The Softball-Team lost also the fourth local derby against the Zürich Barracudas this season on Thursday, June 28, but it was the first time that there was no doubt about which team will win the game. The Barracudas scored in each of the first four innings, while Marisa Everitt held the Challengers’ bats quiet, as the Barracudas posted a 6-1 victory over the C’s. The Challengers are now two games behind the fourth placed Barracudas with a 7-9 record.
Leandra Simitovic, Alexia Zingg and Sandrine Montandon had the only hits for the C’s, while Elise Beguelin’s twelve strikeout performance was not enough, as she allowed six runs – four of them earned – and ten hits.
The Challengers will travel to Therwil on Sunday, July 15, where they will face the first-placed Flyers.

For the fourth time this season the Challengers had the tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, but other than the previous three times the C’s came through against the Cardinals. And they did it in style, as Leandra Simitovic belted a three-run walk-off homer for a come from behind 10-8 win in Game 1 against the Bern Cardinals. Sandrine Montandon reached base with a two-out single and Celine Welti followed with another single, before Simitovic sent a 2-2 pitch over the center field fence to end the game.
The C’s erased a six-run deficit, as they scored eight unanswered runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to halt their losing streak at four games. Simitovic and Taylor Mc Cants drove in four runs each, while Celine Welti had three hits and Simitovic, Mc Cants, Elise Beguelin and Alexia Zingg had two hits apiece.
The Challengers started in Game 2 right where they finished in Game 1, as Elise Beguelin and Taylor Mc Cants scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning. And the C’s added another two runs, as Leandra Simitovic and Beguelin crossed the plate in the third frame, before scoring three times in the fifth, as Nadja Critelli had a RBI-single and Simitovic and Mc Cants scored on a passed ball and a wild pitch to make it 7-1.
Elise Beguelin pitched seven dominant innings in the 8-3 win, as she allowed three runs – only two of them earned – and four hits with two walks while striking out eight for her first win in a Challengers uniform.
The Challengers will host the Zürich Barracudas on Thursday, June 28 for a night game at 7pm at the Klopstockwiese.

Tuesday night was a bad case of déjà vu for the Softball-Team, as the Challengers were edged by the Barracudas 6-7 at Rümlang. For the third time this season and for the second time against the Barracudas, the C’s lost a game with the bases loaded and the tying run on base in the seventh inning. With two outs Elise Beguelin lined a rope right into the glove of Barracudas shortstop Ines Dübendorfer to seal their 7-6 victory.
Despite the Challengers outhit the Barracudas 11-6 and the C’s defense committed less errors, the Challengers lost for the fourth time in a row. Melissa Everitt broke up a 2-2 tie with a two-run double in the second frame and a 5-5 tie with a two-run single in the fourth inning. The C’s tied the game in the top of the fourth, as Andrea Wirth, Celine Welti and Taylor Mc Cants scored three runs to make it 5-5, but they managed to score only one more run in the last three frames, while leaving six runners on base in this span.
Elise Beguelin delivered three hits including two doubles and Taylor Mc Cants went 3-for-4 and scored twice, while Leandra Simitovic gave up seven runs – six earned – on six hits and seven walks while striking out one.
The Challengers dropped to sixth place with a dismal 5-8 record and are already two games behind fourth place.