Der Challengers Baseball & Softball Club Zürich dankt all seinen Mitgliedern, Fans, Freunden und Supportern für die Unterstützung und Zusammenarbeit und wünscht allen frohe Festtage und einen guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr!
Weiterlesen » Frohe Festtage & ein gutes Neues Jahr.jpg)
Chris Palatinus became the sixth Challenger to have his number retired, as he was honored at the 2011 General Assembly at the restaurant Linde Oberstrass in Zurich.
New Challengers president and former teammate Adrian Kämpfer made a speech in honor of Palatinus, who was presented an illustration from a 1928 ballgame between the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators with Palatinus replacing Babe Ruth on the picture.
Palatinus concluded his 17-year career with a .316 batting average, 443 hits, 35 homeruns, 349 RBI’s and 404 runs scored as a batter and a 6.11 ERA with 9 wins, 2 saves and 115 strikeouts in 191.1 innings on the pitcher’s mound.
He set a club record for walks with 241 and is second on the all-time list for runs scored, RBI’s and hits only topped by Thomas Landis.
The 2011 Challengers MVP award winner finished his playing career in style, as he belted a homer in his second to last at bat in his farewell game against the Luzern Eagles. He also added an RBI-single in his 1402nd and last at-bat.
Palatinus won five Swiss championship titles with the Challengers in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2004 and two Swiss Cup trophies in 2004 and 2007.
In 2004 he won the double as the Challengers’ playing coach. He was not only the C’s head coach for several years, he was also in the driver’s seat for the Swiss National Team for a couple of years.
Palatinus is also known for his off-the-field merits, as he was a member of the board of the Challengers for more than 10 years, head of the National League commission for the Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation and founding member of the International Spring Tournament at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich, which took place for the 14th time in 2011.
As a professional web designer he is also responsible for several websites across the Swiss baseball and softball community including the homepage of the Challengers. Over the last couple of years Palatinus also developed EasyScore, a software application to score games and to compute box scores, game logs and game and season statistics.
Palatinus’ number 42 joins the retired numbers of Marianne Blickenstorfer (no. 1), Dany Spiegelberg (no. 8), Thomas Landis (no. 34), Werner Zingg (no. 41) and Enrico Zingg (no. 44).
Chris Palatinus received his first ever MVP award at the General Assembly on December 11. Palatinus led the Challengers in his final season as an active player with a .432 on-base percentage and a .862 on-base percentage plus slugging percentage and batted .319 with 23 hits and 13 RBI’s. He also had a 4.89 ERA and set team-highs with two saves and a 1.37 WHIP in 35 innings of work on the pitcher’s mound. Jesus Martinez was honored with the Best Batter award for the second time after 2008, as he set team leading marks with 19 runs scored, 6 doubles, a .325 batting average and a .442 slugging percentage and ended up with 25 hits, 14 RBI’s and 1 homerun. Tobias Siegrist went 5-6 with a 6.41 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 85.2 innings pitched, earning him the Best Pitcher award. Thomas Blank was credited with the Most Improved Player award, while Carl Conway was named Best Fielder and Rookie of the Year.
Weiterlesen » Palatinus named MVPBrittany Howell was honored with the MVP award at the Challengers’ General Assembly on December 11 after playing a dominant season. Howell set team-highs with 9 doubles, 3 triples, 3 homeruns, 25 RBI’s finishing with a .675 batting average and a .759 on-base percentage. Howell also went 4-1 with 65 strikeouts and a 0.60 ERA in 35 innings pitched in the pitcher’s circle. Leandra Simitovic won her fifth Best Pitcher award, as she went 6-7 with a 6.06 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 71.2 innings pitched and was also credited with her second Best Batter award, as she led the Challengers with a .431 batting average, a .553 on-base percentage, 18 walks, 28 hits and 33 runs scored. Simona Cellar walked away with the Best Fielder award. Brigit Zuber received the Most Improved Player award, while Taylor Mc Cants was named Rookie of the Year.
Weiterlesen » Howell received MVP award
Kurt Kovac received the NLB-Team’s MVP award at the General Assembly on December 11. Kovac led the Challengers with 25 hits, 7 doubles, 19 RBI’s and .403 batting average. Kovac was also credited with the Best Pitcher award, as he went 3-2 with a 3.65 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 37 innings pitched. Yanik Probst was honored with the Best Batter award after setting team-highs with 32 runs scored, 3 triples, 2 homeruns, 22 stolen bases and a .486 on-base percentage. Micha Seger and Dean Scherbaum received both the Most Improved Player award, while Halvar Dil was named Rookie of the Year.
Weiterlesen » Kovac honored with MVP award
Am Sonntag, 11. Dezember fand im Restaurant Linde Oberstrass in Zürich die 32. ordentliche Generalversammlung des Challengers Baseball & Softball Clubs statt. Präsident Renato Staub gab sein Amt nach vier Jahren an der Vereinsspitze ab. Die Versammlung wählte Adrian Kämpfer als Nachfolger zum sechsten Präsidenten der Vereinsgeschichte. Ebenfalls neu in den Vorstand wurde Celine Welti gewählt.
Der am Ende der vergangenen Saison zurückgetretene Chris Palatinus wurde für seinen Einsatz für die Challengers auf und neben dem Feld geehrt. Seine Rückennummer 42 wird bei den Challengers nicht mehr vergeben. Zudem gewann Palatinus den "Most Valuable Player" Award des NLA-Teams.
Die weiteren Auszeichnungen als "MVP" ihrer jeweiligen Teams erhielten Kurt Kovac und Brittany Howell.
Grössere Kartenansicht
Das Training für die U15 Cadets und die U12 Juveniles der Zürich Challengers findet neu jeden Donnerstag von 18.30-20.00 Uhr in der Turnhalle Juch, im Juch 3 in Zumikon statt (Forchbahn S18 bis Zumikon).
Wegen Schulferien findet an den folgenden Daten kein Training statt: 22. Dezember 2011, 29. Dezember 2011, 5. Januar 2012, 16. Februar 2012, 23. Februar 2012.
The winter practice for the U15 Cadets-Team and the U12-Juveniles-Team of the Zurich Challengers takes place newly every Thursday from 6.30pm till 8pm at the Turnhalle Juch at Juch 3 in Zumikon (Forchbahn S18 to Zumikon).
Because of school holidays there will be no practice on December 22, December 29, January 5, February 16 and February 23.
Zurich Challengers U15 Cadets: Donnerstags 18.30 – 20.00 Uhr Turnhalle Juch Juch 3 8126 Zumikon Forchbahn S18 bis Zumikon
Coach: Todd Tuckner
Der Challengers Baseball & Softball Club erweitert sein Angebot und bietet neu auch T-Ball an. T-Ball wurde in den 50-er Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts als Einstiegssportart zu Baseball und Softball für 4- bis 8-jährige Kinder erfunden. Beim T-Ball lernen die Kinder spielerisch die ersten baseballerischen und softballerischen Fertigkeiten.
Das T-Ball-Training für die U8 T-Baller der Zürich Challengers findet jeden DONNERSTAG von 18.30-20.00 Uhr in der Turnhalle Aubrücke an der Luegislandstr. 173 in Zürich-Schwamendingen statt (Bus 63 & 94 bis Aubrücke).
Am Mittwoch, 21. September kommt es im Baseballstadion Heerenschürli zum zweiten Aufeinandertreffen von ehemaligen Grössen der Challengers gegen die aktuelle Mannschaft. Bei den Old Stars werden unter anderem Anubis Benitez, Armin Blickenstorfer, Urs Blickenstorfer, Patrick Bosshard, Roger Brunner, Pierre Burger, Beat Eichenberger, Gary Kochlefl, Daniela Landis, Thomas Landis, David Luisi, Henry Marchant, Philippe Rérat, Peter Rothenhäusler, Wayne Testino, Geovanni Urena, Jose Valdez und Patrick Zöllig im Heerenschürli auflaufen. Beginn ist um 19.00 Uhr.
Weiterlesen » Old Stars messen sich mit aktuellen ChallengersDas NLB-Team gewann am Samstag, 17. September das letzte Pflichtspiel der Challengers Organisation in der Saison 2011. Die Challengers setzten sich in Rapperswil-Jona gegen die Jona Bandits sicher mit 17-0 durch. Damit beenden die Challengers die Saison auf dem vierten Rang mit einem 11-9 Rekord.
Weiterlesen » NLB-Team beendet Saison mit Sieg