The Challengers swept the Bern Cardinals on Sunday, June 13 at Hünenberg Wartstrasse to even their record at 5-5.

Victory seemed far away for the Challengers, as they committed three first-inning errors and found themselves staring at a six-run deficit entering the bottom of the first frame in Game 1. Then the C’s came to life. They scored nine runs in the first two innings to make it 9-7, but lost their lead again in the fourth. But neither the Cardinals nor the rain were able to stop the Challengers in this one, as the C’s rallied for the second time crossing the plate seven times in the bottom of the fourth for a 17-12 lead. And the C’s shut the door in the fifth, as they added four more runs to eventually win 21-14.

Simona Cellar delivered four hits including a triple and a double and scored four runs and Simone Zurschmitten reached base five times, while Leandra Simitovic drove in five runs for the Challengers.

 

And the Challengers kept their winning streak alive, as they got another strong outing from Karen Heimgartner, as they posted a 6-0 victory in Game 2. Heimgartner tossed a three-hitter with 14 strikeouts to record her first shutout of the season. That bested Cardinals Jennifer Ellenbeck, who allowed just three hits but six runs, while striking out 17.

The blue and red heated up after a 20 minutes rain delay in the bottom of the fourth inning to do the damage. Nancy Plamondon reached on a base-on-balls and two stolen bases and a wild pitch later she opened the score for the C’s. Simone Zurschmitten’s RBI-double added another run before she scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. And the C’s added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth on RBI-singles by Simona Cellar and Alexia Zingg to seal the deal.

 

With their fourth win in a row the C’s moved into fourth place. They will face their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas on Thursday, June 17 at 7pm at the Klopstockwiese.