The Challengers also collected two wins in their second home gameday away from home. The Zurich team had the stamina against the Wil Pirates, making the difference twice in the second half.
The Wil Pirates were able to keep both games open for a long time. After an early 2-0 lead for the Eastern Swiss team in Game 1, the Challengers were able to turn the game around by the fourth inning thanks to an RBI single by Ryan Byrne and two errors by the Wil defense. Errors continued to be a problem for the Pirates. They made three in the fifth inning, which the Challengers exploited. After a sac bunt by James Sanders made it 4-2, the young guard increased the lead to 7-2 with Jordi Bucher’s RBI single and Kazuki Sato’s two-run single. A sac fly by Ryan Byrne and a ground-rule double by Säntis Zeller made it 10-2. The Pirates narrowed the gap to 6-10 in the sixth inning, but the Challengers didn’t let anything slip away. Noam Blickenstorfer and Florin Kämpfer, with a sac fly to make it 16-6, caused the early end of the seventh inning.
Ryan Byrne had three hits and four RBI, Säntis Zeller shone with two hits, Kazuki Sato had two hits and two RBI, and Jack Siemers scored three runs. Meanwhile Carsten Zuber pitched a complete game, giving up seven hits and six runs with two walks and ten strikeouts.
The second game of the day followed a very similar pattern. After four innings and good pitching from Aaron Sutter for the Pirates and Florin Kämpfer for the Challengers, the scoreboard showed a 4-4 tie. But then the Challengers essentially made up the difference with two hits. Jack Siemers first put his team ahead 6-4 with a two-run double, before Ryan Byrne followed with a three-run home run to make it 9-4. Regis Reinhard brought the final outing with a two-run home run to seal the final score at 11-4.
Ryan Byrne was again the man of the game with four hits, one home run, four RBI, and two runs. Kazuki Sato had another two hits, while Tate Stone-Frisina earned his first win for the Challengers. He pitched the final four innings, giving up one hit and two runs, with three walks and nine strikeouts.
