One week after a historic last clash on the old Heerenschürli field the Zürich Barracudas and the Zürich Challengers made history again. The two cross-town rivals met on Saturday, June 7 at Embrach in what was the first ever Swiss baseball game that will be broadcasted by the Swiss Sports Television, aired on Star TV on Monday, June 9 from 8pm till 9.30pm. And the viewers will see a thrilling game. Thomas Burger tossed a complete game with a season-high 14 strikeouts and allowed four runs and eight hits, but ended up with a loss, as the Barracudas built up an early 4-0 lead and held on for a 4-3 victory in Game 1. But things got even worse for the Challengers in Game 2. The C’s led 3-2 with two outs and two strikes in the last frame, but Andy Rüesch plated the tying run for the Barracudas with an RBI-single on the last strike before scoring the game-winning run a few seconds later to send the Cudas to a dramatic 5-3 win. The C’s dropped their record to 5-7 and need to win at least six of their next eight games to clinch a playoff spot.

A sweep over the Sissach Frogs on Sunday, May 18 put the Challengers at .500 (5-5) for the first time since opening day. Chris Palatinus had four hits and Jesus Martinez belted a two-run homer in the fifth to make it 6-3, while Thomas Burger (2-3) allowed four runs – three earned – and five hits with five strikeouts in seven innings, as the C’s posted a 10-4 victory in Game 1. Säntis Zeller and Patrick Zöllig had three hits apiece and Martinez hit a drive over the center-field fence for his fourth homer of the season, while Andy Fleischacker (1-1) tossed five solid innings for the win, as the C’s cruised to a 9-1 victory in Game 2.

The Challengers ended their four game losing streak with two wins against the Wil Devils on Saturday, May 3 at the Heerenschürli. Jesus Martinez homered twice and Säntis Zeller had a homer and two doubles, while Thomas Burger allowed two runs – none earned – in seven dominant innings, as the C’s posted a 10-8 victory in Game 1. Zeller doubled three times in Game 2, while Thomas Landis allowed four runs – three earned – and five hits in six effective innings for his 98th career win, as the C’s swept the Devils with an 11-4 victory.

The NLA-Team lost twice to the reigning champion Bern Cardinals on Saturday, April 26 at the Heerenschürli in what was the rematch of last year’s playoff and Swiss Cup finals. After the Challengers  lost Game 1 4-8, the Cards rallied to win Game 2 by 3-2.

Die Challengers reisen vom 15. bis 21. Juni nach Brest, Weissrussland, für den European Cup Qualifier 2008. Die Gegner sind Kntu Kirovograd aus der Ukraine, ein Team aus Polen, Stockholm BSK, BK Vilnius aus Litauen und Gastgeber Brest Zubrs. Die zwei besten Teams der Qualifikationsrunde tragen eine Finalserie nach dem Modus best-of-three aus, wobei das Spiel aus der Qualifikationsphase bereits als Spiel 1 in die Wertung geht.

Die Titelverteidigung im Swiss Cup wird für den Cupsieger von 2007 kein Kinderspiel. Die Challengers treffen bereits in der zweiten Runde des diesjährigen Wettbewerbs auf den Lokalrivalen Zürich Barracudas. Die Partie wird am 31. Mai ausgetragen. Beide Teams erhielten für die erste Runde ein Freilos.Das 1.Liga-Team der Challengers muss in der 1. Runde nach Genf reisen, wo sie am 27. April auf die zweite Mannschaft der Dragons treffen werden.