The best-of-five semi-final series between the Zurich Challengers and the reigning champion Bern Cardinals begins on the upcoming weekend with Game 1 at Bern on Saturday, September 22 and Game 2 at the Heerenschürli ballpark on Sunday, September 23.
It will be the eighth Postseason meeting between the two teams, the sixth in a Semi-Final series. The last time the Challengers and the Cardinals faced each other in the Playoffs was in the 2007 Finals Series, with the Cardinals sweeping the Challengers 3-0. The two Challengers’ Series wins date back to 1999 and 2000. Since 1995, the two teams met 94 times with the Challengers leading 55-39.
This year, the seven-time Swiss Champions Bern Cardinals finished the Qualification Round in first place with a 23-5 record, while the eight-time Swiss Champions Zürich Challengers were in fourth place with an 18-10 record.
In the 2012 Qualification Round, the Challengers won the Season Series against the Cardinals 3-1. After the Cards edged the C’s 5-4 in Game 1 on September 2, the C’s answered with an 8-0 win in the second game. On September 9, the Challengers swept the Cards at the Heerenschürli ballpark, as they posted an 11-8 win in Game 1 before adding a 5-3 victory in Game 2.
Game 1 of the Best-of-Five Series starts at Bern Allmend on Sunday, September 22 at 2pm, Game 2 will take place at the Heerenschürli ballpark on Sunday, September 23 at 5pm.
The Therwil Flyers will face the Embrach Mustangs in the other Semi-Final Series.
History:
First meeting: 1988 Last meeting: September 9, 2012 Number of meetings (since 1995): 94 Regular season series: 48-25 Zurich Challengers (.657) Current streak: Challengers (3)
Post season history:
Post season meetings: 7-14 Bern Cardinals (.667) Post season series: 2-5 Bern Cardinals 1999 semi-finals: Challengers defeat Cardinals, 2-1 2000 semi-finals: Challengers defeat Cardinals, 2-0 2001 semi-finals: Cardinals defeat Challengers, 2-1 2003 semi-finals: Cardinals defeat Challengers, 3-2 2005 finals: Cardinals defeat Challengers, 3-0 2006 semi-finals: Cardinals defeat Challengers, 2-0 2007 finals: Cardinals defeat Challengers, 3-0
C’s face Cards in semi-final series
Cadets Win Double Header Against Strong Geneva Team
On Saturday 15 September, the U15-Cadets travelled to Geneva for a double header against the Geneva Baseball team that has lost only one game the entire season. On the back of two outstanding pitching performances the Cadets came away with two wins taking the first game 5-1 and winning the nightcap 7-2.
Under clear skies and with a beautiful mountain backdrop, the clear story of the game was the dominating pitching performances of Michael Iacono and Ryan Ciemny. Both Michael and Ryan pitched very strong complete games. In the opener, Michael struck out 12 batters in 5 innings and had his curve ball working very well. In the second game Ryan had 14 strikeouts from a total of 15 outs required and was throwing with very impressive velocity.
The big bats on the day were swung by Tobias Haynor and Ryan Ciemny. Toby was 3 for 6 with one double, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI’s. Ryan was 4 for 6 with a double, 4 runs scored, and 2 RBI’s. Michael Iacono also supported the offensive effort with 3 runs scored.
Both games were tough and could have easily gone either way. It was a great weekend with a very good and well run Geneva program.
This was the final weekend for the cadets who finished with a season record of 14-2.
Congratulations to all of the cadets for a great season!!
C’s face Cardinals in semi-final series
The Challengers will face the defending champion Bern Cardinals in their best-of-five semi-final series, after the Carinals clinched first place after the qualification round with a 12-1 victory in Game 1 against the Embrach Mustangs on Saturday, September 15. The C’s are leading the season series against the Cardinals 3-1. Game 1 will take place on Saturday, September 22 at Bern, Game 2 will be played on Sunday, September 23 at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The Therwil Flyers will face the Embrach Mustangs in the other semi-final series.
Continue Reading » C’s face Cardinals in semi-final seriesLandis gets his 100th career win
Challengers pitcher Thomas Landis reached a milestone, as the right hander got his 100th career win on Thursday night, September 13 at the Heerenschürli ballpark against the Zürich Lions. Landis worked two scoreless innings of relief, as the Challengers cruised to an easy 15-2 victory over the Lions. He is the first pitcher in the history of Swiss baseball to win 100 games. Landis recorded his 99th career win on July 18, 2010 against the Luzern Eagles.
The Challengers finish the qualification round in fourth place with an 18-10 record and will face either the reigning champion Bern Cardinals or the Therwil Flyers in the best-of-five semi-final series. Game 1 will take place on Saturday, September 22. The C’s won ten of their last eleven games to clinch the playoff berth after being 0.5 games below .500 on July 22. The last time the Challengers recorded 18 wins in a season was in 2002, as they finished the qualification round with a 18-2 record. The C’s beat the Flyers 3-1 in the 2002 best-of-five final series to celebrate their seventh out of eight Swiss championship titles.
Read the interview with Thomas Landis on swiss-baseball.ch
Rainout games will not be made up
The games between the Challengers and the SG Eagles/Challengers and the double header between the Luzern Eagles and the SG Eagles/Challengers that all have been rained out on Saturday, September 1 will not be made up, as all the games will not have any impact on the standings. The games between the Zürich Barracudas and the SG Eagles/Challengers scheduled for June 2 will not be rescheduled too.
The Challengers finish the season with a 9-13 record in fifth place. The C’s missed the playoffs for the first time in team history. The SG Eagles/Challengers finish the season in seventh place with a 0-18 record.
Night Game am Donnerstag
Die Challengers treffen am Donnerstag, 13. September in ihrem letzten Night Game der Saison 2012 auf den Stadtrivalen Zürich Lions. Die Challengers haben alle drei bisherigen Stadtderbys in dieser Saison gegen die Lions gewonnen. Spielbeginn ist um 19.00 Uhr.
Continue Reading » Night Game am DonnerstagC’s sweep Cardinals, clinch playoff berth
The Challengers (17-10) won twice against the first-placed Bern Cardinals (22-4) on Sunday, September 9 at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The C’s clinched the playoff berth for the 14th time since 1997 by posting an 11-8 victory over the Cardinals in Game 1. Tobias Siegrist tossed a complete game for the win, while the offense put together 14 hits. Robert Sedin went 3-for-4 and Jesus Martinez drove in three runs. With this victory the Challengers extended their lead over the fifth-placed Zürich Barracudas to two games.
But the Challengers weren’t done yet. They added another win, as they edged the Cardinals 5-3 in Game 2. Harry Bregy scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh, while Andrea Girasole (8-4) got the win with two innings of work and Robert Sedin notched his second save with two scoreless innings to shut the door.
The Challengers will play the Zürich Lions in their last game of the qualification round on Thursday, September 13 at 7pm.
NLB-Team swept by Cardinals
The NLB-Team lost twice to the still perfect Bern Cardinals on Saturday, September 8 at Bern. After losing 2-17 in Game 1 the Challengers came up short in Game 2 as well, as the first-placed Cardinals posted a 14-5 victory. The Challengers remain in fifth place with a 6-10 record. The C’s will host the Therwil Flyers on Sunday, September 23 at the Heerenschürli ballpark.
Continue Reading » NLB-Team swept by CardinalsCadets win double header against Eagles
The Challengers U15-Cadets visited Luzern this weekend and came away with victories in both games. The first game was won by a score of 13-3 and the nightcap was 11-6.
The story of the day was pitching as Jake Namovich pitched a complete game gem in the first game giving up only 3 runs and striking out 10. In the second game Sebastian Bonger pitched an almost complete game giving up 5 runs and striking out 9. Seb would have had a complete game but he reached the pitch count limit and we had to substitute for the last out in the final inning. Both guys were awesome on the mound and deserve recognition for throwing great games.
It was not a big hitting day as there were only 9 hits but the team showed a keen eye and had 18 walks and 4 HBP as the Luzern hurlers struggled to find the strike zone.
The big bats on the day were Tobias Haynor who was 3 for 6 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI’s. Seb Bonger was 2 for 4 with 4 runs and 1 RBI. Cedric Thommen went 2 for 4 with 5 runs scored and 1 RBI and Andreas Rüdisühli was 2 for 4 with 3 Runs and 1 RBI. Adding to the offense was Marcel Zuberbuehler who scored 4 runs and added an RBI. Congratulations to the Cadets on winning big in the Platzierungsrunde. We have closed out the official season with a 12-2 record.
Next weekend is a big game with the Cadets closing out their season by travelling to Geneva to play the undefeated Geneva Baseball team in an exhibition game. It should be an exciting weekend and we are looking forward to some great baseball.
Challengers erneut gegen die Cardinals
Eine Woche nach dem Duell in Bern treffen die NLA-Teams der Challengers und der Bern Cardinals erneut aufeinander, diesmal am Sonntag, 9. September im Baseballstadion Heerenschürli. Die Challengers benötigen noch einen Sieg aus den drei verbleibenden Partien, um sich für die Playoffs zu qualifizieren. Die Spiele beginnen um 11.00 und 14.00 Uhr.
Das NLB-Team trifft ebenfalls auf die Bern Cardinals, muss aber am Samstag, 8. September auswärts in Bern antreten. Tabellenführer Bern ist noch immer ungeschlagen, während die Challengers mit sechs Siegen und acht Niederlagen auf Rang fünf liegen. Spielbeginn ist um 11.00 und 14.00 Uhr.
Die U12-Juveniles bestreiten ihre ersten Spiele der Masterrunde am Samstag, 8. September. Die Spielgemeinschaft der Challengers/TruckStar trifft dabei auf die Rümlang Kobras. Die Spiele beginnen um 11.00 und 13.30 Uhr in Rümlang Rümelbach.
Die U15-Cadets spielen ebenfalls am Samstag, 8. September in Luzern gegen die Luzern Eagles. Die Spiele beginnen um 11.00 und 13.30 Uhr in Reussbühl Hinteruopigen.