerne, promising an exciting matchup. Games begin at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the Klopstockwiese in Zurich-Enge.
Challengers unlucky
The Challengers were unlucky on Saturday. They lost Game 1 to the Lucerne Eagles 5-7 and in the second game of the day, they blew an 8-3 lead just as the game was called off due to rain.
The Central Swiss team made it to the second round, somewhat surprisingly, at the expense of the Wil Pirates. On Saturday at the Heerenschürli they proved that this was well deserved. The visitors scored three runs in each of the first two innings and ultimately held on to their 6-2 lead. The Challengers scored two runs in the first inning after a bases-loaded walk by Leonel Sosa Marte and an RBI groundout by James Sanders. An RBI groundout by Florin Kämpfer made it 3-6 in the second inning, and they came within one run in the fifth. After a double by Kämpfer and a single by Säntis Zeller, the home team pulled within 5-6 with an RBI groundout by Ryan Byrne and a wild pitch. However, the Challengers were unable to score against relief pitcher Fernando Baez Aybar, resulting in a 5-7 loss. This realistically puts a spot in the playoff finals far out of reach.
Things fared better for the Zurich team in the afternoon game. They quickly took a 5-0 lead and maintained a comfortable 8-3 advantage going into the final inning. However, the Eagles managed to tie the game in the nick of time. Instead of allowing the Challengers to pursue a walk-off victory in the bottom half of the seventh inning, the heavens opened, forcing the game to be called without a score.