The awards in the 1st League went to the young generation of Challengers players. Florin Kämpfer was named MVP of the 2024 season. In the few games for the third Challengers team he achieved a batting average of .667, 4 hits, 2 runs and 3 RBI. The award for Best Pitcher went to Jasper Freigang. He achieved an ERA of 5.23 with 11 strikeouts and a record of 1-2. Fabrizio Bucher earned the award for Best Batter with a batting average of .478, 11 hits, 12 runs, 5 RBI. He was also named Rookie of the Year. Jordi Bucher was honored as MIP. He finished the 2024 season with a batting average of .368, 7 hits, 9 runs and 12 stolen bases.
Continue Reading » Florin Kämpfer MVP for the 1st League TeamPosts in the 1.Liga category:
A conciliatory end to the season for the 1st League Team
The Challengers’ third team played the placement games with the three fourth-placed teams in the preliminary round groups for places ten to twelve on Sunday. The Zurich team faced the Geneva Tigers and the hosts Bern Cardinals. The game against the western Swiss team was lost 10-13 due to one bad inning, but the Zurich team narrowly won against the Bern Cardinals 11-10.
The Challengers got off to an excellent start against the Geneva Tigers. They quickly loaded the bases and with walks from Pete Nelson, Niilo Benz and an RBI single from Jimmy Siemers as well as another run on a wild pitch, the score was 4-0. By the third inning, the Zurich team had extended its lead to 6-1. But then the Geneva team also turned on the turbo. The Tigers produced no fewer than twelve runs with ten hits and four walks. The Challengers managed to score another four runs, but ultimately had to admit the 10-13 defeat.
The Zurich team fell behind 0-5 in Game 2 against the Bern Cardinals, but their offense got off to an even better start. The Challengers scored no fewer than ten runs in the first inning. The Bern offense found the right answer and tied the game again in the third inning to 10-10. But the Challengers took the lead again in the bottom half of the third frame. Reinforcement player Naël Frey scored on a passed ball to make it 11-10. There were no more runs after that. In the last inning, the Cardinals even had the tying run on third base, but the Challengers defense survived the last Bern attack unscathed. This means that a season marked by countless weather-related cancellations ends on a positive note for the Challengers with the eleventh place.
NLB-Team in Lausanne, 1st League-Team in Bern
The NLB-Team travels to Lausanne on Sunday for two placement games against the Lausanne Indians. The young Challengers team only managed to win two of twelve games in the qualifying round and thus missed the playoffs. The Indians’ record was only slightly better with three wins, meaning the two teams now face each other in the placement games for places nine to twelve. The games will take place at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the Terrain de Chavannes.
The 1st League-Team will also play two placement games on Sunday. The Challengers’ third team will first face the Geneva Tigers at 12:30 p.m. on the Bern Allmend, before taking on the hosts Bern Cardinals at 3 p.m.
1st League home games canceled
Once again, a game day for the 1st league team has to be cancelled due to rain. The Challengers’ games against the fourth team of the Zurich Barracudas and the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions, scheduled for this Saturday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., will not take place. It is not yet clear when and if the games will be rescheduled.
Continue Reading » 1st League home games canceledHome games in 1st League and Swiss Cup
Next weekend the Challengers will play twice at their home ballpark Heerenschürli in Zurich Schwamendingen.
The 1st League-Team will start on Saturday with a day tournament. The Challengers will first meet the fourth team of the Zurich Barracudas at 10 a.m. and at 3 p.m. they will be able to take revenge on the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions, against whom they lost the game in Wil by one run last Sunday.
On Sunday the quarterfinals of this year’s Swiss Cup will take place at 11 a.m. After the Challengers were unable to defend their title in the championship, the cup competition remains the last stage to celebrate a sporting success this season. The opponent is the Zurich Barracudas Academy. The game is scheduled for nine innings. Extra innings, if needed, will be played without ghost runners.
1st League-Team without luck
In hot summer weather the 1st League-Team had no luck in Wil. The Challengers blew up a three-run lead in the last inning in Game 1 and in Game 2 their own rally came 90 feet short.
The Challengers’ third team faced all sorts of obstacles this season. After countless rainouts the make-up games now follow on a weekly basis during the holiday season, and after two wins a week ago, this time they suffered two very close one run losses. The young Challengers team got off to a good start in Wil. They scored three runs in the first inning against the Wittenbach Pirates team. The Zurich team, who were rather harmless on offense, managed to defend their lead. In the fifth inning Florin Kämpfer increased the lead to 5-3 with an RBI triple and Ilai Blickenstorfer added another run in the last inning to make it 6-3. But the Pirates used their last batting right to turn things around. After a solo home run by Jose Garcia Jover, Adrian Carmenate secured a 7-6 walkoff win with a base-clearing double.
In the second game of the day against the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions the Challengers were on the losing track for long stretches. In the fourth inning they were already 1-8 behind before they launched an impressive comeback. Florin Kämpfer started this with a solo homer before Ilai Blickenstorfer shortened the lead to 4-8 with a 2-run single. After a run by the home team, the Challengers scored another four runs in the last inning with two outs to make it 8-9, but ultimately had to throw in the towel with a strikeout and the tying run on third base.
With the two narrow defeats, qualifying for the playoffs is no longer possible with a 2-5 record. Next Saturday the Challengers will host the fourth team of the Zurich Barracudas as well as the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions again at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich for a home game day.
1st League-Team heads to Wil again
Like a week ago, the 1st League-Team will be heading to Wil on Sunday, where they celebrated their first two wins of the season. The Challengers will first face the team of the Wittenbach-Pirates at the Lindenhof at 12:30 p.m., before the game against the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
Continue Reading » 1st League-Team heads to Wil again1st League-Team arrives in win column
After all but one game of the Challengers’ third team had to be canceled due to rain in the first three months of the season, their season is now picking up speed. While the first three games were lost, some of them narrowly, the Challengers achieved their first victories in convincing fashion on Sunday.
In the first game of the day in Wil, St. Gallen, the Challengers faced the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions. Man of the match was undoubtedly Joseph Stotz. The pitcher threw a shutout over five innings. He only gave up four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. It almost didn’t matter that the offense was also in a good mood and scored 18 runs. Noam Blickenstorfer, Ben Dickow and Joseph Stotz each had two hits, while Dan Smith hit a 3-run home run in the fifth inning and collected four RBI.
In game 2 the Challengers faced their city rivals, the Zurich Eighters. The Challengers worked their way to a 7-1 lead with some great hits in the first four innings, which they brought safely to the finish line with 11-7. Of the Challengers’ 13 hits in total, four were delivered by Fabrizio Bucher, Jasper Freigang was successful three times, and Jordi Bucher and Joseph Stotz each had two hits.
Softball and 1st League games ahead
Before the U23 Qualifier tournament with the Swiss U23 Baseball National Team begins on August 5th at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich, baseball and softball will be played at the national level this weekend. Two teams from the Challengers organization will also be in action.
The Softball-Team will travel to the capital city on Saturday, where they will meet the Bern Cardinals on the Bern Allmend. The encounters in Zurich in May were clearly won by the Challengers. After six straight losses the Challengers need to wins for their self-confidence. The games will be played at 11 a.m. and 1.30 p.m.
The 1st League-Team will head in the opposite direction on Sunday. The Challengers’ third team will first meet their cross-town rivals Zurich Eighters at Wil Lindenhof at 12.30 p.m., the duel with the hosts SG Pirates/Lions is scheduled for 3 p.m.
1st League-Team in action again
The Challengers’ 1st League-Team had the worst weather luck of all the teams this spring. Up until today they had only been able to play one game, all other scheduled games were canceled due to rain. Today they played games number 2 and 3 of the season in their home ballpark, Heerenschürli. However, these ended in two losses.
The Challengers got off to a good start against the Wittenbach-Pirates team. After a double from Ben Dickow and a single from Fabrizio Bucher, Jasper Freigang scored the first run with a sac bunt before Bastian Kämpfer delivered a 2-run single to give his team the lead, which Alexander Friedli was able to increase to 4-2. The Eastern Swiss team turned the game around with three runs in the third inning, but the Challengers immediately managed to equalize at 5-5 thanks to Fabrizio Bucher. After the two opponents exchanged zeros on the scoreboard, it was the Wittenbach Pirates who scored two runs in the fifth inning. The Challengers offense could no longer respond and so the first championship game since May was ultimately lost 5-9.
In the second game of the day the Challengers faced the fourth team of the Zurich Barracudas. And again the Challengers got off to a good start. Jordi Bucher started the game with a lead-off double and scored on an RBI triple by Ben Dickow to make it 1-0. Jasper Freigang increased the lead with a sac bunt, Fabrizio Bucher scored on a wild pitch and Alexander Friedli and Daniel Smith each followed with an RBI single to make it 5-0. In the second inning, however, the Challengers maneuvered themselves into bigger problems. With seven walks, a hit-by-pitch and two errors, they allowed the Barracudas to score ten runs with only two hits. At least Jasper Freigang with a 2-run double, Fabrizio Bucher with an RBI single and Bastian Kämpfer with an RBI double then brought their team back to 9-10 . But just like in the first game, the offense stopped producing too early. So the Barracudas walked away with a 13-9 victory.