Croton shuts out Challengers in 6-0 win

It was all Therwil Flyers in the second contest of Saturday's doubleheader as Lucas Croton handed the Challengers their first shutout of the season in a 6-0 win.

Croton started strong and retired the first seven batters he faced, four of them on strikeouts, before Bryan Shemley broke the no-hitter with his second double of the season in the third inning. But he was left stranded as Croton retired Yanik Probst and Thomas Landis on ground outs.

In the top of that inning, the Flyers put the first run on the board on Daniel Eichenberger's RBI-single off rookie Patrick Maier.

Maier lasted 4 2-3 innings, giving up five runs, but four of them were unearned thanks to second baseman Ueli von Burg's wild throw with two outs in the top of the fifth inning.

Maier was relieved by Chris Palatinus who was greeted by Takanobu Oshima with a two-bagger to right field, and Michel LaTorre's two-single for a 6-0 Flyers lead. LaTorre was thrown out between the bases to end the inning.

Both offenses were held scoreless the rest of the game by Croton, and Challenger relievers Palatinus and Brian Hipps.

With the loss, the Challengers dropped to 11-11, tying the Zürich Barracudas for fourth place in the standings.

Game notes
Hipps struck out in the seventh inning for the first time in 77 at-bats this season.