Challengers treffen auf Cardinals

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Am Samstag, 24. April haben die Challengers ihren zweiten Auftritt im neuen Baseballstadion Heerenschürli. Nach der erfolgreichen Eröffnung vor Wochenfrist mit zwei Siegen gegen die Zürich Barracudas treffen die Challengers (2-0) diesmal auf den letztjährigen Finalisten Bern Cardinals (0-4). Spielbeginn ist um 11.00 & 14.00 Uhr.
Neu in dieser Saison ist die Wiedereinführung einer U18 Juniors Meisterschaft. Als eines von zwei Teams mit einer kompletten Mannschaft treffen die U18 Challengers am Samstag, 24. April in Therwil auf die Spielvereinigung Basel/Bern/Barracudas. Die Spiele finden um 10.00 & 13.00 Uhr auf der Therwiler Känelmatt statt.
Am Sonntag, 25. April startet auch unser NLB-Team in die neue Saison. Die zweite Mannschaft trifft auf der Berner Allmend auf die zweite Equipe der Bern Cardinals. Spielbeginn ist um 11.00 & 14.00 Uhr.

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Ladies split with Barracudas

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The Softball-Team opened its campaign with a split against their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas on Sunday, April 18 at Rümlang. In Game 1 the Challengers outslugged the Barracudas 12-9 and were leading for most of the game, but after Barracudas outfielder Stephanie Reid made a spectacular diving catch to end the fifth, the Barracudas scored nine unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings to eventually win 13-6. It was the first loss in a season opener for the C’s since rebuilding the team in 2004.
Simona Cellar led the Challengers offense with three hits including a double and Simone Zurschmitten delivered three hits, while Alexia Zingg went 2-for-3 with a double. Leandra Simitovic allowed 13 runs – only six of them earned – on nine hits and six base on balls, while also striking out three.
Karen Heimgartner tossed a complete game to earn her first win of the season, as the Challengers posted a 14-3 triumph over the Barracudas in Game 2. The C’s built a 3-run lead till the fourth inning, as Sandrine Montandon delivered a RBI-double in the fourth and was driven in by Flavia Von Meiss to make it 4-1, before the C’s put things out of reach for the Barracudas with a 10-run sixth inning. Von Meiss went 2-for-3 with a double, while Heimgartner allowe three runs – two earned – and four hits with one walk and fifteen strikeouts.

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Challengers open new ballpark with victory

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On a historic day when Swiss baseball turned over a new leaf the Challengers and the Zurich Barracudas opened their brand new Heerenschürli ballpark on Saturday, April 17.
There was no question that the main centerpiece of the day was the new ballpark, one that had first been talked about more than a decade ago. But the C’s managed to make sure that a sweep in a classical Zurich derby was a headline too.
Marco Visetti threw out the ceremonial first pitch and the crowd reserved a large ovation for him, before Challengers starter Thomas Burger opened the game. The first game was a worthy opener, as the Barracudas jumped out to an early 3-2 lead thanks to a pair of defensive miscues by the C’s, but a four-run eight inning turned things around for the C’s. The Barracudas answered with two runs of their own in the ninth, but reliever Tobias Siegrist sealed the 6-5 win for the Challengers with a strikeout with the tying run on third base. 
Siegrist pitched 7 innings of relief, allowing two runs and six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts for his first win of the season.
 
Game 2 was all Challengers, as they cruised to a 11-0 win over the Barracudas. Playing coach Brian Hipps, who made his debut in blue and red, went 3-for-3 with a double and Farid Bekkali highlighted his first game with the C’s since 1995 with a triple, while James Sanders tossed seven magnificient innings, as he allowed six hits and two walks, while also striking out seven for a shutout win.
 

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Cadets erffnen die Saison mit einer Punkteteilung

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Die U15-Cadets eröffneten ihre Saison am Samstag, 17. April in Embrach. Das im Vergleich zur letzten Saison massiv verjüngte Team zeigte zum Saisonstart eine starke Leistung. Im ersten Spiel gegen die einheimischen Black Hawks begannen die Challengers stark und verteidigten den Vorsprung bis am Ende knapp, sodass mit 8-7 der erste Sieg gefeiert werden konnte.
Auch im zweiten Spiel des Tages gegen die Wittenbach Vikings lagen die Vorteile zunächst auf Seiten der Stadt Zürcher. Die Ostschweizer bliesen jedoch zur Aufholjagd, der die Challengers diesmal nicht ganz widerstehen konnten. Das Schlussresultat lautete letztlich 9-8 zu Gunsten der Vikings.

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Ladies open season against Barracudas

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The Softball-Team will open its campaign against their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas on Sunday, April 18 at Rümlang. After the Hünenberg Unicorns withdrew from the championship just two days before the opening weekend, just seven teams will remain and the Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation has to work out a new schedule. The teams will newly play two double headers against each other, what will increase the amount of games in the qualification round to 24 for each team. Before knowing when they will play their next games, the C’s  will start into the 2010 season with a classical derby. The games start at 11am and 1.30 pm at Rümlang Rümelbach.

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Cadets starten in die neue Saison

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Die U15-Cadets starten am Samstag, 17. April in Embrach in die neue Saison. Die Challengers treffen zum Saisonauftakt auf die Black Hawks und auf die Wittenbach Vikings. Nachdem die Challengers zuletzt von 2007 bis 2009 drei Schweizer Meistertitel in Serie gewinnen konnten, gehen sie diesmal mit einer deutlich verjüngten Equipe in die Saison, insbesondere weil die letztjährigen Leistungsträger Austin Dillingham, Korey Kovac, Yanik Probst und Gabe Staub ins NLB-Team aufgestiegen sind. Die Spiele beginnen um 11.00 und 13.00 Uhr in Embrach PZ Hard.

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New Heerenschuerli

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The new Heerenschürli will be ready in the next couple of days, so it’s a good time to reflect on the history of the ballpark.
It took eight years before the Zurich baseball clubs got a more or less suitable field to play baseball on. The city of Zurich found some space on the Heerenschürli sports complex to build a provisional baseball field. At the end of the 1980’s, four clubs with more than 10 teams where playing on that field: The Challengers, Barracudas, Lions and Coconuts. Soon, the limit was reached, and the trend continued to grow or least remain steady. By 2004, there were 6 Swiss Championship celebrations on the Heerenschürli, and 13 of all the 28 Swiss Champions titles went to Zurich (8x Challengers, 3x Lions, 2x Barracudas).
Combined with the age of the entire sports complex, the city of Zurich decided in 2002 to renovate the entire complex that would include a baseball field that comforts to international standards. Work on the new complex started in Summer 2008, and now finally, the field will be ready to be christened on April 17, with a classical derby between the Challengers and the Barracudas.
To read a more detailed story on the history of baseball in Zurich, check out Serge Künzler’s entry at the Zurich Federation’s website.

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