The Zurich Barracudas and Zurich Challengers softball teams shared the wins again in Saturday’s second doubleheader in Rümlang. The Challengers won a rollercoaster Game 1, while the Barracudas turned Game 2 around.

Due to the heat first pitch was moved up an hour. However both teams showed their readiness. The first game of the day was back-and-forth. The Challengers immediately pulled ahead 5-0. The Barracudas recovered this deficit by the third inning. The home team also had an answer to the Challengers’ 6-5 lead that came thanks to a solo home run by Alexia Zingg. And with the Challengers leading again at 7-6, Andrea Brändli hit an RBI triple before giving her team the lead for the first time after a wild pitch. But the visitors had the final word. Janina Liechti tied the game with an RBI single, and Simone Zuschnitten made it 9-8. The Challengers extended their lead to 11-8 in the final inning following an error by the home team.

Isabelle Tan had three hits, Alexia Zingg had two hits with a home run and scored three runs, Taylor McCants and Karen Hendren each had two hits, while Simone Zuschnitten had one hit and three RBI. Karen Heimgartner earned the win, as she gave up five hits and three runs in 4.2 innings, with four walks and six strikeouts.

The Challengers were close to snatching a second win from Rümlang. They took a 6-2 lead with five runs in the third inning and were still ahead 9-6 in the fifth. But then the defense couldn’t get out of the inning, while the Barracudas scored no fewer than nine runs and were able to turn the game around. The Challengers couldn’t add more than two runs to make it 11-15. Although they were clearly ahead 15-10 in hits, the ten walks given up ultimately cost them the win.

Taylor McCants exploded for four hits and three runs, Isabelle Tan again had three hits and three RBI, while Simona Cellar, Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Karen Heimgartner all had two hits apiece.