Two unexpected Wins for NLB-Team

It was a turbulent week for the NLB-Team. On Wednesday, the Challengers learned that, due to the Hünenberg Unicorns’ withdrawal, they would inherit their spot in the intermediate round and thus also in the NLB playoffs. However, on Saturday they immediately had to take over the Unicorns’ slot on the field against the Lausanne Indians as well. And ultimately they won both games by one run.

Assembling a team on such short notice, especially during the summer holidays, would have been virtually impossible. But the Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation approved the midweek transfer of three Unicorns players to the Challengers, enabling the games against the Lausanne Indians to take place. The first game of the day featured a pitcher’s duel between Maxime Flayol for the Indians and Ari Lonstein, the Unicorn, who was essentially a guest pitcher for the Challengers. Flayol delivered a strong performance for Lausanne, giving up only five hits and two runs, one earned, with one walk and six strikeouts. However, this wasn’t enough for the victory. Lonstein even topped this performance. He allowed just three hits and one run in seven innings, with four walks and thirteen strikeouts. On offense, Fabrizio Bucher organized the Challengers’ two runs with a single in the first inning and an RBI groundout in the third, while the defense was able to stave off the tie in the top of the seventh inning thanks to an out against the Indians’ batter-runner, who was trying to stretch a single into a double.

The second game was not only a battle between the Indians and the Challengers, but also a battle against the elements. The game had to be called off early in the fifth inning due to heavy rain. And the Challengers once again had the better ending. In the previous inning, Kazuki Sato scored the decisive run on a wild pitch, making the score 7-6. The Zurich team was previously down 2-5, but the Challengers turned the game around with an RBI groundout by Sato in the second inning and runs by Unicorns catcher Marvin Müller, Mike Siemers, and Noam Blickenstorfer in the third.

By advancing to the intermediate round, the Challengers will now play two night games against the Zurich Barracudas Academy at their home ballpark, Heerenschürli, on Monday and Tuesday, August 4 and 5.

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