On Sunday, the second teams of the Therwil Flyers and the Challengers faced off at Zurich’s Heerenschürli ballpark. While the home team won decisively in Game 1, they put their fans on the edge of their seats in the afternoon game, culminating in an extra-inning walk-off victory.

In the opening game, the Challengers secured the win with six runs in the fourth inning and, with a strong performance from starting pitcher Jasper Freigang, clinched a comfortable 9-1 victory. Freigang allowed only two hits and four walks in seven shutout innings, striking out seven. He also excelled offensively with three hits, two RBIs, and two runs, while Fabrizio Bucher and Mike Siemers each contributed two hits, and Shaen Bernhardt added two RBIs.

The afternoon game started in a completely different fashion. This time the Flyers came out strong, pulling ahead 8-0 in the first three innings. Although the Challengers managed to stop the bleeding, they were still down by five runs heading into the final inning. But with their backs against the wall, they found a way out. From three hits and three walks, the C’s scored five runs to force extra innings. There, it was the Basel team again who took the lead with a run, but the Challengers responded with a bunt single by Mike Siemers before capitalizing on an error by the visitors to tie the game. Noam Blickenstorfer then drew a walk with the bases loaded for the walk-off win.

A crucial factor in the victory was relief pitcher Ari Lonstein, who, in his return for the Challengers, allowed only one unearned run, four hits, and two walks in five innings, striking out 13. Meanwhile Fabrizio Bucher and Leonel Hernandez Reyes each recorded two hits, while Jasper Freigang and Noam Blickenstorfer each contributed two RBIs.