The Softball-Team is already making its first statement at the start of the season. In a rematch of the last three final series in Swiss softball, the Challengers split with the reigning champions Wittenbach Panthers. A 5-12 defeat in the first game was followed by a narrow 7-6 success in the afternoon.
The opening game went as expected. The Wittenbach Panthers took an lead early, extended it to 9-3 by the third inning and won 12-5 after five frames. The Challengers only managed four hits, while the defense, with seven errors, was not at the level to be able to endanger the guests from the eastern part of Switzerland. Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Simone Zurschmitten each had two RBI, while Leandra Simitovic and Anna Zgraggen recorded the other hits for the home team.
Game 2 looked different though. The Panthers took the lead again in the first inning, but this time the Challengers also found their way into the game straight away. Carmen Lutz-Demetz got her team on the scoreboard with an RBI-double, Leandra Simitovic followed with a sac fly and Alexia Zingg scored a hit in her comeback after an absence of a year and a half due to a knee injury. After three innings the game was tied at 5-5. In the fourth inning Mia Matas gave the home team the lead for the first time with a bases loaded walk and Anna Zgraggen followed with a sac bunt to make it 7-5. Challengers pitcher Karen Heimgartner gave the Panthers’ strong bats some trouble. The guests couldn’t do more than to cut the deficit to one run thanks to an RBI-double from Felicitas Schatton. This is also because Mia Matas took the wind out of the opponents’ sails in the sixth inning with a spectacular diving catch against Panthers team leader Kim Zehnder.
Heimgartner allowed just four hits, one run and three walks with ten strikeouts in six innings, while Carmen Lutz-Demetz, Simona Cellar and Simone Zurschmitten each had two hits. The only downside from the Challengers’ perspective was the loss of Marina Vaccaro Brüderli, who injured her knee in a tag play situation.

On the Züri-Fäscht Saturday the Challengers Softball-Team welcomed the Bern Cardinals on the Klopstockwiese. The fans got to see two very good games, with the first game being on the razor’s edge to the last catch.
Sarah Kleiterp started as a pitcher for the Challengers for the first time. The line-up for the home team was a bit unusual due to various absences. After initially falling behind, the Zurich team finally fought their way back into the game in the fourth inning when Taylor McCants reached home plate first, before Simona Cellar equalized the game to 9-9 with a 2-run double. It was Cellar again who made it 10-9 in the sixth inning with an RBI single, her fourth hit of the game. After that, Leandra Simitoviv completed her strong performance with three flyouts and secured the Challengers a 10-9 victory. Simitovic allowed just one hit in five innings and managed no fewer than seven strikeouts.
Kleiterp opened Game 2 with a three-up three-down inning, allowing the Challengers to take control from the start. Taylor McCants delivered two clean innings, giving up just two hits and two strikeouts, while the 12-hit offensive saw the game end with a 15-5 score due to the mercy-rule after four innings. Leandra Simitovic had three hits and four RBIs, Molly Mullens also had three hits and two RBIs, while Simone Zurschmitten and Anna Zgraggen each had one hit and two RBIs in the win. With the two successes the Challengers extend their winning streak to nine.

Thanks to another strong offense the Softball-Team wins twice against the Sissach Frogs. The Challengers are now riding a seven game winning streak.
After two innings pitched by U22 players, as required by the regulations, the guests were already ahead by 10-5. After a good third inning the Frogs reduced the deficit to 12-16, but in the end the Challengers clearly prevailed 28-15. Isabelle Tan and Mia Matas each had three hits, three RBI and four runs, Marina Vaccaro Brüderli contributed two hits, three RBI and five runs and Leandra Simitovic got her third win of the season.
Game 2 was very similar. The Challengers took an 8-3 lead after two innings and didn’t give it up until the end. Taylor McCants gave up just three hits and one run while the offense went up to 14-4. McCants was also significantly involved with two doubles and two RBI, Isabelle Tan, Sarah Kleiterp and Mia Matas also collected two RBI each. The debut of junior Tara Hochstrasser was also pleasing. She got two RBI and one run in the first game.

The Softball-Team prevails in a wild night game against their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas. A strong offensive can mask the deficiencies in defense, ultimately the Challengers walk away with a 23-16 victory.
Especially in the first half of the game the runs fall like ripe fruit from the trees. After trailing for most of the first two innings, the Challengers took the lead in the third with six runs to make 16-12. And the held on, defeating the Barracudas for the first time in their third game of the season.
Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Leandra Simitovic each had three of the 18 Challengers hits, while Simona Cellar, Isabelle Tan, Molly Mullens and Cheyenne La Marr all delivered two hits each.

The Softball-Team defeats the Sissach Frogs twice. The two teams offer the audience two exciting games with a lot of successful actions both on the offensive and on the defensive.
Young players Sarah Kleiterp and Alexandra Weibel made their debut in the Swiss Softball League under the watchful eye of Challenger’s honorary president Werner Zingg. And the two did extremely well. This also applied to the other Challengers players. Amanda Marxer pitched a career-best three innings and allowed just five hits and four runs, three earned, Tamara Ammeter got her third win of the season with a scoreless inning, and on the offense Isabelle Tan had three hits and scored three runs and Molly Mullens had three Hits and three RBIs, while Mia Matas’ added two doubles, two RBIs and two runs to make it 12-4 in the end.
The second game of the day was extremely exciting. The guests from the Basel area were ahead and the Challengers behind for almost the entire game with the home team constantly under pressure. It took six innings before the C’s turned the game around with six runs. In the end it was a narrow 19-16 victory against a self-sacrificing Frogs. Mia Matas had a dream day with three hits and no fewer than eight RBI. Tamara Ammeter contributed two hits, three RBI and four runs, Isabelle Tan contributed one hit, four walks and five runs and rookie Sarah Kleiterp notched her first two hits of the career. Taylor McCants was credited with the win, as she allowed seven hits and four runs – two of them earned – in four innings without a walk and with three strikeouts.