Devils edge Challengers 5-4 in final at-bat

A bases-loaded single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Wil Devils a hard-fought 5-4 win in Game 2 of Sunday's doubleheader.

	Oliver Labhart pitched well enough to get a win, but his offense stalled after four innings.

It was a pitchers' duel between starters Oliver Labhart and Isenring, both going head-to-head and exchanging zeroes on the board.

The Devils' 2-0 lead after the first inning was equalized by the Challengers in the second inning on Adrian Kämpfer">Adrian Kämpfer's RBI-single and a sac fly by rookie Joaquin Madriz.

After a scoreless third inning, the Challengers took a 4-2 lead on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze play by Manuel Schretzmann that scored Kämpfer, and an RBI-double by Madriz.

Isenring then helped his own cause as he led off the bottom half of the fourth inning with a solo homer off Labhart.

And the Devils tied it at 4-4 as Thomas Beier hit another solo homer with one out.

	Manuel Schretzmann hit his first double since July 31, 2001. It was only his second career double.

The sixth inning again remained scoreless. The Challengers managed to put a runner at third base as Manuel Schretzmann hit a double with one out. It was only his second double in 134 career at-bats. He advanced to third on Oliver Deck's sacrifice bunt, but Madriz, who already collected two RBI's, grounded out to first for the third out.

The Devils went down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the sixth inning, and the Challengers mounted one more threat in the top of the seventh as Orlando Balbuena singled with two outs and stole second.

Batting average leader Thomas Blank then fouled off eight pitches before looking at a called third strike on a curve by Isenring to end the inning.

The Devils loaded the bases with one out in their half of the last inning on a single, an intentional walk to Beier and a fielder's choice that led to no out.

Rüegg, who doubled in his last at-bat in the fifth inning, slapped a single through a drawn-in infield for the game-winning RBI.

It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Challengers after starting the season with two wins against the Romanshorn Submarines.