The Challengers stay at .500 after a split with the second placed Embrach Mustangs on Saturday, May 29. The Mustangs posted a 9-4 win over the C’s in Game 1, while the blue and red answered with a 7-3 victory in Game 2.
Weiterlesen » Challengers remain at .500Beiträge der Kategorie NLA:
Von Burg announces retirement
Challengers shortstop Ueli von Burg officially announced his retirement with immediate effect on Thursday due to personal and job-related reasons.
Von Burg, 33, appeared in 6 games with the C’s this season batting .421 with 8 hits, 6 RBI’s and 8 runs scored. Von Burg scored also the new Heerenschürli ballpark’s very first run on April 17 on Tobias Siegrist’s RBI-single in the first inning.
Von Burg started his career with the Challengers. After a short stint with the Richterswil Athletics he played more than ten seasons for the Zurich Barracudas before returning to the C’s for the 2009 season. The Challengers wish him all the best for his future.
Eisheilige bringen Spielplan durcheinander
Der Regen macht dem Baseball-Spielplan einen Strich durch die Rechnung. Die NLA-Partien zwischen den Challengers und den Embrach Mustangs vom Samstag, 15. Mai wurden aufgrund des Regens abgesagt. Ein Nachholtermin steht noch nicht fest.
Auch die U15 Cadets Spiele vom Samstag, 15. Mai in Wittenbach gegen die Sissach Frogs und die Wittenbach Vikings wurden infolge des anhaltenden Regens abgesagt. Ein Nachholtermin wurde noch nicht bekannt gegeben.
Challengers stay at .500
The Challengers endured their third straight loss, as they missed several scoring chances, before throwing the game away in the bottom of the 11th inning against the Lausanne Indians on Sunday, May 9.
With the game tied at 3-3 the C’s loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the 11th inning, but two line drives right into the gloves of the Indians’ defense ended the threat. In the bottom half of the frame the Indians had the game winning run on third with one out, but the C’s tagged the runner out in a run-down between third base and home. Meanwhile Fabrice Gendre tried to advance to second and eventually scored, when a overthrow to second sailed into center field.
Challengers starter Thomas Burger left the game in the second inning due to a blister. Chris Palatinus tossed nine strong innings of relief for the C’s, as he allowed two runs and five hits with three walks and six strikeouts, but was outdueled by Indians starter Damien Baumann, who gave up three runs – one earned – and 11 hits with one walk and sent the C’s to their third straight loss.
Game 2 was all Challengers, as they cruised to a 12-1 victory over the Indians. James Sanders (2-0) pitched five scoreless innings, while Patrick Maier made his debut in blue and red, working two innings of relief.
Challengers swept by Cardinals
The second appearance at the new Heerenschürli ballpark was one to forget for the Challengers. The C’s fumbled the chance to win their third game of the season, as they blew a four-run lead against the Bern Cardinals in Game 1. The Cardinals scored five runs in the seventh inning – most of them unearned – against a flawed Challengers defense to eventually win 9-8.
And it was the same procedure in Game 2. The C’s blew an early 4-2 lead, while the Cardinals used a 13-hit attack and a solid defense to cruise to a 17-9 win. The Challengers’ bats kept up with the Cardinals, as Ueli von Burg led the offense with two triples, but again the C’s threw the game away, as their defense committed several costly errors.
Next, the Challengers will face the reigning Swiss champions Therwil Flyers on May 2, at Therwil.
Challengers open new ballpark with victory
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.
New ballpark opens with derby
The 2010 opening day will be a memorable one for the Challengers and for Swiss baseball. 30 years after the foundation of the first organizations in Switzerland – including the Challengers – the C’s will face the Zurich Barracudas for the grand opening of the new Heerenschuerli ballpark on Saturday, April 17. The games start at 11am and 2pm.
Weiterlesen » New ballpark opens with derbyChallengers start into Preseason
The Challengers Baseball-Team had a successful start into the preseason at the Embrach spring tournament on Saturday, March 27. The C’s posted a 4-2 victory over their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas before they drew a 4-4 tie with the Sissach Frogs in Game 2.
On Sunday, March 28 the Challengers played a split-squad game at Therwil against the Flyers. The reigning Swiss Champion posted a 8-6 win over the C’s on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of both organizations. Finally the Flyers and Challengers Softball-Teams played a friendly game, as the Flyers beat the C’s, taking a 22-4 victory.
Siegrist named MVP again
Tobias Siegrist received his fourth MVP award at the General Assembly on December 13, after walking away with the trophy already in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Siegrist led the Challengers with 32 RBI’s, 52 hits and set team-leading marks on the pitcher’s mound with 6 wins, 57 strikeouts and 76.1 innings pitched. He also finished second in doubles with 12 and runs scored with 32. Siegrist was also named Best Fielder. Ueli von Burg set team-highs with 25 walks and a .523 on-base percentage and ended up with 43 hits, 9 doubles, 16 RBI’s and a .410 batting average, earning him the Best Batter award. James Sanders went 5-1 with a 2.29 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched, earning him the Best Pitcher award. Thomas Blank was credited with the Most Improved Player award, while Angel Maduro was named Rookie of the Year.
Weiterlesen » Siegrist named MVP againChallengers lose in 11th inning
The NLA-Team lost Game 5 to the Therwil Flyers 7-6 in 11 innings. After trailing 5-0 after two innings, the Challengers came back and took a 6-5 lead off reliever Stefan Koller in the eighth inning, but a huge error and a sac fly tied it at 6 apiece in the bottom of the ninth. In the 11th, back-to-back singles by Matthias Jung and Seppi Zwyer off Tobias Siegrist clinched the Semifinals Series in favor of the Flyers.