After only one win in their first four games, the Challengers put on a strong performance against Wil on Sunday. Florin Kämpfer and Säntis Zeller both hit home runs in both games.
While the Challengers had been a bit sluggish in their previous games, they delivered a powerful performance at Wil’s Lindenhof field. The Zurich team pulled away to a 10-0 lead in the second inning with seven hits and eight runs. The victory was never in doubt, quite the opposite. A two-run home run by Florin Kämpfer in the third inning and a three-run home run by Säntis Zeller in the fourth inning contributed to the visitors’ easy 19-2 victory.
Of the Challengers’ 20 hits, four came from Florin Kämpfer, who also recorded five RBIs. Fabrizio Bucher and Carsten Zuber each had three hits, while Jasper Freigang, Leonel Hernandez Reyes, and David Castillo had two hits apiece.
Kämpfer also dominated the second game of the day. He was credited with the win as pitcher, and his 3-run home run in the third inning, which put the Challengers up 5-1, proved decisive. Säntis Zeller immediately followed up with a solo home run, creating the rare situation of back-to-back home runs. The visitors maintained control and finished the day with a 15-3 victory.
Florin Kämpfer totaled two hits, four RBIs, and three runs, pitching the win in 4.2 innings, allowing only one hit and two runs, with six strikeouts and six walks. Jordi Bucher went 3-for-3 and scored three runs, Fabrizio Bucher had two hits and three runs, while rookies Shadir Mora Soler and Yoshihiro Miura each contributed three RBIs.
This leaves the Challengers tied for second place in their group with a balanced 3-3 record. Next Sunday, they will face the reigning champions, the Therwil Flyers, the undefeated league leaders, at the Heerenschürli ballpark.

On Saturday, the Zurich Barracudas Academy and the Zurich Challengers opened the new baseball season at the Heerenschürli ballpark. Both games were back-and-forth affairs, with each team ultimately securing a victory. Game 2 went to extra innings, with the Challengers taking the win in a dramatic fashion.
In the opening game both teams initially showed signs of lacking game practice. Plagued by several errors the Challengers led 8-6 after three innings. However, in the fifth inning the Academy stepped up their game. A two-run triple by Yuki Nagae tied the game and after two more runs Tiago Lutz extended the lead to 12-8 with a two-run single. Despite an in-the-park home run by Fabrizio Bucher, the Challengers were unable to overcome this deficit and ultimately lost 11-14. Fabrizio Bucher recorded two hits for the Challengers, including a solo home run, while playing coach David Castillo and Simon Steffen had two hits apiece.
The second game was a back-and-forth affair. Both teams took the lead twice, but each managed to tie the game twice as well. Consequently, the game went into extra innings. The Academy as the visiting team struck first. After an error by the Challengers’ defense on a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly by Kai Wilson, the Barracudas took an 8-6 lead. But the Challengers had the final words. First, Noam Blickenstorfe batted in the two ghost runners with a two-run double to tie the game again, before Florin Kämpfer ended the game with an exclamation mark belting a walk-off home run over the wall in right center field.

The NLA games between the Zurich Challengers and the Therwil Flyers scheduled for today, Saturday, August 2, had to be canceled due to an unplayable field. At the Heerenschürli ballpark on Saturday morning, a swimming competition would have been more realistic than a baseball game. The Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation’s TC will decide promptly whether and when the games will be rescheduled.

The Challengers lost also the fourth derby against their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas this season. The game was very even for a long time before the Barracudas pulled away in the eighth inning, ultimately winning 11-4.
After their decisive defeat in last Friday’s local derby, the Challengers started way better this time. Pitcher Tate Stone-Frisina had a good night and the offense was up to speed right from the start. James Sanders delivered an RBI single in the first inning to make it 1-0. Although the Barracudas were able to score two runs themselves following a Challengers error, the home team answered in the third. After a leadoff single by Carsten Zuber, Säntis Zeller, James Sanders, and Noam Blickenstorfer had RBI-singles to make it 4-2. But the Barracudas found the antidote to the Challengers’ bats in Nicholas Miceli. The former German champion, with the Bonn Capitals, didn’t allow a single hit in six innings as a reliever and recorded twelve strikeouts. Meanwhile, the Challengers defense gave away the lead with numerous errors. These initially tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth inning, before the Barracudas retook the lead 5-4 in the seventh. In the eighth inning the visitors then sealed the victory with six runs, making it 11-4.
It wasn’t pitcher Stone-Frisina’s fault. He gave up eleven hits and eleven runs, but only one of those was earned. He also recorded eleven strikeouts. The Challengers defense ultimately totaled no fewer than nine errors – the most in 16 years. At least one Challenger had reason to celebrate, though. Mike Siemers got his first hit in the NLA in the second inning.

On Tuesday night, July 29, at 6:30 p.m., the fourth local derby of the season between the Zurich Barracudas and the Zurich Challengers will take place at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The game was originally scheduled to take place last Saturday, but had to be canceled early due to heavy rain.