The NLA-Team also began its championship campaign on Saturday. The Challengers’ home game had to be played at their opponents’ field in Sissach due to construction work at Zurich’s Heerenschürli ballpark. One returning player shone with two grand slams, and a rookie earned his first win.
One player apparently couldn’t wait for the season to start. Carlos Nepomuceno, who missed last season for professional and personal reasons, made his mark on the Challengers’ season opener. In his first at bat as a father, the number four in the lineup hammered the ball over the left-field fence with the bases loaded, giving his team a 4-2 lead that the Zurich team never relinquished. The Frogs, who are now back in the NLA due to the change in format with now seven teams in the NLA, kept the game open for a long time. In the fifth inning they were able to narrow the gap to 3-6 before Nepomuceno stepped up again with the bases loaded in the sixth. And he did it again. Once again, it was a grand slam and four runs for the Challengers. Ultimately the Zurich team won the game 15-3 after seven innings.
In addition to Nepomuceno with his two grand slams and eight RBI, 17-year-old rookie Florin Kämpfer also shone with three hits and three RBI, while Opening Day starter Simon Steffen achieved a complete game win. In seven innings he allowed only four hits, three runs – two earned – and four walks with eight strikeouts.
In the second game of the day the Sissach Frogs also opened the scoring with two runs in the first inning. However, the lead once again only lasted until Carlos Nepomuceno got to work. This time, he tied the game with a two-run double in his first at-bat, before Adderly Sarmiento delivered a two-run single to make it 4-2. In the second inning Ryan Byrne tripled and made it 5-2. One inning later Jack Siemers made it 6-2 before the man of the day added an RBI single to make it 7-3.
Florin Kämpfer earned the first win of his career, giving up just one hit and one run in four innings as a reliever, with three walks and five strikeouts. Nepomuceno again led the Challengers offense with two hits and three RBI, while Ryan Byrne and Samuel Rodriguez Bautista each had two hits.
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Nepomuceno with two Grand Slams, Challengers with two Wins
Opening Day for Softball and NLA
The Softball and NLA teams will also begin their 2025 season on Saturday. While the women’s softball team hosts the SG Frogs/Flyers at home on the Klopstockwiese, the men’s championship begins in Sissach.
The Softball-Team will face the Sissach Frogs and Therwil Flyers in their home opener on the Klopstockwiese. The multiple champions Flyers are returning to the championship after several years of absence, at least as part of the Basel-based team. The Challengers are expecting a return of several players who were unable to participate last season. The games on the Klopstockwiese begin at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, the NLA team will play its first home game against their opponents in Sissach. Due to construction work being carried out at the home field in Heerenschürli for the impressive new backstop, the field is not yet ready for play. The Frogs, who are back in the top division due to the format change and the expansion of the NLA to seven teams, will approach the NLA adventure with great motivation. The games in Sissach Tannbrunn start at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Byrne, Heimgartner honored at the SBSF Awards Night
At the Swiss Baseball and Softball Awards Night, which took place on February 22nd at the Crown Plaza in Zurich, the Swiss Champion teams of the 2024 season were honored and the winners of the individual awards were announced. Among the honored players were two members of the Challengers.
Ryan Byrne was chosen as MVP of the Baseball NLA. The Swiss national team player had a strong season with a batting average of .585, 31 hits, 1 home run, 28 runs and 9 RBI as well as an ERA of 1.91 with 38 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched and a 2-2 record. His offensive statistics also earned him the award as Best Batter in the NLA.
Meanwhile Karen Heimgartner was named the best pitcher in the softball league. She had a 4.99 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 26.2 innings and a 2-3 record last season. Heimgartner has 913 strikeouts in her 19 seasons with the Challengers, 16 of which she also pitched.
Ryan Byrne named Challengers MVP for the third time
Ryan Byrne was named Challengers MVP for the third time after 2014 and 2022. The Swiss national team player once again had a strong season with a batting average of .585, 31 hits, 1 home run, 28 runs and 9 RBI as well as an ERA of 1.91 with 38 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched and a 2-2 record. He also won the title for the Best Batter with his performance at the plate. The MVP of the 2023 season, James Sanders, was honored as Best Pitcher for the fifth time. He had an ERA of 0.55 with 15 strikeouts, a 1.16 WHIP and a 1-0 record. The MIP award went to Regis Reinhard. The Bernese Oberland native achieved a batting average of .388, an on-base percentage of .456, 19 hits, 10 runs and 11 RBI. Jason Wueger was named Rookie of the Year with a batting average of .313, 5 hits, 3 runs and 1 RBI.
Continue Reading » Ryan Byrne named Challengers MVP for the third timeSchedules for Baseball National Leagues published
The Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation has published the schedules for the Baseball NLA and NLB. For the 2025 season seven teams will play in the NLA and NLB each, after the NLA gradually shrank to just four teams in recent years. The mode has also been completely overhauled with this change.
In addition to the four existing teams Therwil Flyers, Wil Pirates, Zurich Barracudas and Zurich Challengers, the Lucerne Eagles, the Sissach Frogs and the second team of the Zurich Barracudas will also be playing in the NLA. In the preliminary round, all teams play a doubleheader against every other team. When each team has played twelve games, the standings will be split. The best four teams play another doubleheader against each other, and the two best teams then play in the playoff final for the Swiss championship title.
The seven teams in the NLB are the Embrach Mustangs, the Hünenberg Unicorns, the Lausanne Indians and the three Zurich city clubs, the Zurich Barracudas with their Academy Team, the Zurich Lions and the Zurich Challengers. The Zurich teams will not play their first home games this season until June. Due to a massive construction delay in the “New Backstop” project at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich-Schwamendingen the facility is closed until the end of May.
The Challengers’ second team will open its season on Sunday, April 13th with a doubleheader against the Therwil Flyers’ second team. The NLA-Team will not play its opening day until after Easter. The Challengers will face the Sissach Frogs on Saturday, April 26 at Sissach Tannbrunn.
Two wins to close the 2024 season
The Challengers end the 2024 season with two wins against the Wil Prates. With the sweep the C’s finish in third place with an ultimately positive record of eight wins and seven losses.
The Zurich lineup revealed that the last gameday of the 2024 season was already a preparation for the 2025 season. No fewer than six U20 players were used and the young talents did a good job. The Challengers set the pace from the start. The Eastern Swiss were able to keep up until the sixth inning, but then the Zurich team made the decisive difference with five runs. James Sanders opened the scoring with an RBI single, Carsten Zuber and Säntis Zeller each scored on a wild pitch from the Pirates pitcher before Jordi Bucher made it 9-3 with a 2-run single. The last run for the final score of 11-4 was symbolic for the game with one of the youngest lineups in club history. Noam Blickenstorfer brought Niilo Benz home with an RBI single.
Säntis Zeller also made history. The eternally young middle infielder insisted on working on his personal bucket list. He is now the first Challengers player since Werner Zingg to play in every field position for an inning in a game. Ryan Byrne delivered the numbers for the game with five hits and four runs, while Simon Steffen was awarded the win for four innings as a relief pitcher, in which he gave up three hits and one run with five strikeouts.
The second game of the day went very similarly. The last game of the season was also tied for a long time before starting pitcher Carsten practically organized the win himself with an RBI double in the top half of the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead. The Pirates were no longer able to make up the deficit. Quite the opposite. Thanks to two errors by the Pirates, Simon Steffen scored in the sixth inning to make it 3-1 and Jordi Bucher brought Jasper Freigang home with a bunt single to make it 4-1, before Regis Reinhard made it 5-2 with an RBI single in the seventh inning and then made the save with the last three outs to bring the Challengers season to a close.
Meanwhile, the Therwil Flyers secured their 16th Swiss championship title with a sweep in the best-of-five final series against the Zurich Barracudas.
NLA-Team wins night game against Wil
In a make-up game on Wednesday evening the Challengers won 9-2 against the Wil Pirates, securing third place in the standings.
While the final for the Swiss Championship is already underway, with the Therwil Flyers leading 1-0 in the best-of-five series against the Zurich Barracudas, the Challengers are still working on a few make-up games against the Wil Pirates. Before they welcome the Eastern Swiss team for a doubleheader at the Heerenschürli on Saturday, the two teams met for a night game on Wednesday evening. The Challengers left no doubt about the outcome of the game from the start. Ryan Byrne started the engine with a leadoff single and scored the first run on an error, before Jack Siemers increased the lead with an RBI double, while Simon Steffen added an RBI single to make it 3-0. The second inning continued in the same style. David Grabher delivered another leadoff single and then, together with Säntis Zeller, scored the next two runs on a 2-run double by James Sanders to make it 5-0. A sign of life from the Pirates with two runs in the fourth inning was answered by Carsten Zuber with an RBI double to make it 6-2.
Pitcher Simon Steffen showed his best performance of the season. He went eight innings and gave up six hits and two runs with one walk and seven strikeouts, while Ryan Byrne and Carsten Zuber led the offense with three hits each. With this victory, the Challengers set their record at 6-7 and can no longer be pushed out of third place by the Pirates. Saturday offers the coaches another opportunity to help the youngsters get some game practice. A total of five U20 players were already in action for the Zurich team on Wednesday.
NLA-Team will face Pirates three times
After the champions Zurich Challengers missed out on reaching the finals and thus failing to defend their title, they will face the Wil Pirates three more times at the end of the season. The first encounter will take place on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. in Zurich’s Heerenschürli ballpark. The other two games will take place on Saturday, September 21st at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., also in Zurich-Schwamendingen.
Continue Reading » NLA-Team will face Pirates three timesChallengers lose semi-final in Swiss Cup
The Challengers also missed out on reaching the finals in the Swiss Cup. In the semi-final against the Zurich Barracudas they had no chance and were clearly defeated 5-18.
After the Challengers missed the finals in the championship and defending their title from 2023 was no longer possible, the Swiss Cup remained the last option to win something in the 2024 season. But the Zurich team had a weak afternoon in their last-chance game. In the first inning two errors led to four runs for the Barracudas, while the Challengers left the inning empty-handed despite having the bases loaded. After two innings the game was already decided. The Challengers helped the visitors pull away to 7-0 with another poorly executed play. It was not until the fourth inning that the home team’s offense woke up. Singles from Carsten Zuber and Jack Siemers and a hit-by-pitch to Simon Steffen loaded the bases with zero outs. A walk by Patrick Maier and a groundout by Säntis Zeller brought the first runs for the Challengers to make it 2-9. But the Barracudas could not be deterred from their winning ways. They had hits with great regularity, totaling 20 by the end of the game, so that they celebrated their entry into Sunday’s cup final with a final score of 18-5. For the Challengers the Swiss Cup ended in another disappointment.
The winners of the Swiss Cup were the Therwil Flyers. The Basel team defeated the Zurich Barracudas 6-3 in the final game on Sunday thanks to four runs in the seventh inning.
Swiss Cup 2024: Final weekend
Saturday, September 7th, semi-final 1: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Lions 9-0
Saturday, September 7th, semi-final 2: Zurich Challengers vs. Zürich Barracudas 5-18
Sunday, September 8th, final: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Barracudas< 6-3/li>
Final Weekend in the Swiss Cup
Not less than three clubs from the city of Zurich are lining up in the semifinals of this year’s newly designed Swiss Cup. The semifinals on Saturday will see the pairings between the NLB team Zurich Lions and the Therwil Flyers, as well as the local derby between the Zurich Barracudas and the Zurich Challengers.
After the Challengers missed out on a place in the championship final and are no longer able to defend their title, the Swiss Cup remains their last option to win something in the 2024 season. The draw for the semifinals gave them the eagerly awaited local derby with the Zurich Barracudas. In the championship the Barracudas won three of the five direct duels, while the Challengers won two games. In the other semifinal the Therwil Flyers will face the lower-class Zurich Lions. They surprisingly won the quarterfinals after a spectacular rally against the NLA club Wil Pirates. Both the semifinals on Saturday and the final on Sunday will take place at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich.
Swiss Cup 2024: Final weekend
Saturday, September 7th, 11:00 a.m., Zurich Heerenschürli: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Lions
Saturday, September 7th, 2:00 p.m., Zurich Heerenschürli: Zurich Challengers vs. Zurich Barracudas
Sunday, September 8th, 2:00 p.m., Zurich Heerenschürli: Final