On Thursday evening, July 6th, there will be a Make-up game in the NLB championship at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The Challengers meet the Zurich Barracudas Academy. The game will start at 7 p.m.
On the Züri-Fäscht Saturday the Softball-Team will be playing its next home game day at the Klopstockwiese. The Challengers will try to extend their seven game winning streak also against the Bern Cardinals. Games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
The U15-Cadets will also be in action on Saturday. They play in Rümlang against the SG Black Hawks and the Rümlang Kobras. The games start at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. in Rümlang Rümelbach.
Challengers games on Thursday and Saturday
Softball-Team wins 7th in a row
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.
Important victories for NLB-Team
The NLB-Team walks away with two important victories in the battle for a playoff spot against the Lausanne Indians. While the guests from western Switzerland give up the first game, the Challengers make life difficult for themselves in game two after a 10-run lead, but hold on for eventually win 15-14.
The first game will see a 7-0 win for the Challengers. The Vaudois only had one Swiss pitcher in their lineup, but he wasn’t in the game for long. The visitors threw in the towel after the first half of the third inning. In game two the Challengers looked like the sure winner for a long time too. They countered the Indians’ three runs in the first inning with five of their own and after three innings the home team led 14-4. But the lead then melted away like snow in the spring sun. Going into the final inning, the Challengers were still 15-11 ahead. But Lausanne came close with a double, a walk and three straight RBI-singles to make it 14-15 with the tying run on second base. Closer Adderly Sarmiento then managed an eminently important pickoff, because shortly afterwards the bases were loaded with two outs – and a full count. But with the last pitch, the Challengers managed the decisive out, with which they secured the victory. They overtake today’s opponent in the standings and are back on 4th place.
Nick Siemers hit a triple and a double and racked up five RBIs, David Morroni had three hits and Alex Gordon had two hits and two RBIs in the win. Joseph Stotz was credited with the win, while Adderly Sarmiento collected the save.
Cadets start July with two wins
The U15-Cadets have no trouble against the Black Hawks and win twice clearly. Three Challengers players hit a home run.
In the first game it quickly was clear which team would be the winner. The Challengers were already leading 8-0 after two innings and they even expanded this to a 13-2 lead by the end. Jasper Freigang with a 2-run home run in the second inning and Jordi Bucher with a 2-run home run in the third provided the offensive highlights, while Fabrizio Bucher delivered three hits.
The afternoon game was almost a copy of the opener. This time the Challengers were leading by a maximum of 10-0 after two innings. Again the Black Hawks only got a few runs at the very end, which didn’t change the Challengers’ easy 16-4 victory. Ilai Blickenstorfer belted a 2-run home run in the fourth inning. He finished the game with two hits and three RBIs, while Noam Müller had two hits and scored three runs. Müller also was credited with the win with three scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and two walks while striking out three.
NLB-Team falls short of the Barracudas again
The NLB-Team does not manage the turnaround. After losing the last derby against Barracudas Academy by the narrowest of margins 13-14, it sets off a 2-8 loss on Wednesday night. Only three hits but five errors are the main reasons for the renewed derby defeat.
The Challengers have two wins and seven losses after nine games. Next Saturday there will be a decisive clash for qualifying for the playoffs with the Lausanne Indians in Zurich’s Heerenschürli ballpark. The Indians are only half a game ahead of the Challengers in fourth place.
18-hit attack leads to derby win
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.
Two night games this week
There are two night games this week. Both times between teams from the Zurich Challengers and the Zurich Barracudas.
The women’s softball teams will start off on Tuesday evening, June 27th at 7 p.m. at the Klopstockwiese in Zurich-Enge.
On Wednesday, June 28th there will be the same duel in Baseball NLB. The Challengers will meet the Barracudas Academy at 7:00 p.m. in a make-up game at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The game was originally scheduled for the opening day on April 2, but fell victim to the weather at the time.
1st League-Team stays at .500
In the extremely balanced eastern group of the regional league, the Zurich Barracudas, the Zurich Eighters and the Zurich Challengers also shared the wins on Sunday. All three Zurich clubs have a .500 record and share second place.
With many Swiss baseball fans attending the London Series between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend, the rosters were thin. For the Challengers even the coaches Oliver Freigang and Nico Bucher had to go on the field.
In the first game of the day against the Zurich Barracudas, the teams moved in step for a long time. The Barracudas went ahead each time, the Challengers were able to counter each time. Except in the last inning, where the C’s scored only two runs to make it 9-11 walking away with a loss. Jacob Stotz led the offense with three hits, Jasper Freigang got two hits.
The Challengers did even better in Game 2. After three innings they were already leading 14-1 against the Zurich Eighters. In the end it was a comfortable 18-3 victory. Joseph Stotz and Oliver Freigang each collected four RBIs, Jasper Freigang had three hits, while Noam Müller, Fabrizio Bucher, Oliver Freigang, Jiro Kaya and Nico Bucher all contributed two hits to the win.
Cadets with split in Wil
The U15-Cadets left the field in Wil on Saturday with one win and one loss. While they were in front from the start in Game 1, the lead changed no less than six times in Game 2, with the better ending for the eastern Swiss.
The guests from Zurich got off to a good start, which was rewarded with a 3-0 lead. Things evened out a bit after that, after four innings the Challengers led by 7-3 before they decided the game with eight runs in the fifth inning and ultimately won 15-7. Jasper Freigang had three hits, including two doubles, five RBI and two runs, Noam Müller delivered three hits, three RBI and three runs, and Niilo Benz also had three RBI.
The second game of the day was a back and forth. The lead changed after almost every offense. The Challengers went out of the first inning with a 4-2 lead. They later led 9-7 and after four innings again 13-10. In the fifth frame Wil scored six runs, which the Challengers were no longer able to counter. Despite a hit from Aaron Schütz and a triple from Jordi Bucher, they only managed one run and lost 14-16. Noam Müller and Philip Louis each delivered two hits and scored three runs each for the Challengers.
Win against Rättvik, Challengers defend spot in Federations Cup
In the last game the Challengers were challenged again. In order to defend the Swiss spot in the Federations Cup, a win against the Swedish representative Rättvik was needed. Things didn’t look good for the C’s for a long time. But in the sixth inning they turned the game around with six runs, won 8-6 and stayed in the Federations Cup.
The Swedes took the lead in the third thanks to a two-run homer by Joel Johnson and opened the gap to 3-0 in the fifth inning. The Challengers needed till the fifth frame to arrive on the scoreboard. After hits from Simon Steffen and James Sanders, Steffen benefited from a throwing error by the Swedes and scored the 1-3. Suddenly things were going well for Zurich, while the Swedish defense began to wobble. Leonel Sosa Marte started the sixth inning with a double followed by Ryan Byrne’s single and an RBI fielder’s choice from Regis Reinhard. After a single by Säntis Zeller, the Challengers tied the game and after another error by the Scandinavians, Zeller scored the leading run for his colors. The Zurich team followed up with a single by James Sanders, before Adam Greenberg made it 6-3 with a 2-run double and Rättvik also allowed the 3-7 with another error. Zeller scored an insurance run in the seventh inning to make it 8-3, a lead the Challengers didn’t give up anymore.
James Sanders and Ryan Byrne led the Zurich offensive with three hits each, while Hayden Jung-Goldberg and Säntis Zeller each contributed two hits to the win. James Sanders got the win with another seven strong innings.
Sanders had the tournament’s highest batting average with eleven hits and a fantastic .647, while Simon Steffen was the top pitcher with ten strikeouts in this category. Since the Ukrainians from Gorn were able to celebrate a walk-off win after an extra-innings against the previously unbeaten leader Dornbirn in the afternoon game, the Challengers finished the tournament in fourth place.
All the games from Bratislava have been streamed live on the WBSC Europe YouTube Channel.
Schedule:
Monday, June 19, 5 p.m.: Zurich Challengers va. Apollo Bratislava 3-7
Tuesday, June 20, 1.30 p.m.: Deurne Spartans vs. Zurich Challengers 7-2
Wednesday, June 21, 1.30 p.m.: CNTU-OSDYSSOR-Gorn vs. Zurich Challengers 2-5
Thursday, June 22, 10 a.m.: Zurich Challengers va. Dornbirn Indians 1-16 (5 Inn.)
Friday, June 23, 10 a.m.: Rättvik BSK vs. Zurich Challengers 6-8
Saturday, June 24, 11 a.m. Final: Deurne Spartans vs. Dornbirn Indians