Author: Serge Künzler

Challengers lose opening game

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

The Challengers started the tournament at the Federation Cup in Croatia with a loss. The Swiss champions didn’t have much to gain against the Bulgarian representative Sofia Blues and especially their pitcher Evgenii Chernozemsky. The Zurich team delivered four hits only, which were wiped out by the Bulgarian defense with two double plays, while Chernozemsky collected a total of nine strikeouts. However, Dimitar Nassapov was responsible for the decision in the tournament opener with no fewer than three home runs, as he drove in eight of the eleven Bulgarian runs. On Friday the Challengers will face the host Vindija Varazdin.
The games will be streamed on the Baseball Europe TV channel.
Schedule:

Thursday, Juni 6: Sofia Blues vs. Zürich Challengers 11-0 (8 Inn.)
Friday, June 7, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Vindija Varazdin
Saturday, June 8, 11 a.m.: Apollo Bratislava vs. Zürich Challengers
Sunday, June 10, 2 p.m.: Final

Continue Reading » Challengers lose opening game

Softball home game on Sunday

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

The Softball-Team welcomes the Sissach Frogs on the Klopstockwiese on Sunday. The Baselbieters are in their third season since the team was founded and are noticeably improving from year to year. But the Challengers are trying to keep pace with the top duo Zurich Barracudas and Wittenbach Panthers with two wins. The game starts at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
For the 1st League-Team the journey goes east. The third team of the Challengers organization will meet the hosts Wittenbach Pirates at the Sonnenrain in Wittenbach at 10 a.m. before they will face the Zurich Eighters again at 12:30 p.m.
The U12-Juveniles also travel to the canton of St. Gallen. The youngest Challengers face the Wil Devils in the Wiler Lindenhof. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Continue Reading » Softball home game on Sunday

Schedule changes at the Federation Cup

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

As the reigning Swiss champions the Challengers represent Swiss baseball at the Federation Cup in Croatia. After the withdrawal of CNTU-OSDYSSOR-Gorn from the Ukraine the tournament in Varazdin will start newly on Thursday, June 6th and will last till Sunday, June 9th. The morning games start at 11 a.m., while the afternoon games are scheduled for 4 p.m. As the Challengers’ opponents remain Apollo Bratislava from Slovakia, Sofia Blues from Bulgaria and the host team Vindija Varazdin.
The C’s will play their first game newly on Thursday morning against the Bulgarian team Sofia Blues. The games will be streamed live on the Baseball Europe TV channel live gestreamt.
Schedule:

Thursday, Jun 6th, 11 a.m.: Sofia Blues vs. Zürich Challengers
Friday, June 7th, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Vindija Varazdin
Saturday, June8th , 11 a.m.: Apollo Bratislava vs. Zürich Challengers
Sunday, June 9th, 2 p.m.: Final

Even those at home don’t have to miss out on international baseball. The tournament of the second group of the Federation Cup with the Zurich Barracudas will be played at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich. This tournament will take place from June 3rd to 8th.

Continue Reading » Schedule changes at the Federation Cup

Challengers at the Federation Cup in Croatia

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

As the reigning Swiss champions the Challengers represent Swiss baseball at the Federation Cup in Croatia. The tournament in Varazdin will take place from Tuesday, June 4th to Sunday, June 9th. The morning games start at 11 a.m. and the afternoon games are scheduled for 4 p.m. The Challengers’ opponents are CNTU-OSDYSSOR-Gorn from Ukraine, Apollo Bratislava from Slovakia, Sofia Blues from Bulgaria and the host team Vindija Varazdin.
The C’s will play their first game on Tuesday afternoon after the official opening ceremony against the home team from Varazdin. The games will be streamed live on the Baseball Europe TV channel.
Schedule:

Tuesday, June 4, 4 p.m.: Vindija Varazdin vs. Zürich Challengers
Thursday, June 6, 11 a.m.: CNTU-OSDYSSOR-Gorn vs. Zürich Challengers
Friday, June 7, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Apollo Bratislava
Saturday, June 8, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Sofia Blues
Sunday, June 9, 2 p.m.: Final

Even those at home don’t have to miss out on international baseball. The tournament of the second group of the Federation Cup with the Zurich Barracudas will be played at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich. This tournament will take place from June 3rd to 8th.

Continue Reading » Challengers at the Federation Cup in Croatia

Juniors play in Embrach

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

While the fanion team will be in action at the Federation Cup in Varazdin, Croatia next week, there are four games scheduled for the Challengers Juniors on home soil in Embrach this weekend.
On Saturday the U15 Cadets welcome the SG Pirates in PZ Hard. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.. On Sunday the U12-Juveniles of the Challengers will play in Embrach as well, where they will meet the SG Mustangs/Lions. The games also start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m..

Continue Reading » Juniors play in Embrach

Swiss Cup games with different outcomes

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

Both the NLA-Team and the NLB-Team were in action in the Swiss Cup this weekend. While the fanion team won its game on Saturday against the second team of the Zurich Barracudas with 14-5, the second team of the Challengers lost to the Embrach Mustangs on Sunday with 8-9.
The NLA-Team took an early 5-0 lead against the Barracudas’ second team. The Barracudas came within one run by scoring four runs in the third frame to make it 4-5, but the Challengers immediately responded with four runs of their own and ultimately won safely 14-5. Louis Bischof, James Sanders, Tobias Siegrist and Samuel Rodriguez Bautista each had three hits for the Challengers.

Continue Reading » Swiss Cup games with different outcomes

1st League-Team loses in Extra-Innings

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

After various game cancellations due to weather, the 1st League-Team also played its first game of the season. The schedule for Saturday was just right for the Challengers, so that several juniors who were victorious with the U15-Cadets during the day could also take part in the night game in the Heerenschürli ballpark against the Zurich Barracudas. The Challengers showed a strong performance, but ran out of energy shortly before the finish line. In the end it was a bitter defeat after extra innings.
The Challengers built a 12-7 lead by halftime. In the second inning, Ben Dickow and Fabrizio Bucher scored two 2-run doubles for a 6-2 lead. The guests immediately gave this away, but they immediately regained their lead as well. Jacob van Meulebrouck and Jordi Bucher turned a 6-7 into a 8-7 lead in the third inning and with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, van Meulebrouck again, Tyler Smith, Niilo Benz and Ben Dickow extended the lead to 12-7. And the C’s were still ahead by four runs before the last inning. But the Barracudas were able to make up for the deficit in extremis with three hits and three errors from the Challengers defense to tie the game at 12-12. And while the Challengers didn’t bring their runners home in the extra inning, the Barracudas scored the winning run on two wild pitches to make it 13-12.
Fabrizio Bucher led the offense with three hits, Ben Dickow had two doubles and three RBI, Tyler Smith had two hits and Jacob van Meulebrouck scored three runs for the Challengers.

Continue Reading » 1st League-Team loses in Extra-Innings

Softball-Team adds another two wins

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

The Softball-Team won twice on Saturday against the Bern Cardinals. The Challengers made up the difference in the third inning both times. They are now riding a seven game winning streak.
The guests from Bern made a bold appearance on Zurich’s Klopstockwiese, as the Cardinals kept getting nice hits in the gaps of the Zurich defense. However the Challengers were also in a good mood. The C’s had to rely on a number of former regulars due to a long list of injuries, but they fit seamlessly into the collective. The first game of the day was evenly matched until the third inning before the Challengers called it a difference. With six hits and three errors by the Cardinals the home team scored ten runs and turned a two-run deficit into a 16-8 lead and ultimately won 18-11.
Leandra Simitovic got her first win of the season. She gave up seven runs, five of them earned, seven hits and two walks in five innings with five strikeouts. Meanwhile, Carmen Lutz-Demetz led the offense with two doubles and two RBI, Leandra Simitovic and Tamara Ammeter each contributed two hits, while Lara Müller scored three runs and rookie Mrinalika Singh Dev had her first hit for the Challengers.
In Game 2, the Challengers also found themselves behind by a score of 6-8 in the third inning. This time they scored eight runs to make it 14-8 and in the fourth inning they sent the deal with another four runs to make it 18-8. Mia Matas shone with three hits, Tamara Ammeter provided four RBI, Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Anna Zgraggen each scored four runs and Lara Müller scored three again. In two weeks the Challengers will be hosting the Sissach Frogs at the Klopstockwiese.

Continue Reading » Softball-Team adds another two wins

Two hard fought wins for the Cadets

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

The U15-Cadets met the SG Eagles/Unicorns on Saturday. The Central Swiss team proved to be a stubborn opponent, but the Challengers found a way to win both games. In the end the slightly greater depth in pitching was decisive.
It wasn’t the first time the Zurich team got off to a cold start this season. When the SG Eagles/Unicorns took a 3-0 lead in the third inning, the Challengers had only managed one hit but had already committed four errors. At least Ben Dickow cut the score to 1-3 with a sac fly that Jimmy Siemers scored on in the second half of the third inning. Now the wind changed. In the fourth frame, the Challengers were able to take the lead with four runs. Yannik Hobi scored on a wild pitch, Fabrice Cadalbert scored on an error by the guests and finally Fabrizio Bucher gave his colors a 5-3 lead with a 2-run single. Ben Dickow pitched the final two innings without allowing a run, securing the Challengers a hard-fought victory.
In the second game, the Challengers got going quicker. Although their early 8-2 lead was briefly threatened again when the SG Eagles/Unicorns scored the maximum of five runs in the second inning, the Zurich team responded immediately with five runs of their own to make it 13-7. They brought this lead to the finish. The defending champions ultimately won 14-10. Jasper Freigang and Fabrizio Bucher each delivered two hits and two RBI, Ben Dickow scored three runs, while Jimmy Siemers and Alex Maron each contributed two runs to the triumph.

Continue Reading » Two hard fought wins for the Cadets