The first major Zurich baseball derby was also the first night game at the Heerenschürli ballpark, which had been upgraded with a new backstop. What initially seemed like a clear win for the Challengers ultimately became a clear victory for the Zurich Barracudas.

The Challengers got off to the better start. The visitors scored two runs in their first inning. Leonel Sosa Marte opened the scoring with an RBI single before Carlo Nepomuceno made it 2-0 on a wild pitch. In the third inning, the pendulum swung even more decisively in the Challengers’ favor. Nepomuceno increased the lead to 4-1 with a two-run single before Nick Siemers blasted the ball over the wall in left center field to make it 6-1.

Anyone who thought the game was over isn’t familiar with the Zurich baseball derby history. It has had some crazy twists and turns in store, and that was no different on this Friday night. While the Challengers offense shut down, the Barracudas clocked in. In the fourth frame the home team made up the deficit thanks to a 2-run double by Nick Fischer and an error by the Challengers, tying the score at 6-6. Then, in the sixth inning, all hell broke loose. Even with two pitching changes, the Challengers could not extinguish the wildfire ignited by no fewer than 16 batters from the Barracudas, who were wearing their City Connect uniforms tonight. The damage to the Challengers was severe. Eleven runs, making the score 17-6, brought the game to an early end. It’s a good thing the next opportunity awaits tomorrow, Saturday evening, also at 6:30 p.m. Their opponents are once again the Zurich Barracudas.