The Challengers advance to the quarterfinals of the Swiss Cup as group winners with home field advantage. The Zurich team did not let themselves down in the third group game against an NLB team either. They beat the Lucerne Eagles comfortably 11-4.
After victories against the second team of the Barracudas and the second team of the Therwil Flyers, the last opponent in the preliminary round were the Lucerne Eagles. The Challengers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The decision was made in the fourth frame. Fabrizio Bucher increased the lead to 4-0 with a 2-run double, Thomas Burger followed with an RBI single, Tobias Siegrist followed with an RBI to make it 6-0, before Leonel Sosa Marte provided the highlight of the day with a 3-run home run. The guests briefly lost concentration, which the Eagles used to score four unearned runs, but the Zurich team and pitcher Stefan Haltmeier did not let anything go wrong. In eight innings he gave up only four unearned runs and six hits and recorded eleven strikeouts.
Challengers advance to Swiss Cup quarterfinals
Softball-Team without any chance against reigning champion
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.
1st League-Team in action again
The Challengers’ 1st League-Team had the worst weather luck of all the teams this spring. Up until today they had only been able to play one game, all other scheduled games were canceled due to rain. Today they played games number 2 and 3 of the season in their home ballpark, Heerenschürli. However, these ended in two losses.
The Challengers got off to a good start against the Wittenbach-Pirates team. After a double from Ben Dickow and a single from Fabrizio Bucher, Jasper Freigang scored the first run with a sac bunt before Bastian Kämpfer delivered a 2-run single to give his team the lead, which Alexander Friedli was able to increase to 4-2. The Eastern Swiss team turned the game around with three runs in the third inning, but the Challengers immediately managed to equalize at 5-5 thanks to Fabrizio Bucher. After the two opponents exchanged zeros on the scoreboard, it was the Wittenbach Pirates who scored two runs in the fifth inning. The Challengers offense could no longer respond and so the first championship game since May was ultimately lost 5-9.
In the second game of the day the Challengers faced the fourth team of the Zurich Barracudas. And again the Challengers got off to a good start. Jordi Bucher started the game with a lead-off double and scored on an RBI triple by Ben Dickow to make it 1-0. Jasper Freigang increased the lead with a sac bunt, Fabrizio Bucher scored on a wild pitch and Alexander Friedli and Daniel Smith each followed with an RBI single to make it 5-0. In the second inning, however, the Challengers maneuvered themselves into bigger problems. With seven walks, a hit-by-pitch and two errors, they allowed the Barracudas to score ten runs with only two hits. At least Jasper Freigang with a 2-run double, Fabrizio Bucher with an RBI single and Bastian Kämpfer with an RBI double then brought their team back to 9-10 . But just like in the first game, the offense stopped producing too early. So the Barracudas walked away with a 13-9 victory.
1st League day tournament at the Heerenschürli
On Saturday a day tournament of the 1st league championship is scheduled at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The Challengers have been the unluckiest team so far this season. They have only been able to play one night game in the first three and a half months of the 2024 season. All other games had to be canceled due to rain. On Saturday now games are planned against the Wittenbach-Pirates team and against the fourth team of the Zurich Barracudas. The games start at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
There will be a top battle in softball. In a repeat of the final of the last three years the Zurich Challengers will face the Wittenbach Panthers on Sunday. Both teams managed to win one game each, as they faced each other on opening day. The Challengers however are riding a four game losing streak after falling short four times against their local rivals Zürich Barracudas. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. in Wittenbach Sonnenrain.
Meanwhil the NLA-Team will play another make-up game in the Swiss Cup against the Luzern Eagles on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Reussbühl. With a win the Challengers can secure first place in the preliminary round of the group and could play against one of the four group runners-up in the quarterfinals.
Win in Swiss Cup – task fulfilled
The NLA-Team had to travel to Therwil on Sunday. There, however, the Challengers met the record champions’ second team. The game was correspondingly one-sided with the Zurich team winning 20-0 after seven innings.
For the Challengers it was the second clear success in the cup competition. Since they missed out on qualifying for the finals in the championship and thus failing to defend their title, the Swiss Cup remains the Challengers’ last goal of the season. The Zurich team approached the game against their lower-class opponents with appropriate seriousness. Not only the result, but also the number of hits with 16-5 and the number of baserunners with 31-7 spoke for themselves. The guests took a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Marcus Mäder and Jason Wüger helped to organize the early lead with RBI doubles. And the Zurich team continued to build on this until the match ended after seven innings due to the mercy rule.
Marcus Mäder led the offense with four hits, including three doubles, five RBI and three runs, but Regis Reinhard, Leonel Sosa Marie and Carsten Zuber also delivered three hits each, while Jason Wüger contributed four RBI. Stefan Haltmeier gave up five hits and two walks in six innings with eight strikeouts.
NLB-Team loses to Barracudas Academy in Swiss Cup
The Challengers NLB team kept the Swiss Cup make-up game in Embrach against the Barracudas Academy a tight game for a long time. But in the end they lost 4-17.
The many rainouts mean that make-up games take place on dates when no game was originally scheduled. This poses a major challenge for team managers. Even more so when a make-up date falls during the summer holidays. The Challengers only managed to put a team together with great difficulty and thanks to the support from Wil. The motley crew did quite well for a long time. It helped that Marcus Mäder put his team in the lead as the second batter with a 2-run home run. When the Barracudas equalized in the third inning, Florin Kämpfer put his team back in front with an RBI groundout to make it 3-2.
But in the fourth inning the Barracudas managed to turn things around with three runs. With four more runs in the fifth inning the game was decided; the Challengers only scored one more run when Marcus Mäder brought Bastian Kämpfer home with an RBI triple. In the last inning, the Barracudas increased their lead to 17-4. Ultimately the many walks, fourteen in total, given by the Challengers pitchers were the deciding factor, but all in all the result was too high.
Swiss Cup make-up games
The newly designed Swiss Cup competition has not been off to a good start. Two of the three scheduled game days were canceled due to rain. A number of games will now be played next weekend. The NLB-Team will be in action on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in Embrach. The Challengers’ second team will face the Zurich Barracudas Academy.
On Sunday afternoon the Challengers NLA-Team will play against the Therwil Flyers’ second team at 2 p.m. at the Therwiler Känelmatt.
Exploit in the Little League
This week the Swiss Little League team is taking part in the “Europe-Africa Region Tournament” in Kutno, Poland. Switzerland will play in Pool C against Spain, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ukraine. The first two teams in each preliminary round group will reach the quarterfinals.
The Swiss started the tournament against Spain on Sunday. However the spaniards proved to be too strong, they won clearly 9-1. On Monday Switzerland played against the clearly favored Dutch. And the Swiss pulled off a real exploit. They sensationally defeated the Dutch 4-2. Pitcher Len Blickenstorfer, a Challengers junior, was at the forefront. He gave up just two runs and three hits in six innings and struck out seven, which earned him the win in this historic victory.
Lack of luck in the last two games against Great Britain and the Ukraine. The Swiss team was at the same level as their opponents, still they lost 3-4 to the British and were edged by the Ukraine 4-5.
Schedule LLB Europe-Africa Region Tournament in Kutno (POL):
Sunday, July 14: Spain vs. Switzerland 9-1
Monday, July 15: Switzerland vs. Netherlands 4-2
Tuesday, July 16: Switzerland vs. Great Britain 3-4
Thursday, July 18: Switzerland vs. Ukraine 4-5
Challengers cannot defend title
The NLA-Team cannot defend its title from the previous year. The Challengers lose 7-14 to the Flyers away from home. At the same time the Zurich Barracudas win both of their games against the Wil Pirates. This means that the Challengers can only catch up with the top duo in terms of victories, but has a negative record in direct comparison against both opponents.
The hope of a win in Basel only lasted a short time. In the first inning Leonel Sosa Marte put his team in the lead with a sac fly, which James Sanders increased with an RBI single. The home team, however, equalized in the second inning and took the lead for the first time in the third frame with 5-2. With a double and a triple the Flyers scored four more runs in the fourth inning and Sven Leemannn followed up with a grand slam in the sixth. Ultimately the Zurich team suffered a 7-14 loss.
Regis Reinhard had three hits and three RBI, Jason Wüger delivered three hits and Leonel Sosa Marte recorded three RBI for the Challengers. They still have three games to play against the Wil Pirates and as many games as possible in the Swiss Cup.
Summer Slowpitch Softball Nights
Summer is finally here! We’re organizing two Summer Slowpitch Softball Nights.
Join us for two Friday nights of softball fun. Everyone is welcome, from NLA to U12, veterans to rookies. Non-members are welcome too, so bring your family and friends!
Dates: July 26th & August 16th
Location: Heerenschürli Baseball Field, Zürich
Time: 18:00 Meet, 18:30 Game starts, 20:00 Finish
Sign up via email at [email protected] or join our Whatsapp Group “Summer Slowpitch Nights”.
Let’s play ball!