On Saturday, the Zurich Barracudas Academy and the Zurich Challengers opened the new baseball season at the Heerenschürli ballpark. Both games were back-and-forth affairs, with each team ultimately securing a victory. Game 2 went to extra innings, with the Challengers taking the win in a dramatic fashion.

In the opening game both teams initially showed signs of lacking game practice. Plagued by several errors the Challengers led 8-6 after three innings. However, in the fifth inning the Academy stepped up their game. A two-run triple by Yuki Nagae tied the game and after two more runs Tiago Lutz extended the lead to 12-8 with a two-run single. Despite an in-the-park home run by Fabrizio Bucher, the Challengers were unable to overcome this deficit and ultimately lost 11-14. Fabrizio Bucher recorded two hits for the Challengers, including a solo home run, while playing coach David Castillo and Simon Steffen had two hits apiece.

The second game was a back-and-forth affair. Both teams took the lead twice, but each managed to tie the game twice as well. Consequently, the game went into extra innings. The Academy as the visiting team struck first. After an error by the Challengers’ defense on a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly by Kai Wilson, the Barracudas took an 8-6 lead. But the Challengers had the final words. First, Noam Blickenstorfe batted in the two ghost runners with a two-run double to tie the game again, before Florin Kämpfer ended the game with an exclamation mark belting a walk-off home run over the wall in right center field.