Challengers unlucky

The Challengers were unlucky on Saturday. They lost Game 1 to the Lucerne Eagles 5-7 and in the second game of the day, they blew an 8-3 lead just as the game was called off due to rain.

The Central Swiss team made it to the second round, somewhat surprisingly, at the expense of the Wil Pirates. On Saturday at the Heerenschürli they proved that this was well deserved. The visitors scored three runs in each of the first two innings and ultimately held on to their 6-2 lead. The Challengers scored two runs in the first inning after a bases-loaded walk by Leonel Sosa Marte and an RBI groundout by James Sanders. An RBI groundout by Florin Kämpfer made it 3-6 in the second inning, and they came within one run in the fifth. After a double by Kämpfer and a single by Säntis Zeller, the home team pulled within 5-6 with an RBI groundout by Ryan Byrne and a wild pitch. However, the Challengers were unable to score against relief pitcher Fernando Baez Aybar, resulting in a 5-7 loss. This realistically puts a spot in the playoff finals far out of reach.

Things fared better for the Zurich team in the afternoon game. They quickly took a 5-0 lead and maintained a comfortable 8-3 advantage going into the final inning. However, the Eagles managed to tie the game in the nick of time. Instead of allowing the Challengers to pursue a walk-off victory in the bottom half of the seventh inning, the heavens opened, forcing the game to be called without a score.

Facebooktwittermail

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.