The Challengers end the 2024 season with two wins against the Wil Prates. With the sweep the C’s finish in third place with an ultimately positive record of eight wins and seven losses.
The Zurich lineup revealed that the last gameday of the 2024 season was already a preparation for the 2025 season. No fewer than six U20 players were used and the young talents did a good job. The Challengers set the pace from the start. The Eastern Swiss were able to keep up until the sixth inning, but then the Zurich team made the decisive difference with five runs. James Sanders opened the scoring with an RBI single, Carsten Zuber and Säntis Zeller each scored on a wild pitch from the Pirates pitcher before Jordi Bucher made it 9-3 with a 2-run single. The last run for the final score of 11-4 was symbolic for the game with one of the youngest lineups in club history. Noam Blickenstorfer brought Niilo Benz home with an RBI single.
Säntis Zeller also made history. The eternally young middle infielder insisted on working on his personal bucket list. He is now the first Challengers player since Werner Zingg to play in every field position for an inning in a game. Ryan Byrne delivered the numbers for the game with five hits and four runs, while Simon Steffen was awarded the win for four innings as a relief pitcher, in which he gave up three hits and one run with five strikeouts.
The second game of the day went very similarly. The last game of the season was also tied for a long time before starting pitcher Carsten practically organized the win himself with an RBI double in the top half of the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead. The Pirates were no longer able to make up the deficit. Quite the opposite. Thanks to two errors by the Pirates, Simon Steffen scored in the sixth inning to make it 3-1 and Jordi Bucher brought Jasper Freigang home with a bunt single to make it 4-1, before Regis Reinhard made it 5-2 with an RBI single in the seventh inning and then made the save with the last three outs to bring the Challengers season to a close.
Meanwhile, the Therwil Flyers secured their 16th Swiss championship title with a sweep in the best-of-five final series against the Zurich Barracudas.
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Two wins to close the 2024 season
NLA-Team wins night game against Wil
In a make-up game on Wednesday evening the Challengers won 9-2 against the Wil Pirates, securing third place in the standings.
While the final for the Swiss Championship is already underway, with the Therwil Flyers leading 1-0 in the best-of-five series against the Zurich Barracudas, the Challengers are still working on a few make-up games against the Wil Pirates. Before they welcome the Eastern Swiss team for a doubleheader at the Heerenschürli on Saturday, the two teams met for a night game on Wednesday evening. The Challengers left no doubt about the outcome of the game from the start. Ryan Byrne started the engine with a leadoff single and scored the first run on an error, before Jack Siemers increased the lead with an RBI double, while Simon Steffen added an RBI single to make it 3-0. The second inning continued in the same style. David Grabher delivered another leadoff single and then, together with Säntis Zeller, scored the next two runs on a 2-run double by James Sanders to make it 5-0. A sign of life from the Pirates with two runs in the fourth inning was answered by Carsten Zuber with an RBI double to make it 6-2.
Pitcher Simon Steffen showed his best performance of the season. He went eight innings and gave up six hits and two runs with one walk and seven strikeouts, while Ryan Byrne and Carsten Zuber led the offense with three hits each. With this victory, the Challengers set their record at 6-7 and can no longer be pushed out of third place by the Pirates. Saturday offers the coaches another opportunity to help the youngsters get some game practice. A total of five U20 players were already in action for the Zurich team on Wednesday.
NLA-Team will face Pirates three times
After the champions Zurich Challengers missed out on reaching the finals and thus failing to defend their title, they will face the Wil Pirates three more times at the end of the season. The first encounter will take place on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. in Zurich’s Heerenschürli ballpark. The other two games will take place on Saturday, September 21st at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., also in Zurich-Schwamendingen.
Continue Reading » NLA-Team will face Pirates three timesChallengers lose semi-final in Swiss Cup
The Challengers also missed out on reaching the finals in the Swiss Cup. In the semi-final against the Zurich Barracudas they had no chance and were clearly defeated 5-18.
After the Challengers missed the finals in the championship and defending their title from 2023 was no longer possible, the Swiss Cup remained the last option to win something in the 2024 season. But the Zurich team had a weak afternoon in their last-chance game. In the first inning two errors led to four runs for the Barracudas, while the Challengers left the inning empty-handed despite having the bases loaded. After two innings the game was already decided. The Challengers helped the visitors pull away to 7-0 with another poorly executed play. It was not until the fourth inning that the home team’s offense woke up. Singles from Carsten Zuber and Jack Siemers and a hit-by-pitch to Simon Steffen loaded the bases with zero outs. A walk by Patrick Maier and a groundout by Säntis Zeller brought the first runs for the Challengers to make it 2-9. But the Barracudas could not be deterred from their winning ways. They had hits with great regularity, totaling 20 by the end of the game, so that they celebrated their entry into Sunday’s cup final with a final score of 18-5. For the Challengers the Swiss Cup ended in another disappointment.
The winners of the Swiss Cup were the Therwil Flyers. The Basel team defeated the Zurich Barracudas 6-3 in the final game on Sunday thanks to four runs in the seventh inning.
Swiss Cup 2024: Final weekend
Saturday, September 7th, semi-final 1: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Lions 9-0
Saturday, September 7th, semi-final 2: Zurich Challengers vs. Zürich Barracudas 5-18
Sunday, September 8th, final: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Barracudas< 6-3/li>
Final Weekend in the Swiss Cup
Not less than three clubs from the city of Zurich are lining up in the semifinals of this year’s newly designed Swiss Cup. The semifinals on Saturday will see the pairings between the NLB team Zurich Lions and the Therwil Flyers, as well as the local derby between the Zurich Barracudas and the Zurich Challengers.
After the Challengers missed out on a place in the championship final and are no longer able to defend their title, the Swiss Cup remains their last option to win something in the 2024 season. The draw for the semifinals gave them the eagerly awaited local derby with the Zurich Barracudas. In the championship the Barracudas won three of the five direct duels, while the Challengers won two games. In the other semifinal the Therwil Flyers will face the lower-class Zurich Lions. They surprisingly won the quarterfinals after a spectacular rally against the NLA club Wil Pirates. Both the semifinals on Saturday and the final on Sunday will take place at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich.
Swiss Cup 2024: Final weekend
Saturday, September 7th, 11:00 a.m., Zurich Heerenschürli: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Lions
Saturday, September 7th, 2:00 p.m., Zurich Heerenschürli: Zurich Challengers vs. Zurich Barracudas
Sunday, September 8th, 2:00 p.m., Zurich Heerenschürli: Final
Challengers reach semi-finals in Swiss Cup
In a make-up game on Wednesday night the Zurich Barracudas Academy and the Zurich Challengers decided the fourth and final semi-finalist of this year’s Swiss Cup. What initially looked like a clear affair for the favorites almost turned into a nail-biter in the end. Ultimately, however, the Challengers prevailed 15-12. They will now face the flagship team of their city rivals in the semi-finals on September 7th at the Heerenschürli ballpark.
Continue Reading » Challengers reach semi-finals in Swiss CupNLA games canceled
Today’s NLA games between the Wil Pirates and the Zürich Challengers in Wil had to be postponed due to rain. No make-up date has been announced so far.
Continue Reading » NLA games canceledNLA-Team heads to Wil, Cadets semi-finals in Therwil
At the end of the preliminary round the third-placed Zurich Challengers and the fourth-placed Wil Pirates will meet in Wil on Sunday, which is unfortunately of no significance for the standings anymore. Even before the remaining games have been played, it is clear that the Challengers will no longer be able to defend their title. The focus against the Eastern Swiss team is therefore to equalize the won-loss record of their 2024 season at 7-7. In the first meeting between the two clubs in Zurich this spring the Pirates and the Challengers won one game apiece. The games start at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in Wil’s Lindenhof.
There is much more at stake for the U15 Cadets. They will play games 1 and 2 of their playoff semi-final series against the Therwil Flyers on Saturday in Therwil. The duel between the Challengers, who finished first in the East group, and the second in the West group has been a great classic in the older junior category for decades. With a few exceptions the two traditional organizations meet almost every year in the playoffs. The Challengers will try to defend their title from the previous year. The first two games of the series will take place at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Therwil Känelmatt.
U15-Cadets playoff semi-finals Zurich Challengers vs. Therwil Flyers: Standings 0-0 (best-of-three)
Saturday, August 24th, 11:00 a.m., Therwil Känelmatt: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Challengers
Saturday, August 24th, 1:30 p.m., Therwil Känelmatt: Zurich Challengers vs. Therwil Flyers
Saturday, August 31st, 11:00 a.m., Therwil Känelmatt: Therwil Flyers vs. Zurich Challengers (if necessary)
Challengers’ Swiss Cup quartefinal washed out
After the day tournament in the 1st league yesterday, also today’s Swiss Cup quarterfinal between the Zurich Challengers and the Zurich Barracudas Academy in the Heerenschürli ballpark had to be canceled due to rain. Although the teams tried to clear the puddles from the pitch, the sand area was already too soft due to the consistent rain. Wednesday, August 28th at 6.30 p.m. was provisionally set as a make-up date.
The other three quarterfinal games in the Swiss Cup competition were able to take place on Saturday. The Therwil Flyers, the Zurich Barracudas and the Zurich Lions, who managed to pull off a surprising win against the NLA team of the Wil Pirates as a lower-class team, qualified for the final tournament on September 7th/8th, also at the Heerenschürli ballpark.
Home games in 1st League and Swiss Cup
Next weekend the Challengers will play twice at their home ballpark Heerenschürli in Zurich Schwamendingen.
The 1st League-Team will start on Saturday with a day tournament. The Challengers will first meet the fourth team of the Zurich Barracudas at 10 a.m. and at 3 p.m. they will be able to take revenge on the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions, against whom they lost the game in Wil by one run last Sunday.
On Sunday the quarterfinals of this year’s Swiss Cup will take place at 11 a.m. After the Challengers were unable to defend their title in the championship, the cup competition remains the last stage to celebrate a sporting success this season. The opponent is the Zurich Barracudas Academy. The game is scheduled for nine innings. Extra innings, if needed, will be played without ghost runners.