As always, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May in Switzerland. And the Challengers Softball women’s team hosts a home game against the Bern Cardinals. After a successful start to the season against the SG Frogs/Flyers, the C’s will look to carry the momentum into their duel with the team from the Swiss capital. Games will kick off at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the Klopstockwiese in Zurich-Enge.
The U15 Cadets will be in action on Saturday, aiming for their first win of the season in Wil, St. Gallen. Their opponents will once again be the Rümlang Kobras and the SG Pirates. The games begin at 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. at the Wil Lindenhof.
The U12 Juveniles will also travel to Wil on Sunday. The Challengers, undefeated this season, will face the Wil Devils. The games will be played at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the Lindenhof in Wil.
Posts in the Juveniles category:
Softball Homegame on Mother’s Day
Juveniles narrowly defeat Kobras
Due to the poor weather forecast for Sunday, the Kobras and Challengers officials agreed to move the doubleheader to Saturday. This seemed to be the right strategy. Although it wasn’t completely dry on Saturday, both games could still be played.
While the Challengers clearly defeated the Kobras on Opening Day, the two games on Saturday were close affairs. But once again the Challengers prevailed. They beat the Kobras 8-6 and 7-5 in two close games and remain undefeated at the top of the standings.
Juveniles games moved to Saturday at Rümlang
Due to the poor weather forecast for Sunday, the U12-Juveniles games between the Rümlang Kobras and the Challengers have been moved to Saturday, May 3. The games will be played in Rümlang instead.
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The U12-Juveniles will play for the first time this season on Sunday, May 4, at their home field, Klopstockwiese, in Zurich-Enge. They will host their cantonal rivals, the Rümlang Kobras. The Challengers defeated the Zurich Unterländers 14-3 on the first gameday of the season at the beginning of April. The Kobras will be pushing hard to achieve a better result. The games begin at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Two wins on Opening Day for the juveniles
The U12 Juveniles secured the first wins for the Challengers organization of the 2025 season. The youngest Challengers team won both of its games on Opening Day in Bulle.
The Zurich team’s first opponent was the Geneva Dragons, who have celebrated several junior titles in recent years. It was therefore exciting to see how the blue and reds would fare. The French-Swiss team won the first inning 3-2. But then the Challengers turned things around. In the second inning they scored five runs to make it 7-3 and ultimately won decisively 13-5. Starting pitcher Len Blickenstorfer earned the first win of the season.
In the second game of the day, the Challengers faced their cantonal rivals, the Rümlang Kobras. The blue and reds carried the momentum from their opening game and were already ahead 5-1 after the first inning. They extended their lead to 10-3 by the third inning, ultimately winning 14-3. This time, starter Roy Gonzalez was credited with the win.
Juveniles’ Opening Day in Bulle
The U12 Juveniles Championship has been reorganized by the Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation. In 2025, there will be two divisions within the U12 age group: the Competitive League and the Development League. Both divisions are divided into an Eastern and a Western group, with teams competing across regional borders as well.
The Challengers begin their season on Saturday, April 12, in Bulle, Fribourg. There they will face the Geneva Dragons at 10:00 a.m. before playing the Rümlang Kobras at 12:30 p.m.
Cadets win the C’s indoor tournament
On Sunday the 9th Challengers Junior Indoor Tournament took place in the ETH Hönggerberg sports hall in Zurich. While the Challengers’ Juveniles were mainly interested in gaining experience, the Cadets won the tournament on home soil.
In the U12 Juveniles age group the Challengers recorded a pleasing increase in members over the winter. Accordingly, many new players made their baseball competition debut on the Hönggerberg, so the focus was on gaining experience for the youngest players.
The U15 Cadets went into their home tournament with completely different goals. And the blue-reds delivered. The Challengers won all their games and also had the upper hand in the final against Wil with 7-4.
Juniors Indoor Tournament at the Hönggerberg
The 9th Challengers Juniors Indoor Tournament will take place on Sunday, March 2nd at the Sports Centre of the ETH at the Hönggerberg. The kids will participate in two tournaments for the U12 Juveniles and the U15 Cadets. The tournament will start with the Juveniles at 9.30 a.m. where each team plays against each other team. The tournament of the Cadets starts at 12.45 p.m., first pitch for the final will be at 3.45 p.m.
Participants U12 Juveniles (09.30 a.m. – 12.30 p.m.)
Rümlang Kobras
Therwil Flyers
Devils/Pirates
Zürich Challengers
Participants U15 Cadets (12.45 p.m. – 4.15 p.m.)
Rümlang Kobras
Therwil Flyers
Wil Pirates
Zürich Challengers
Armin Blickenstorfer new assistant coach of the U15 National Team
The Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation (SBSF) has named Armin Blickenstorfer the new assistant coach of the U15-Cadets national team.
The original Challenger started his baseball career in 1989 with the Schwamendingers and went through all age groups and teams in Zurich North. He took part in various European Cup tournaments with the Challengers and became Swiss champion four times. He gained his first experience as a coach during his active career. He later led the softball team for two seasons and was most recently the coach of the Challengers’ U12 youth team for many years, with whom he also won four Swiss championship titles.
In the last two years, Blickenstorfer took over as head coach of the Swiss Little League team, which impressed with strong performances, particularly last year in Kutno, Poland. The move to the U15 Cadets national team as assistant to the new head coach David Castillo is therefore a logical next step for the Zurich native.
Juveniles win Bronze Medal
The U12-Juveniles won the bronze medal at the Final Four tournament in Bulle on Saturday. After a clear semi-final loss against arch-rivals Therwil Flyers, the Challengers defeated the Wil Devils in the game for third place with 8-6. The Swiss championship title went to the Therwil Flyers, who were able to somewhat surprisingly defeat the Geneva Dragons, who had been better placed in the preliminary round, 6-4 in the final.
U12-Juveniles Final Four tournament in Bulle, Stade de Bouleyres:
Saturday, August 31st, semi-final 1: Wil Devils vs. Geneva Dragons 2-12
Saturday, August 31st, semi-final 2: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Challengers 13-2
Saturday, August 31st, match for third place: Zurich Challengers vs. Wil Devils 8-6
Saturday, August 31st, final: Therwil Flyers vs. Geneva Dragons 6-4
U12-Juveniles Final Four Tournament in Bulle
The U12-Juveniles will compete in the Final Four tournament on Saturday for the Swiss championship title in the youngest age group in Swiss baseball. The tournament will be held for the first time in Bulle, Fribourg. The Challengers will face the Therwil Flyers in the semifinals, as they did in the U15 age group as well. The Geneva Dragons 2 and the Wil Devils will face each other in the other semifinal. The winners of the two semi-finals will then play for the championship, the losers will play for third place.
U12-Juveniles Final Four Tournament in Bulle, Stade de Bouleyres:
Saturday, August 31st, 10:00 a.m., Semi-final 1: Wil Devils vs. Geneva Dragons 2
Saturday, August 31st, 12:00 p.m., Semi-final 2: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Challengers
Saturday, August 31st, 2:00 p.m., Bronze medal game
Saturday, August 31st, 4:00 p.m., Final
The U15-Cadets will play their third and deciding game of their best-of-three semi-final series against the Therwil Flyers on Sunday at Therwil Känematt. One week ago both teams have won one game each.
U15-Cadets Playoff Semifinals Zurich Challengers vs. Therwil Flyers: Score 1-1 (best-of-three)
Saturday, August 24th, 11:00 a.m., Therwil Känelmatt: Therwil Flyers vs. Zürich Challengers 8-9
Saturday, August 24th, 1:30 p.m., Therwil Känelmatt: Zurich Challengers vs. Therwil Flyers 14-18
Sunday, September 1st, 11:00 a.m., Therwil Känelmatt: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Challengers