In a make-up game on Wednesday night the Zurich Barracudas Academy and the Zurich Challengers decided the fourth and final semi-finalist of this year’s Swiss Cup. What initially looked like a clear affair for the favorites almost turned into a nail-biter in the end. Ultimately, however, the Challengers prevailed 15-12. They will now face the flagship team of their city rivals in the semi-finals on September 7th at the Heerenschürli ballpark.
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NLA games canceled
Today’s NLA games between the Wil Pirates and the Zürich Challengers in Wil had to be postponed due to rain. No make-up date has been announced so far.
Continue Reading » NLA games canceledNLA-Team heads to Wil, Cadets semi-finals in Therwil
At the end of the preliminary round the third-placed Zurich Challengers and the fourth-placed Wil Pirates will meet in Wil on Sunday, which is unfortunately of no significance for the standings anymore. Even before the remaining games have been played, it is clear that the Challengers will no longer be able to defend their title. The focus against the Eastern Swiss team is therefore to equalize the won-loss record of their 2024 season at 7-7. In the first meeting between the two clubs in Zurich this spring the Pirates and the Challengers won one game apiece. The games start at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in Wil’s Lindenhof.
There is much more at stake for the U15 Cadets. They will play games 1 and 2 of their playoff semi-final series against the Therwil Flyers on Saturday in Therwil. The duel between the Challengers, who finished first in the East group, and the second in the West group has been a great classic in the older junior category for decades. With a few exceptions the two traditional organizations meet almost every year in the playoffs. The Challengers will try to defend their title from the previous year. The first two games of the series will take place at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Therwil Känelmatt.
U15-Cadets playoff semi-finals Zurich Challengers vs. Therwil Flyers: Standings 0-0 (best-of-three)
Saturday, August 24th, 11:00 a.m., Therwil Känelmatt: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Challengers
Saturday, August 24th, 1:30 p.m., Therwil Känelmatt: Zurich Challengers vs. Therwil Flyers
Saturday, August 31st, 11:00 a.m., Therwil Känelmatt: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Challengers (if necessary)
Challengers’ Swiss Cup quartefinal washed out
After the day tournament in the 1st league yesterday, also today’s Swiss Cup quarterfinal between the Zurich Challengers and the Zurich Barracudas Academy in the Heerenschürli ballpark had to be canceled due to rain. Although the teams tried to clear the puddles from the pitch, the sand area was already too soft due to the consistent rain. Wednesday, August 28th at 6.30 p.m. was provisionally set as a make-up date.
The other three quarterfinal games in the Swiss Cup competition were able to take place on Saturday. The Therwil Flyers, the Zurich Barracudas and the Zurich Lions, who managed to pull off a surprising win against the NLA team of the Wil Pirates as a lower-class team, qualified for the final tournament on September 7th/8th, also at the Heerenschürli ballpark.
Home games in 1st League and Swiss Cup
Next weekend the Challengers will play twice at their home ballpark Heerenschürli in Zurich Schwamendingen.
The 1st League-Team will start on Saturday with a day tournament. The Challengers will first meet the fourth team of the Zurich Barracudas at 10 a.m. and at 3 p.m. they will be able to take revenge on the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions, against whom they lost the game in Wil by one run last Sunday.
On Sunday the quarterfinals of this year’s Swiss Cup will take place at 11 a.m. After the Challengers were unable to defend their title in the championship, the cup competition remains the last stage to celebrate a sporting success this season. The opponent is the Zurich Barracudas Academy. The game is scheduled for nine innings. Extra innings, if needed, will be played without ghost runners.
Challengers advance to Swiss Cup quarterfinals
The Challengers advance to the quarterfinals of the Swiss Cup as group winners with home field advantage. The Zurich team did not let themselves down in the third group game against an NLB team either. They beat the Lucerne Eagles comfortably 11-4.
After victories against the second team of the Barracudas and the second team of the Therwil Flyers, the last opponent in the preliminary round were the Lucerne Eagles. The Challengers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The decision was made in the fourth frame. Fabrizio Bucher increased the lead to 4-0 with a 2-run double, Thomas Burger followed with an RBI single, Tobias Siegrist followed with an RBI to make it 6-0, before Leonel Sosa Marte provided the highlight of the day with a 3-run home run. The guests briefly lost concentration, which the Eagles used to score four unearned runs, but the Zurich team and pitcher Stefan Haltmeier did not let anything go wrong. In eight innings he gave up only four unearned runs and six hits and recorded eleven strikeouts.
1st League day tournament at the Heerenschürli
On Saturday a day tournament of the 1st league championship is scheduled at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The Challengers have been the unluckiest team so far this season. They have only been able to play one night game in the first three and a half months of the 2024 season. All other games had to be canceled due to rain. On Saturday now games are planned against the Wittenbach-Pirates team and against the fourth team of the Zurich Barracudas. The games start at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
There will be a top battle in softball. In a repeat of the final of the last three years the Zurich Challengers will face the Wittenbach Panthers on Sunday. Both teams managed to win one game each, as they faced each other on opening day. The Challengers however are riding a four game losing streak after falling short four times against their local rivals Zürich Barracudas. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. in Wittenbach Sonnenrain.
Meanwhil the NLA-Team will play another make-up game in the Swiss Cup against the Luzern Eagles on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Reussbühl. With a win the Challengers can secure first place in the preliminary round of the group and could play against one of the four group runners-up in the quarterfinals.
Win in Swiss Cup – task fulfilled
The NLA-Team had to travel to Therwil on Sunday. There, however, the Challengers met the record champions’ second team. The game was correspondingly one-sided with the Zurich team winning 20-0 after seven innings.
For the Challengers it was the second clear success in the cup competition. Since they missed out on qualifying for the finals in the championship and thus failing to defend their title, the Swiss Cup remains the Challengers’ last goal of the season. The Zurich team approached the game against their lower-class opponents with appropriate seriousness. Not only the result, but also the number of hits with 16-5 and the number of baserunners with 31-7 spoke for themselves. The guests took a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Marcus Mäder and Jason Wüger helped to organize the early lead with RBI doubles. And the Zurich team continued to build on this until the match ended after seven innings due to the mercy rule.
Marcus Mäder led the offense with four hits, including three doubles, five RBI and three runs, but Regis Reinhard, Leonel Sosa Marie and Carsten Zuber also delivered three hits each, while Jason Wüger contributed four RBI. Stefan Haltmeier gave up five hits and two walks in six innings with eight strikeouts.
Swiss Cup make-up games
The newly designed Swiss Cup competition has not been off to a good start. Two of the three scheduled game days were canceled due to rain. A number of games will now be played next weekend. The NLB-Team will be in action on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in Embrach. The Challengers’ second team will face the Zurich Barracudas Academy.
On Sunday afternoon the Challengers NLA-Team will play against the Therwil Flyers’ second team at 2 p.m. at the Therwiler Känelmatt.
Challengers cannot defend title
The NLA-Team cannot defend its title from the previous year. The Challengers lose 7-14 to the Flyers away from home. At the same time the Zurich Barracudas win both of their games against the Wil Pirates. This means that the Challengers can only catch up with the top duo in terms of victories, but has a negative record in direct comparison against both opponents.
The hope of a win in Basel only lasted a short time. In the first inning Leonel Sosa Marte put his team in the lead with a sac fly, which James Sanders increased with an RBI single. The home team, however, equalized in the second inning and took the lead for the first time in the third frame with 5-2. With a double and a triple the Flyers scored four more runs in the fourth inning and Sven Leemannn followed up with a grand slam in the sixth. Ultimately the Zurich team suffered a 7-14 loss.
Regis Reinhard had three hits and three RBI, Jason Wüger delivered three hits and Leonel Sosa Marte recorded three RBI for the Challengers. They still have three games to play against the Wil Pirates and as many games as possible in the Swiss Cup.