Saturday was a used day for the NLB-Team. Against the Embrach Mustangs, it once again suffered two high defeats. However the results hide the fact that some things were good on the part of the Challengers as well.
At the beginning everything looked good. After two innings the score was even at 1-1. But then the Challengers lost the thread. The Mustangs scored at least four runs in each subsequent inning and in the fourth frame they even scored eleven runs. However the home team helped a lot. Seven errors, three hit-by-pitches and nine walks were added to the 17 hits of the Zürcher Unterländer, resulting in a huge 24-7 loss in the end.
The Challengers lost Game 2 by a score of 20-8 again. But the story behind the numbers was different than in game 1. The guests from Embrach scored six runs in the first inning. The Challengers had to fear the worst, but the Heerenschürli team fought back into the game. In the third inning, the Challengers reconnected to a 6-7 thanks to an RBI groundout from Joseph Stotz, an RBI double from Florin Kampfer, an RBI single from Denyo Benz and a 2-run double from David Morroni. In the fourth inning, the Mustangs added two runs again, but the Challengers had the opportunity to turn the game around entirely. They managed to load the bases with one out, but they could only cash in two runs with a steal on home by Joseph Stotz and a bases loaded walk by Alex Gordon. It wasn’t enough for more than the 8-9. And suddenly the thread broke again. The Mustangs scored 11 unanswered runs in the remaining innings. Despite ultimately 14-10 hits in favor of the Challengers, it was a big loss. But with nine errors the C’s also stood in their own way.

The NLB-Team walks away with a split against the Eagles in Lucerne. It could actually have been even more, in the end the Challengers should be happy to have taken at least one win with them. Both games were decided in the sixth inning.
The Challengers will think about Game 1 for a while. The guests had more hits with 11-8, committed fewer errors with 1-3, had more strikeouts with 4-3, and hit a smooth .500 with runners in scoring position. Still, that wasn’t enough to win. And this despite an early 4-0 lead and although Zurich managed to tie it to 7-7 in the fifth inning. In the sixth frame the Eagles scored four runs with four hits and were able to decide the game. The Challengers brought the tying run to the plate again, but it wasn’t enough for more than the 8-11.
David Morroni and Carlos Nepomuceno each had two hits and Nepomuceno and Luis Mateo Jimenez were responsible for two RBI each, while Florin Kampfer and Joseph Stotz put on solid performances from the pitcher’s mound but were poorly rewarded.
Game 2 was also on the brink till the end. The lead went back and forth already in the early innings. The highlight of the starting period came from veteran Thomas Landis, who hit a home run over the fence at right center field to make it 2-2 in the third inning. The decision came again in the sixth inning. At 2-3 Adderly Sarmito hit a 2-run single that brought home Oliver Bernet Garcia and Florin Kampfer and turned the game around. Afterwards, Alex Gordon also scored to make it 5-3, an insurance run that the Challengers later urgently needed. The Eagles made it 4-5 in the sixth inning and blew another hallali in the seventh. After a hit-by-pitch, a single and a walk, they loaded the bases with one out. But Challengers pitcher Luis Mateo Jimenez escaped the Eagles’ final attack with a flyout to left field and a pop fly to himself, securing his colors the win.
In addition to Landis with his home run, Carlos Nepomuceno also impressed with two doubles, while Adderly Sarmiento and Ryan Koley each had two RBI’s.

For the second time this week the Zurich Barracudas Academy and the Zurich Challengers faced each other on Saturday. night. The C’s won 15-5 on Wednesday, but initially lacked everything on Saturday that had characterized them winning three days ago. In the sixth inning, however, they turned the game around spectacularly, only to ultimately leave the field as losers, 13-14.
At first only the Academy played. Toxic in every at bat and rock solid on defense, the young Barracudas held an 8-0 lead well into the fourth inning. The Challengers then also signed up for the game with an RBI single from Andreas Rüdisühli and a bases loaded walk from Patrick Zöllig. In the sixth inning the Challengers finally reached operating temperature. They made nine runs from no less than ten hits and suddenly found themselves leading 12-11.
Noam Blickenstorfer opened the rally with a single, followed by a single by Adderly Sarmiento, before Tobias Siegrist brought home the first runs with a 2-run single. Thomas Landis with a double, Florin Kampfer with a 2-run single, Kurt Kovac with an RBI single and Jacob Stotz with a 2-run single continued to gain ground before Adderly Sarmiento with another 2-run single put the Challengers ahead with a score of 12-11.
In line with this crazy course of play, the Barracudas came back again. With two errors, the Challengers defense helped the Academy to regain a 2-run lead. In the end, this was enough. Closer Seiya Eigenheer gave up a lead-off double and a run against Thomas Landis, but ended the game with two strikeouts to walk away with a 14-13 win for the Barracudas.

The NLB-Team wins the derby against the Zurich Barracudas Academy on Wednesday night. With seven runs in the first inning, they pave the way early to a safe 15-5 win.
Against the young team of the Academy, the veterans of the Challengers showed themselves to be in charge. Patrick Zöllig and Thomas Landis each had three hits, Thomas Blank, Adderly Sarmiento and Ryan Koley contributed two hits each, and Juan Francisco Robles allowed just five hits, one run and one walk in four innings with three strikeouts for the win.

In the NLB there are two night games planned this week between the Zurich Barracudas Academy and the Challengers. The first meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 31st at 7 p.m. at the Heerenschürli ball park. Game 2 will take place on Saturday, June 3rd at 6 p.m.

The NLB night game scheduled for Tuesday evening between the Zurich Barracudas Academy and the Challengers had to be canceled due to the rain and the unplayable field.
The game was originally scheduled for April 2nd as a season opener and has now had to be canceled and rescheduled for the second time.

The NLB team opens its season with two home defeats against offensively strong Lucerne Eagles. However, the results belie the much tighter gameplay.
It took the Challengers a bit to get stamped in the 2023 season. When Patrick Zöllig, Thomas Blank and Florin Kampfer scored the first runs for the Challengers in the third inning, the guests from Central Switzerland led already by five runs. The Eagles also knew how to respond to Zurich’s comeback. In the fifth inning Marcell Pena Reyes delivered a two-run double to make it 7-3 and they answered Thomas Blank’s sac fly with two more runs to make it 9-4. In the last inning the father-son combination was successful. Adrian Kampfer brought home his son Florin with an RBI single for a final score of 5-9. The most successful batter of the Challengers was Andreas Rüdisühli with two hits, while Patrick Zöllig and Florin Kampfer scored two runs each.
The second game began much like the opener. The Eagles were productive from the start, so their seven runs in the fourth inning were offset by an RBI-single from Adrian Kampfer only. However, the Challengers got back into the game again. A two-run single by Adderly Sarmiento brought home Noam Blickenstorfer and Ryan Koley, and in the fifth inning Denyo Benz, Ryan Koley and Adrian Kampfer, after a sac fly by Kurt Kovac, made it 6-8. But the guests had a final bouquet ready. With four hits and two errors by the Challengers, they managed five runs in the sixth inning before things fell apart in the Challengers defense in the last round and the Eagles eventually won 26-11 with an incredible 13 runs in the last frame.