The NLB-Team played against the Hünenberg Unicorns on Saturday at the Rony field. The Challengers showed a remarkable performance with many juniors in the lineup, but were not rewarded for it, just like the Swiss national soccer team. In the first game the comeback ended with the tying run on third base, and the second game was lost in the last half inning.
The Challengers were behind from the start. But they did so with great fighting spirit and stayed within striking distance until the end. The Central Swiss team built up a 4-1 lead in the first two innings. In the fourth inning however Ben Dickow delivered a leadoff single, followed by an RBI-triple from Thomas Blank, who was able to shorten the score to 3-4 himself after a Unicorns error. The home team stayed on the gas and immediately increased the score to 6-3, but an RBI single from Niilo Benz brought the Zurich team back to 4-6. The Unicorns again created some breathing room and made it 9-4. But this was necessary, because things got dramatic in the seventh inning. Ben Dickow scored the fifth Challengers run after an error, an RBI-single from Daniel Smith made it 6-9 and a 2-run single from Kazuki Sato brought the tying run to third base. But that was all the Challengers could manage.
Ben Dickow stood out for the Challengers with three hits and four runs, while Kazuki Sato and Daniel Smith each had two hits and two RBI.
The guests took the momentum into the second game. Noam Blickenstorfer opened the game with a single, Nick Lehman got on base – of course – with a hit-by-pitch and the eternal Juan Francisco Robles brought both home with a 2-run double. Because Ben Dickow also delivered a 2-run single, it was suddenly 4-0 for the C’s. They defended this lead with all their might and with Juan Francisco Robles performing miracles on the mound. With rain now starting the Challengers were still leading 4-2 after four innings. They were still three outs away from an official game. But the Latin American section of the Unicorns had not planned on losing, however. With two doubles, two singles and two Zurich errors, they turned the game around at the last minute and won the game, which had been shortened to five innings due to rain, 6-4.

While the Swiss Cup game in Lucerne was canceled for the NLA-Team on Saturday, the game between the Challengers’ second team and the Wil Pirates’ NLA-Team took place on Sunday in the Heerenschürli ballpark. Despite the dry weather the Challengers were given a cold shower. The Eastern Swiss team and their pitcher Fabio Borando managed one of the rare perfect games over the course of six innings. Not a single one of the 18 Challengers’ batters reached first base. Borando only needed 56 pitches for the perfect game, less than ten per inning. The Pirates themselves delivered 14 hits, which, together with a few walks, helped them to win 19-0.

The Challengers already knew that the trip to the foot of Mount Pilatus would not be a tourist excursion. The young team from Zurich fought hard, but had to return home with two losses against the Lucerne Eagles.
The guests got off to a good start. Florin Kämpfer opened the score with an RBI single in the first inning and Philip Louis increased the lead to 2-0 with an RBI groundout in the third inning. But the Eagles slowly started to pick up speed. In the third frame the Zurich defense managed to at least keep the tie, but in the fourth inning the home team pulled away with five hits to make it 8-2. The Challengers fought back and cut the deficit twice to three runs in the fifth and again in the sixth inning thanks to an RBI single from Jacob van Meulebrouck and a 2-run home run from Samuel Rodriguez Bautista. In the end it was not enough. The Central Swiss team ultimately won with 16-8.
The second game was similar to the first one. The Challengers were once again the first to get on the scoreboard, but soon had to let the Eagles overtake them. This time, however, because the Zurich team made a few errors. But Joseph Stotz and Nick Lehmann kept their team in the game with two RBIs to make it 3-5 in the fourth frame. But the Eagles scored another four runs to seal the deal. The Challengers lost with a score of 5-10, but were able to take home some positive things as well.

The NLB-Teams of the Zurich Challengers and the Zurich Barracudas fought a wild double header on Saturday. 56 runs, 50 hits, 40 walks and 27 errors are impressive numbers for 14 innings played. And in the end there was a win for both teams.
The start of the first game already gave an idea of where things could lead. The Challengers’ young guard gave them a 5-0 lead. Noam Müller, Jack Siemers, Florin Kampfer, Jordi Bucher and, on a wild pitch, Andreas Rüdisühli provided the runs. But after the first inning it was 5-5. The game went wild with several twists, turns and confusions. After five innings the game was tied at 17-17. Then the Challengers benefited from three errors by the Barracudas and took the lead once again with 20-17. Joseph Stotz took over as pitcher for the Challengers and stepped the bleeding. Apart from an RBI triple, he didn’t let any Barracudas runner score, so the Challengers were able to celebrate a memorable 20-18 victory. Florin Kampfer went 4-for-4 with 4 RBI, while Samuel Rodríguez Bautista, Thomas Landis, Juan Francisco Robles and Andreas Rüdisühli each had two hits.
And there was little missing for the Challengers to have followed up with a second win. The guests led 5-4 until the sixth inning. This was mainly thanks to four runs in the second inning, when the Challengers took a 4-2 lead with an RBI-single from Adderly Sarmiento, an RBI from Andreas Rüdisühli and a 2-run double from Honey Gigato Romero. But the Barracudas scored nine runs on nine hits in the sixth inning and took Game 2 by a score of 13-5. Honey Gigato Romero led the offense with three hits, while Adderly Sarmiento and Jack Siemers each delivered two hits.