On Sunday, the youngest Challengers also started into their 2026 season. And they returned from Lucerne with two victories under their belts.
For many of the new players that joined the U12 Juveniles team since the end of last season, Sunday’s game at the Reussbühl Hinterruopigen field marked their first competitive outing. The young players performed remarkably well, earning two impressive wins. In the first game of the day, the Challengers defeated the host Lucerne Eagles 17-4, before following up with a 20-4 victory in their second game against the SG Lausanne Indians/Martigny District Baseball/Bulle Baseball from western Switzerland.
Posts in the Juveniles category:
Successful Season Opener for the Juveniles
Challengers host Flyers on Sunday
On Sunday, the Zurich Challengers and the Therwil Flyers will face off in a traditional duel at the Heerenschürli ballpark. No other teams have met more frequently. Since 1994 the two teams will clash for the 172nd and 173rd time on Sunday, and since the Swiss Championship began in 1982, the two founding members of the Federation have met over two hundred times. First pitch is at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
The history between the Challengers Softball-Team and the Wittenbach Panthers is much shorter. However, there have already been some exciting games between them, for example, in the finals from 2021 to 2023. Currently, the Challengers are considered underdogs against the defending champions, even though the Panthers suffered a surprising loss to the Lucerne Eagles on Opening Day. The games will take place on Saturday at 11:00 AM and 1:30 PM in Wittenbach Sonnenrain.
Furthermore, the U12 Juveniles will be in action on Sunday. The Challengers’ youngest team will face the Lucerne Eagles and the Lausanne Indians in Lucerne Reussbühl. The games start at 10:00 AM and 12:30 PM at Hinterruopigen.
Opening Day
The 2026 baseball and softball season kicks off on the weekend of April 11th and 12th. The Challengers are playing in full strenght.
The first team will host the Zurich Barracudas Academy at the Heerenschürli ballpark on Saturday for the season opener of the newly formed National League. Games start at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
Meanwhile, the second team travels to Lausanne on Sunday, where the Challengers will face the Lausanne Indians at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
Also on Sunday, the women’s softball team begins its new season. The Challengers will play the SG Therwil Flyers/Wittenbach Panthers at 11:00 AM and 1:30 PM in Therwil Känelmatt.
Even the youngest players will be in action on Sunday. The U12 Juveniles will host the Therwil Flyers at 11:00 AM and 1:30 PM at Klopstockwiese.
10th Junior Indoor Tournament
On Sunday the tenth edition of the Challengers Junior Indoor Tournament took place in the sports hall at the ETH Hönggerberg. After the last two tournaments were held in February and March, respectively, the Challengers returned to their original November date. As usual, four teams each competed in the U12 Juveniles and U15 Cadets age groups.
For many of the numerous new Challengers U12 players, it was their first competitive tournament. Therefore, finishing in fourth place was of secondary importance. The home team also fielded the youngest squad in the Cadets category, as a large number of players were competing in the older junior age group for the first time. Here, too, the hosts finished in fourth place. The Challengers thank all participants, spectators, and, last but not least, all the volunteers who made the anniversary edition of the indoor tournament at Zurich’s Hönggerberg campus a resounding success.
Juveniles reach the Championship Game
The home team qualified for the chmapionship game of the U12-Juveniles final four tournament at the Klopstockwiese in Zurich-Enge. The Challengers beat the Geneva Dragons 6-2 in the first semifinal. However, the Therwil Flyers proved too strong in the final.
The finals day began well for the Challengers. Although the visitors from Geneva took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, the home team immediately responded with three runs to make it 3-2. And because the defense, led by strong pitcher Roy Gonzalez, didn’t allow any more runs and the Challengers regularly added runs on offense, the Zurich team ultimately secured a comfortable 6-2 victory. In the second semifinal, the Therwil Flyers defeated the Lucerne Eagles in an extremely close game with a 2-1 walk-off victory.
The finals thus pitted the Therwil Flyers against the Zurich Challengers – once again in a final in Swiss baseball. However, this soon proved to be a one-sided affair. In the first inning, the Challengers made a fatal error in the outfield, giving the Baselbieters a 2-0 lead. The Challengers failed to respond. The offense remained largely harmless, all the close plays were going to the Flyers, who steadily extended their lead to 7-0. It wasn’t until the fourth inning that the Challengers finally got on the scoreboard. Then the Flyers went on to blast off, scoring seven more runs with numerous impressive extra-base hits. The Challengers showed some courage in the final inning, scoring two more runs to make it 3-14. The championship title, however, logically went to Therwil. The Geneva Dragons took the bronze medal with a 5-4 victory over the Eagles.
U12 Final-Four Schedule, Sunday, August 31., Klopstockwiese, Zurich-Enge:
Semi-Final no. 1: Geneva Dragons vs. Zürich Challengers 2-6
Semi-Final no. 2: Luzern Eagles vs. Therwil Flyers 1-2
Game for third place: Geneva Dragons vs. Luzern Eagles 5-4
Final: Therwil Flyers vs. Zürich Challengers 14-3
Juveniles Final-Four on Sunday in Zurich
The final-four tournament for the U12 Juveniles will take place on Sunday at the Klopstockwiese in Zurich-Enge. The four best teams from the preliminary round will compete. These are the Therwil Flyers and the Geneva Dragons from the Western group, while the Lucerne Eagles and the Zurich Challengers prevailed in the Eastern group.
In the semifinals at 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., the top two teams from each group will face the runner-up from the other group. The losers of the semifinals will play for the bronze medal at 2:00 p.m., and the winners will compete for the U12 Swiss championship at 4:00 p.m.
U12 Final-Four Schedule, Sunday, August 31., Klopstockwiese, Zurich-Enge:
10 a.m., Semi-Final no. 1: Geneva Dragons vs. Zürich Challengers
12 p.m., Semi-Final no. 2: Luzern Eagles vs. Therwil Flyers
2 p.m., Game for third place
4 p.m., Final
Win and Loss for the Juveniles
The U12-Juveniles hosted their closest rivals, the Luzern Eagles, and the Bern Cardinals at the Klopstockwiese to conclude their 2025 preliminary round. The three teams enjoyed a fantastic day of baseball in perfect conditions.
On a purely sporting level, the results were not quite as positive. Against the second-placed Luzern Eagles, the Challengers had no chance in a game for the first time this season. Consequently they suffered their second defeat of the season with a score of 6-13. However the hosts improved again against the Bern Cardinals, winning the second game of the day 12-9. The Challengers finished the preliminary round at the top of the Competitive group East with an impressive record of twelve wins and only two losses.
Big Weekend Action
All Challengers teams, with the exception of the Slowpitch Softball-Team, will be in action this coming weekend. While the NLA-Team will play two night games against the Barracudas at the Heerenschürli ballpark on Friday and Saturday evenings, the following games are also scheduled:
On Saturday, the Softball-Team will face the SG Sissach Frogs/Therwil Flyers for the second time this season. The Challengers won twice against the young team from Basel-Landschaft at the Klopstockwiese earlier in the season. Now the return games in Therwil are scheduled. The games will be played at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Känelmatt II.
The U15-Cadets have an even longer journey ahead. The Challengers will face the Geneva Dragons 2 in Bulle, canton of Fribourg, and will attempt to secure their first win of the season. The games start at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the Stade de Bouleyres in Bulle.
On Sunday, the NLB-Team will also be able to play for the first time in the renovated Heerenschürli ballpark. The Challengers will host the Zurich Lions in a small city derby. The Lions, second in the league, await coach Tate Stone-Frisina’s team. First pitch is at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
The youngest Challengers will also play two more games on Sunday. They welcome the Lucerne Eagles and the Bern Cardinals to their home field, Klopstockwiese. Game times are 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Juveniles top fight goes to the Challengers
On Saturday the U12-Juveniles hosted the Lucerne Eagles at the Klopstockwiese in Zurich-Enge for a top-of-the-table clash in the Eastern Group. The two rivals were in first and second place with only one loss each.
The Challengers now have a 3.5 games lead. They defeated the Central Swiss team 5-0 and 5-3 in two hard-fought games. In Game 1, starting pitcher Len Blickenstorfer, who was awarded with the win, and Henry Ruffieux pitched a shutout win. In the second game of the day Florian Gränz and Roy Gonzalez kept the Eagles batters in check.
Home Opener on Sunday
For the first time this season the NLA-Team will be playing at their home field Heerenschürli on Sunday. After the completion of the impressive new back stop, play resumed at the end of May. For their home debut, the Challengers will host the Zurich Barracudas’ second team. Games will be held at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
The NLB-Team will also be in action on Sunday. The Challengers will face the Unicorns in Hünenberg, Canton Zug. The two neighboring teams in the standings will play at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. The Unicorns have won six of their eight games so far, while the Challengers have a 4-2 record.
The U12-Juveniles will be playing on Saturday. The Challengers will host the Lucerne Eagles in the top match of the Eastern Group. Both teams have only one loss to their name. Games start at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.