This year’s league meetings and the presidents’ meeting of the Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation will take place on November 23rd in the House of Sports in Ittigen near Bern.
The SBSF has also announced that both President Dagmar Voith Leemann and Christof Rissi, the person responsible for grassroots sport, will resign at the general assembly on February 22nd, 2025. The search for successors is underway.
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League meetings and presidents’ meeting in the House of Sports
Start of indoor practices
After the fall break, indoor practices will begin for the Challengers teams and thus preparations for the 2025 season. The gyms remain unchanged from last year, with pitcher/catcher practice in the Ruggächer sports hall in Zurich-Affoltern, baseball practice in the Probstei gym in Zurich-Schwamendingen, softball practice in the Gabler gym in Zurich-Enge and junior practices in the Auhof and Herzogenmühle gyms in Zurich-Schwamendingen.
Continue Reading » Start of indoor practices2024 season ends with the veteran’s game
All generations of Challengers met on Wednesday night for the traditional veteran’s game. The event also marked the end of the season for the Challengers in the Heerenschürli baseball stadium, after the three men’s teams also played their last championship games of the season last weekend.
The juniors will once again have an extensive indoor season with various tournaments throughout German-speaking Switzerland, while the seniors will continue in April next year with the start of the next baseball and softball season. Meanwhile, the construction machines have already arrived at the Heerenschürli to install the new 26-meter-high back stop during the off-season. If the weather plays along, the construction works should be completed in time for the start of the season in March 2025.
Challengers finish in 3rd place at the Softball European Cup
The Challengers took part in the Women’s Softball European Cup Winners Cup “B” in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium last week. After a veritable run of improvement with four wins in a row they finished the tournament in third place.
In Belgium the Challengers met the Egedal Stars from Denmark, MRKI Medvedi from Croatia and the host Mont-Saint-Guibert Phoenix. The start of the tournament was anything but optimal for the Zurich team. On the opening day the Challengers had to admit losses to both the Danes from Egedal and the Croatians. There was more to it, especially in the game against Egedal, as the score was still 1-1 after five innings before the Danes managed to decide the match. The game against the hosts Mont-Saint-Guibert was similar. Here too the game was tied before the Belgians were able to pull away with a six-run inning.
But the Zurich team improved over the course of the tournament. They were unrecognizable in the return matches against the same teams. The Challengers beat Egedal 8-0, against Medvedi they took an early 6-0 lead to the finish line with a 7-5 win despite a comeback by the Croatians, and in the last preliminary round game they inflicted the only defeat of the tournament on the home team, which had already qualified for the final, with a 9-1 win. Ultimately the Challengers missed out on reaching the final due to the run difference with the Croatians, who had the same number of wins.
In the Bronze Medal Game the Challengers faced the Egedal Stars again. The Zurich team took a 2-0 lead in the third inning and were able to immediately respond to the Danes’ run in the fifth inning with an RBI single from Carmen Lutz-Demetz to make it 3-1. Pitcher Madison Johnson brought the victory home and secured third place for the Challengers. Pick-up player Madison Johnson was also voted the best pitcher of the tournament.
Results:
Tuesday, August 20th, 11.30am: Egedal Stars vs. Zürich Challengers 6-2
Tuesday, August 20th, 4.30pm: MRKI Medvedi vs. Zürich Challengers 10-6
Wednesday, August 21st, 7pm: Zürich Challengers vs. Mont-Saint-Guibert Phoenix 1-8
Thursday, August 22nd, 11.30am: Zürich Challengers vs. Egedal Stars 8-0
Thursday, August 22nd, 4:30 p.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. MRKI Medvedi 7-5
Friday, August 23rd, 7:00 p.m.: Mont-Saint-Guibert Phoenix vs. Zürich Challengers 1-9
Saturday, August 24th, 2:00 p.m.: Bronze Medal Game Egedal Stars vs. Zürich Challengers 1-3
Saturday, August 24th, 5:00 p.m.: Final MRKI Medvedi vs. Mont-Saint-Guibert Phoenix 0-8
Women’s Softball European Cup Winners Cup B in Belgium
The Challengers are representing Swiss Softball on the European stage for the fourth year in a row. The Zurich team will compete against international teams next week from August 20th to 24th at the Women’s Softball European Cup Winners Cup “B” in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium.
The Challengers will face the Egedal Stars from Denmark, MRKI Medvedi from Croatia and the host Mont-Saint-Guibert Phoenix in Belgium. Due to the Thunderbirds from Israel cancelling at short notice due to the current situation at home, the schedule had to be adjusted at short notice. In the preliminary round, each team will now play against the other three teams twice. On Saturday there will be the final between the first and second placed teams. The third and fourth placed teams will play the so-called Bronze Medal Game.
The Zurich team will play twice on Tuesday. After the opening game against the Danes from Egedal, the Challengers will face MRKI Medvedi later in the afternoon. The games will be streamed live on the Baseball Europe TV channel.
Schedule:
Tuesday, August 20th, 11:30 a.m.: Egedal Stars vs. Zürich Challengers
Tuesday, August 20th, 4:30 p.m.: MRKI Medvedi vs. Zürich Challengers
Wednesday, August 21st, 7:00 p.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Mont-Saint-Guibert Phoenix
Thursday, August 22nd, 11:30 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Egedal Stars
Thursday, August 22nd, 4:30 p.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. MRKI Medvedi
Friday, August 23rd, 7:00 p.m.: Mont-Saint-Guibert Phoenix vs. Zurich Challengers
Saturday, August 24th, 2:00 p.m.: Bronze Medal Game
Saturday, August 24th, 5:00 p.m.: Final
Exploit in the Little League
This week the Swiss Little League team is taking part in the “Europe-Africa Region Tournament” in Kutno, Poland. Switzerland will play in Pool C against Spain, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ukraine. The first two teams in each preliminary round group will reach the quarterfinals.
The Swiss started the tournament against Spain on Sunday. However the spaniards proved to be too strong, they won clearly 9-1. On Monday Switzerland played against the clearly favored Dutch. And the Swiss pulled off a real exploit. They sensationally defeated the Dutch 4-2. Pitcher Len Blickenstorfer, a Challengers junior, was at the forefront. He gave up just two runs and three hits in six innings and struck out seven, which earned him the win in this historic victory.
Lack of luck in the last two games against Great Britain and the Ukraine. The Swiss team was at the same level as their opponents, still they lost 3-4 to the British and were edged by the Ukraine 4-5.
Schedule LLB Europe-Africa Region Tournament in Kutno (POL):
Sunday, July 14: Spain vs. Switzerland 9-1
Monday, July 15: Switzerland vs. Netherlands 4-2
Tuesday, July 16: Switzerland vs. Great Britain 3-4
Thursday, July 18: Switzerland vs. Ukraine 4-5
Summer Slowpitch Softball Nights
Summer is finally here! We’re organizing two Summer Slowpitch Softball Nights.
Join us for two Friday nights of softball fun. Everyone is welcome, from NLA to U12, veterans to rookies. Non-members are welcome too, so bring your family and friends!
Dates: July 26th & August 16th
Location: Heerenschürli Baseball Field, Zürich
Time: 18:00 Meet, 18:30 Game starts, 20:00 Finish
Sign up via email at [email protected] or join our Whatsapp Group “Summer Slowpitch Nights”.
Let’s play ball!
Sign up now for softball course in summer holidays!
Are you between 14 and 18 years old and want to learn playing softball during your holidays? Then secure your spot in our holiday sofball course on Klopstockwiese in Zürich/Engequartier now.
Softball is similar to baseball. Discover the American sport! Learn to hit, catch, and throw with the 2021 Swiss champions, the Zürich Challengers.
Date: August 13th
Time: 15:00 – 17:30
Price: CHF 10 (includes snack)
Bring: sports clothes, water bottle and lots of energy!
For signing up or more information, please contact [email protected]
Mindy Siemers new Challengers President
The 44th ordinary General Assembly of the Challengers Baseball & Softball Club Zurich took place on Sunday at Baseball in the City in Dübendorf. Mindy Siemers was elected as the new Challengers President to follow Serge Kuenzler, who resigned from his position after eight years at the club’s helm.
Serge Kuenzler was able to look back on a very successful season at his last GA. The NLA-Team won its tenth championship title in the club’s history, the U15 cadets also won the Swiss championship title, while the Softball-Team qualified for the final for the fourth time in a row and, like the baseball team, qualified for the European Cup again. Kuenzler was also pleased that the club is well positioned for the future with its successful junior department. The appointment of Farid Bekkali and Martin Strzodka as new coaches for the NLB-Team is particularly positive for the further development of the young talent. In addition to the sporting area, there was also positive news to report from the finance department. The annual accounts closed with a small profit.
The President of the Swiss Baseball & Softball Federation, Dagmar Voith, who came especially because of Serge Kuenzler’s resignation, addressed a few words of thanks to the resigning President. The board is undergoing some changes for the coming season. While Mindy Siemers, Carlos Nepomuceno, Taylor McCants and Nicola Ernst were confirmed as board members for another year, Un-Hie Gonzalez, Isabelle Tan and Stefan Benz were newly elected to the club’s management. Mindy Siemers was elected as the new president. She is the eighth president in the club’s history.
James Sanders (NLA), Taylor McCants (Softball), Joseph Stotz (NLB) and Jasper Freigang (1st League) were honored as MVP’s of their respective teams.
Adrian Kämpfer named Headcoach of the Swiss U18 Nationalteam
The Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation named Adrian Kämpfer as the new head coach of the Swiss U18 national baseball team. He follows Roger Savoldelli.
Kämpfer was most recently an assistant coach in the U18 national team and previously worked very successfully as a coach and manager for the juniors in the Challengers organization for many years. The next big goal for the U18 national team will be the European Championship qualifier in 2025.