Both Challengers baseball teams were in action on Sunday. However, it turned out to be a Black Sunday. After a good start for both teams, they suffered four losses in four games.
The first team faced the Mustangs in Embrach. The Challengers got off to a scripted start. They scored four runs with four hits in the first inning and added three more in the second. In retrospect, this 7-1 lead was the last highlight for the visitors. From then on the game was one-sided, with the Mustangs in the driver’s seat. They turned the game around by the fifth inning, taking a 10-7 lead and held on for the win. The Challengers’ final push ended with a strikeout, with runners on third and second base with the score of 11-12. Carlos Nepomuceno led the offense with three hits and three RBIs, while Leonel Hernandez contributed two hits and three RBIs.
In the second game of the day, there was no doubt about the outcome from the very beginning. The home team scored five runs in the first inning, led 11-2 after three innings, and ultimately won 15-5. Leonel Hernandez was responsible for three of the Challengers’ only seven hits.
The second team had a similar experience, although they started the gameday as underdogs against the strong Lucerne Eagles. Things looked promising at the start in Zurich’s Heerenschürli ballpark. Thanks to a two-run double by Bastian Kämpfer and an RBI double by Patrick Zöllig, the Challengers led 5-3 after two innings. However, the game turned in favor of the Central Swiss team in the fourth and fifth innings, with the Eagles walking away with a 16-5 victory. In the second game, nothing went right for the Zurich team. In the second inning alone the visitors sent 24 batters to the plate. After four innings, the Challengers have been put out of their misery with the score of 6-33.
The Challengers’ start into the 2026 season has been a rather difficult one. With only one win in four games for their first team and four losses for their second team, the Challengers find themselves in a very difficult position early in the season.
