The Softball-Team stopped its losing streak of six losses in a row and won twice against the Bern Cardinals. In both games the Challengers managed to turn things around late after falling behind in the early innings.
The first game was a wild affair for long periods, with both sides making a lot of mistakes. The home team led 15-12 after three innings before the Challengers got their defensive actions a little more organized. The Zurich team kept the pressure on offense, took the lead 17-16 in the fourth inning also thanks to a 2-run home run by Isabelle Tan, and decided the game with eight runs in the sixth inning to make it 25-17.
Molly Mullens had three hits and four runs, Isabelle Tan collected three RBI and scored five runs, while Marianne Aellen contributed four RBI to the win.
The second game was very similar. The Bern Cardinals took the lead again, this time 9-5. But the Challengers answered again. With nine runs in the last two innings the Challengers managed to turn things around again to 16-9. The Challengers remain in third place in the standings with a record of 11-7.

The Softball-Team met the reigning champions Wittenbach Panthers on Sunday. They had no chance in either game and lost twice by 5-15 after four innings.
After four losses against their local rivals Zurich Barracudas, the title holders and league leaders Wittenbach Panthers were of course not the ideal opponent. But that was the way the schedule was supposed to be. The balance of power soon became clear. The Panthers were a bit better in all aspects of the game and since they didn’t let up, both games ended with a score of 15-5 after four innings. The Eastern Swiss team also had a clear lead in hits with 12-5 and 11-5 respectively, while the Challengers defense could not make the games any closer with a total of eight errors. Despite the two defeats, the Challengers remain in third place with a record of 9-7, but after six defeats in a row they urgently need a taste of success again.

The fourth Zurich softball derby was won by the Zurich Barracudas again. In cold, wet conditions they celebrated a comfortable 9-1 victory against the Challengers, thus winning their fourth derby within a month.
The Challengers’ performance matched the mediocre scenery. They were not as secure on defense as their opponents, they made too many mistakes in base running and were largely unlucky on offense. In any case the overall package was not enough to have a chance against the young and agile Barracudas team. After the first inning the home team was already behind 1-5. In the end they lost 1-9. A double from Lara Müller and a nice hit from Anouchka Michel were the rare highlights from the Challengers’ point of view. While the first two games against the Barracudas were close, they suffered clear losses in the last two games. Sunday offers the opportunity to regain some self-confidence with a better performance. The Challengers will then face the Luzern Eagles in Reussbühl. They had won against them twice in the first gameday in Zurich.

The Challengers can only partially keep up with the young Zurich Barracudas team. After a four-run rally by the Challengers the first game ends with a 10-12 loss. Game 2 was a one-sided affair for the Barracudas.
After the derby defeat in the first game against the Barracudas almost ten days ago the Challengers had to reduce their error rate if they wanted to have a chance of winning. The start of the game was not good, but thanks to a 3-run double from Alexia Zingg the C’s quickly came back to 4-5. The Barracudas were able to add some more runs, but the Challengers tied the game at 8-8 in the fourth and fifth innings. But in the bottom half of the fifth inning, they allowed the home team four runs with no fewer than three errors. Isabelle Tan brought her team within striking distance again in the sixth inning with a 2-run home run to make it 10-12, but the last five batters were all out and the game was lost which resulted in a loss.
Isabelle Tan and Alexia Zingg each recorded two hits and three RBI, Simone Zuschnitten had two hits with two RBI and Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Leandra Simitovic also delivered two hits each.
The guests were out of steam for Game 2. They fell behind 0-5 early on and the Barracudas sealed the deal with no fewer than eleven runs in the third inning. In the end the Challengers lost 3-16. Tuesday evening is their last chance to win a derby in the preliminary round. They will host the Barracudas at 7 p.m. on the Klopstockwiese.