The U12 Juveniles celebrated a sweep of the Rümlang Kobras at the start of the season. For many players on the youngest Challengers team, Opening Day was not only the first game day of the 2024 season but also their debut on a baseball field.
The pChallengers showed a splendid performance and grabbed two important wins against their neighbors with a score of 13-5 and 8-5, which will give the young team self-confidence for their future tasks.
The 2024 season for the Challengers junior’s organization begins in Rümlang. Both the U12 Juveniles and the U15 Cadets will play against the Rümlang Kobras on Opening Day.
The U12 games will take place on Saturday, April 13th in Rümlang Rümelbach. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. At the same time on Sunday, April 14th, the U15 Cadets will meet the Kobras. For the Cadets, this is a revival of the final series of the last two years.
The Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation has further refined the concept launched last year for the youngest age group of the U12 Juveniles with championship games and specially organized Preparation Gamedays for the new season.
In the Swiss Championship, which determines the best club team of the season, and the Little League, which determines the Swiss representation at the Little League tournament in Kutno, Poland in July, the focus is on competition. At the Preparation Gamedays the focus is on the individual development of the children and their preparation for the following games in their age groups. In contrast to the championship games, no license is required for these open game days for all interested children. While the club teams compete against each other in the championship, on the Preparation Gamedays will be played in mixed teams. The coach pitch tournaments are played with simple rules, while the live pitch tournaments have rules that are closer to championships and Little League tournaments.
The first Preparation Gamedays took place this weekend in the best possible conditions. The youngest Challengers players were in action at the live pitch tournament in Hünenberg on Saturday and at the coach pitch tournament in Rümlang on Sunday. Next Saturday the first championship games of the 2024 season will take place in Rümlang.
The traditional indoor tournament of the Rümlang Kobras took place in Rümlang on Saturday. The Challengers took part with their U12 Juveniles and U15 Cadets. This resulted in a fifth and a third place.
With the tournament in Rümlang, the indoor season for the juniors continued after the sports holidays. For the many new players in the U12 Juveniles team, the tournament was a fine opportunity to gain experience and play some games. The young team reached fifth place out of six participants. The next opportunity to continue learning will be next Saturday at the 16th indoor tournament in Therwil.
The U15 Cadets, who were in the final at their home tournament five weeks ago, missed out on a place in the final this time due to a 0-2 defeat in the semi-final against the hosts Rümlang Kobras. The Challengers were able to take revenge for the final defeat suffered in the home tournament in the game for third place against the Therwil Flyers. The team from Geneva won the tournament, despite a loss against the Challengers in the preliminary round.
The traditional Challengers juniors indoor tournament in the ETH Hönggerberg sports hall in Zurich will take place this winter on Sunday, February 4th.
Before that the U12 Juveniles and U15 Cadets of the Challengers will be in action at the indoor tournaments in Wil and Bern. The tournament in eastern Switzerland will take place on Saturday, December 9th, the one in the federal city on January 20th, 2024.
The U12-Juveniles get a win against the SG Ravens/Frogs in the Wild Card tournament of the three second-placed teams, but are defeated by the Rümlang Kobras beforehand. While the Kobras buy the last ticket for the finals, the Challengers will play against the Ravens/Frogs for fifth place next Saturday.
The Kobras made it clear early in the game that they were aiming for the Final Four tournament. The young Challengers team fought back as best they could, but ultimately had too little horsepower to pose a serious threat to the stronger Kobras. The Zürcher Unterländer finally won clearly with 11-4.
Since the Kobras defeated the SG Ravens/Frogs 8-4 in the second game of the day, it was clear even before the last game between the Solothurn-Baselland team and the Challengers that the Final Four tournament was out of reach for both. However, the Zurich team showed another strong performance in the offensive. Despite struggling on defense and pitching, they somehow managed to hold off the fresh-playing Ravens/Frogs and won the game 16-9.
This means that the Challengers are missing out the medals in this age group for the first time since 2015, but in view of the many new players they can be very satisfied with reaching the games for fifth place.
A curiosity awaits the NLA-Team next Sunday. The Challengers meet the Wil Pirates three times. Before the actually planned double header on the Heerenschürli takes place, the last inning of a game that has been suspended in April due to rain has to be completed. The game was stoped in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and a 14-10 lead for the Challengers. There are still two outs to play. The trilogy begins at 10.45 a.m. at the Heerenschürli ballpark.
The NLB-Team travels to Lucerne on Saturday, where they will meet the Lucerne Eagles. In the first meeting of the season in Zurich, they suffered two painful defeats against the central Swiss. The games start at 11 am and 2 pm in Reussbühl Hinterruopigen.
The U15-Cadets are also in action on Saturday. After the two defeats last weekend, a reaction is to be expected. After the opening game against the SG Black Hawks, the C’s will play again against the Hünenberg Unicorns. The games will take place in Embrach PZ Hard and start at 10 am and 3 pm.
The Softball-Team also meets the Luzern Eagles on Sunday, June 11th. In the case of the women’s team, the first comparison this season went in favor of the Challengers. The games start at 11 am and 1.30 pm in Reussbühl Hinterruopigen.
The U12-Juveniles are in action on the Klopstockwiese on Sunday. As runners-up in the Central group, they are contesting the wild card tournament for fourth place at the Final Four tournament on June 18 in Hünenberg. The Challengers Juniors play at 10 am and 3 pm.
The U12-Juveniles traveled to Lucerne on Pentecost Saturday for a make-up day tournament that fell victim to the rain in spring. Opponents were the Lucerne Eagles and Therwil Flyers. The young Challengers team had its problems with both opponents. While it was a relatively tight 5-11 against the hosts Lucerne Eagles, they suffered a 4-16 defeat against the Therwil Flyers in the second game of the day.
Continue Reading » No wins for the JuvenilesThe U12 Juveniles will play a make-up game in Lucerne on Saturday, May 27th. The games against the Lucerne Eagles and Therwil Flyers fell victim to the weather conditions in this rainy spring. The games will take place at 10:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. in Reussbühl Hinterruopigen.
Continue Reading » Juveniles travel to LucerneOn Saturday, the Challengers will meet the Cardinals at the Heerenschürli ballpark. In one of the classics in Swiss baseball, the challengers are the favorites this time. In the past this was not always the case. Although the Challengers lead in the head-to-head since 1995 with 70-62 victories. But the Cardinals often proved to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially in the playoffs, most recently in 2020. The game starts at 11 am and 2 pm.
Sunday is all about the juniors. The U15 Cadets will play the SG Pirates in Rümlang. The encounters with the the team from Wil start at 11.00 am and 1.30 pm in Rümlang Rümelbach.
Meanwhile, the U12 Juveniles travel to Central Switzerland, where they meet the SG Eagles/Unicorns and the Therwil Flyers. The games start at 10 am and 12.30 pm in Lucerne-Reussbühl Hinterruopigen.